Search for Muon-Neutrino to Electron-Neutrino Transitions in MINOS

Creators: Adamson, P.; Andreopoulos, C.; Arms, K. E.; Armstrong, R.; Auty, D. J.; Ayres, D. S.; Backhouse, C.; Barnes, P. D., Jr.; Barr, G.; Barrett, W. L.; Becker, B. R.; Belias, A.; Bernstein, R. H.; Betancourt, M.; Bhattacharya, D.; Bishai, M.; Blake, A.; Bock, G. J.; Boehm, J.; Boehnlein, D. J.; Bogert, D.; Bower, C.; Cavanaugh, S.; Chapman, J. D.; Cherdack, D.; Childress, S.; Choudhary, B. C.; Cobb, J. H.; Coehlo, J. A. B.; Coleman, S. J.; Cronin-Hennessy, D.; Culling, A. J.; Danko, I. Z.; de Jong, J. K.; Devenish, N. E.; Diwan, M. V.; Dorman, M.; Erwin, A. R.; Escobar, C. O.; Evans, J. J.; Falk, E.; Feldman, G. J.; Frohne, M. V.; Gallagher, H. R.; Godley, A.; Goodman, M. C.; Gouffon, P.; Gran, R.; Grashorn, E. W.; Grzelak, K.; Habig, A.; Harris, D.; Harris, P. G.; Hartnell, J.; Hatcher, R.; Heller, K.; Himmel, A.; Holin, A.; Howcroft, C.; Huang, X.; Hylen, J.; Irwin, G. M.; Isvan, Z.; Jaffe, D. E.; James, C.; Jensen, D.; Kafka, T.; Kasahara, S. M. S.; Koizumi, G.; Kopp, S.; Kordosky, M.; Koskinen, D. J.; Krahn, Z.; Kreymer, A.; Lang, K.; Ling, J.; Litchfield, P. J.; Litchfield, R. P.; Loiacono, L.; Lucas, P.; Ma, J.; Mann, W. A.; Marshak, M. L.; Marshall, J. S.; Mayer, N.; McGowan, A. M.; Mehdiyev, R.; Meier, J. R.; Messier, M. D.; Metelko, C. J.; Michael, D. G.; Miller, W. H.; Mishra, S. R.; Mitchell, J.; Moore, C. D.; Morfín, J.; Mualem, L.; Mufson, S.; Musser, J.; Naples, D.; Nelson, J. K.; Newman, H. B.; Nichol, R. J.; Nicholls, T. C.; Ochoa-Ricoux, J. P.; Oliver, W. P.; Ospanov, R.; Paley, J.; Para, A.; Patterson, R. B.; Patzak, T.; Pavlović, Ž.; Pawloski, G.; Pearce, G. F.; Petyt, D. A.; Pittam, R.; Plunkett, R. K.; Rahaman, A.; Rameika, R. A.; Raufer, T. M.; Rebel, B.; Reichenbacher, J.; Rodrigues, P. A.; Rosenfeld, C.; Rubin, H. A.; Ryabov, V. A.; Sanchez, M. C.; Saoulidou, N.; Schneps, J.; Schreiner, P.; Shanahan, P.; Smart, W.; Smith, C.; Sousa, A.; Speakman, B.; Stamoulis, P.; Strait, M.; Tagg, N.; Talaga, R. L.; Thomas, J.; Thompson, M. A.; Thron, J. L.; Tinti, G.; Toner, R.; Tsarev, V. A.; Tzanakos, G.; Urheim, J.; Vahle, P.; Viren, B.; Ward, D. R.; Watabe, M.; Weber, A.; Webb, R. C.; West, N.; White, C.; Whitehead, L.; Wojcicki, S. G.; Wright, D. M.; Yang, T.; Zhang, K.; Zheng, H.; Zois, M.; Zwaska, R.; MINOS Collaboration

Abstract

This Letter reports on a search for ν_μ → ν_e transitions by the MINOS experiment based on a 3.14×10^(20) protons-on-target exposure in the Fermilab NuMI beam. We observe 35 events in the Far Detector with a background of 27±5(stat)±2(syst) events predicted by the measurements in the Near Detector. If interpreted in terms of ν_μ → ν_e oscillations, this 1.5σ excess of events is consistent with sin^2(2θ_(13)) comparable to the CHOOZ limit when |Δm^2| = 2.43×10^(-3) eV^2 and sin^2(2θ_(23))=1.0 are assumed.

Additional Information

© 2009 American Physical Society. Received 27 September 2009; published 29 December 2009. This work was supported by the US DOE; the UK STFC; the US NSF; the State and University of Minnesota; the University of Athens, Greece; and Brazil's FAPESP and CNPq. We are grateful to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the crew of the Soudan Underground Laboratory, and the staff of Fermilab for their contribution to this effort.

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