No Arabic abstract
We report the first direct observation of muon antineutrinos in the MINOS Far Detector in the current muon-neutrino dominated beam. The magnetic field of the detector is utilized to separate muon neutrinos and antineutrinos event-by-event by identifying the charge sign of the muon created in charged-current interactions. We present preliminary results on the muon antineutrino oscillation parameters as well as limit on the fraction of neutrinos that disappear and reappear as antineutrinos. We also discuss the prospect of the measurement when the polarity of the magnetic focusing horns will be reversed to create a dedicated muon antineutrino beam.
We have searched for sidereal variations in the rate of antineutrino interactions in the MINOS Near Detector. Using antineutrinos produced by the NuMI beam, we find no statistically significant sidereal modulation in the rate. When this result is placed in the context of the Standard Model Extension theory we are able to place upper limits on the coefficients defining the theory. These limits are used in combination with the results from an earlier analysis of MINOS neutrino data to further constrain the coefficients.
This paper reports measurements of atmospheric neutrino and antineutrino interactions in the MINOS Far Detector, based on 2553 live-days (37.9 kton-years) of data. A total of 2072 candidate events are observed. These are separated into 905 contained-vertex muons and 466 neutrino-induced rock-muons, both produced by charged-current $ u_{mu}$ and $bar{ u}_{mu}$ interactions, and 701 contained-vertex showers, composed mainly of charged-current $ u_{e}$ and $bar{ u}_{e}$ interactions and neutral-current interactions. The curvature of muon tracks in the magnetic field of the MINOS Far Detector is used to select separate samples of $ u_{mu}$ and $bar{ u}_{mu}$ events. The observed ratio of $bar{ u}_{mu}$ to $ u_{mu}$ events is compared with the Monte Carlo simulation, giving a double ratio of $R^{data}_{bar{ u}/ u}/R^{MC}_{bar{ u}/ u} = 1.03 pm 0.08 (stat.) pm 0.08 (syst.)$. The $ u_{mu}$ and $bar{ u}_{mu}$ data are separated into bins of $L/E$ resolution, based on the reconstructed energy and direction of each event, and a maximum likelihood fit to the observed $L/E$ distributions is used to determine the atmospheric neutrino oscillation parameters. This fit returns 90% confidence limits of $|Delta m^{2}| = (1.9 pm 0.4) times 10^{-3} eV^{2}$ and $sin^{2} 2theta > 0.86$. The fit is extended to incorporate separate $ u_{mu}$ and $bar{ u}_{mu}$ oscillation parameters, returning 90% confidence limits of $|Delta m^{2}|-|Delta bar{m}^{2}| = 0.6^{+2.4}_{-0.8} times 10^{-3} eV^{2}$ on the difference between the squared-mass splittings for neutrinos and antineutrinos.
A sample of 1.53$times$10$^{9}$ cosmic-ray-induced single muon events has been recorded at 225 meters-water-equivalent using the MINOS Near Detector. The underground muon rate is observed to be highly correlated with the effective atmospheric temperature. The coefficient $alpha_{T}$, relating the change in the muon rate to the change in the vertical effective temperature, is determined to be 0.428$pm$0.003(stat.)$pm$0.059(syst.). An alternative description is provided by the weighted effective temperature, introduced to account for the differences in the temperature profile and muon flux as a function of zenith angle. Using the latter estimation of temperature, the coefficient is determined to be 0.352$pm$0.003(stat.)$pm$0.046(syst.).
This letter reports the first direct observation of muon antineutrino disappearance. The MINOS experiment has taken data with an accelerator beam optimized for muon antineutrino production, accumulating an exposure of $1.71times 10^{20}$ protons on target. In the Far Detector, 97 charged current muon antineutrino events are observed. The no-oscillation hypothesis predicts 156 events and is excluded at $6.3sigma$. The best fit to oscillation yields $Delta bar{m}^{2}=(3.36^{+0.46}_{-0.40}textrm{(stat.)}pm0.06textrm{(syst.)})times 10^{-3},eV^{2}$, $sin^{2}(2bar{theta})=0.86^{+0.11}_{-0.12}textrm{(stat.)}pm0.01textrm{(syst.)}$. The MINOS muon neutrino and muon antineutrino measurements are consistent at the 2.0% confidence level, assuming identical underlying oscillation parameters.
We report the first observation of seasonal modulations in the rates of cosmic ray multiple-muon events at two underground sites, the MINOS Near Detector with an overburden of 225 mwe, and the MINOS Far Detector site at 2100 mwe. At the deeper site, multiple-muon events with muons separated by more than 8 m exhibit a seasonal rate that peaks during the summer, similar to that of single-muon events. In contrast and unexpectedly, the rate of multiple-muon events with muons separated by less than 5-8 m, and the rate of multiple-muon events in the smaller, shallower Near Detector, exhibit a seasonal rate modulation that peaks in the winter.