Measurement of electron neutrino appearance with the MINOS experiment
- Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA (United States)
MINOS is a long-baseline two-detector neutrino oscillation experiment that uses a high intensity muon neutrino beam to investigate the phenomena of neutrino oscillations. By measuring the neutrino interactions in a detector near the neutrino source and again 735 km away from the production site, it is possible to probe the parameters governing neutrino oscillation. The majority of the vμ oscillate to vτ but a small fraction may oscillate instead to ve. This thesis presents a measurement of the ve appearance rate in the MINOS far detector using the first two years of exposure. Methods for constraining the far detector backgrounds using the near detector measurements is discussed and a technique for estimating the uncertainty on the background and signal selection are developed. A 1.6σ excess over the expected background rate is found providing a hint of ve appearance.
- Research Organization:
- Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-07CH11359
- OSTI ID:
- 957077
- Report Number(s):
- FERMILAB-THESIS-2009-17; TRN: US1000681
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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