17207524
Independent measurement of the total active 8B solar neutrino flux using an array of 3He proportional counters at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory.
The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) used an array of 3He proportional counters to measure the rate of neutral-current interactions in heavy water and precisely determined the total active (nu_x) 8B solar neutrino flux. This technique is independent of previous methods employed by SNO. The total flux is found to be 5.54_-0.31;+0.33(stat)-0.34+0.36(syst)x10(6) cm(-2) s(-1), in agreement with previous measurements and standard solar models. A global analysis of solar and reactor neutrino results yields Deltam2=7.59_-0.21;+0.19x10(-5) eV2 and theta=34.4_-1.2;+1.3 degrees. The uncertainty on the mixing angle has been reduced from SNO's previous results.
3282231
First test of Lorentz violation with a reactor-based antineutrino experiment
We present a search for Lorentz violation with 8249 candidate electron antineutrino events taken by the Double Chooz experiment in 227.9 live days of running. This analysis, featuring a search for a sidereal time dependence of the events, is the first test of Lorentz invariance using a reactor-based antineutrino source. No sidereal variation is present in the data and the disappearance results are consistent with sidereal time independent oscillations. Under the Standard-Model Extension (SME), we set the first limits on fourteen Lorentz violating coefficients associated with transitions between electron and tau flavor, and set two competitive limits associated with transitions between electron and muon flavor.
122697839
A Combined Three-Phase Signal Extraction of the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory Data Using Markov Chain Monte Carlo Technique
Neutrino physics has entered an era of precision, after proving that the Standard Solar Model is a viable theory and going beyond the current Standard Model of particle physics by proving that neutrinos possess nonzero masses. The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) experiment, along with other experiments, has restricted neutrino mixing angle (θ12) and the mass square difference (∆m21) to lie within the large mixing solution area. SNO, located 2 km underground in Sudbury, Canada, was an ultraclean heavy-water (D2O) imaging detector for observing neutrinos produced by fusion reactions in the Sun. Neutrino interactions with heavy water resulted in flashes of light called C̆erenkov radiation which was detected by an array of photomultiplier tubes. SNO took data from November 1999 to November 2006, totalling 1082 days of data taking. This work describes an improved measurement of the mixing parameters from a combined fit of all the data. For the signal extraction fit on the data consisting of 4 observable of an event – radial position, recoil electron energy, direction relative to the Sun and event isotropy – Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method based on Metropolis algorithm was employed. The nuisance parameters (systematics), weighted by external constraints, were allowed to vary in the fit. The goal of the thesis was to extract the survival probabilities of electron neutrinos and determine the total flux of active-flavour neutrinos from B decay in the Sun measured through the neutral current interactions of neutrinos on deuterium. The B flux from the fit is (5.24 ± 0.02) × 10 cm−2 s−1; uncertainty from statistics and systematics is 3.56%. Along with B flux, the fit extracted energy spectra of charged current interactions of neutrinos on deuterium and elastic scattering interactions of neutrinos on electrons. The fit described the energy-dependent day survival probability of solar neutrinos as a quadratic equation and asymmetry on the day survival probability as a linear equation. Four polynomial coefficients of the survival probability were extracted from the fit: constant coefficient as 0.3206± 0.0197, linear coefficient as 0.005± 0.008 and quadratic coefficient as −0.0014± 0.0033. There are two coefficients on the day-night asymmetry: constant coefficient as 0.0496 ± 0.0347 and the linear coefficient as −0.018 ± 0.028. The day-night asymmetry (0.0496) observed is 1.4σ away from zero. Using these findings, the oscillation space in terms of ∆m21 and θ12 will be further constrained. Compared to the previous published SNO results, the uncertainty on B went down from 3.83% to 3.56% and average B νe survival probability (p0) went down from 6.57% to 6.14%. If the data were analysed with the same assumptions, the decrease in uncertainties would have been approximately twice as big; however, more conservative systematic uncertainties were assigned in some cases.
39360572
A new investigation of electron neutrino appearance oscillations with improved sensitivity in the MiniBooNE+ experiment
Submitted as whitepaper for Snowmass'13 proceedings - 8 pages, 3 figures; version 2: Minor change to title and author list
209842301
SEARCHES FOR HIGH-FREQUENCY VARIATIONS IN THE 8B SOLAR NEUTRINO FLUX AT THE SUDBURY NEUTRINO OBSERVATORY
We have performed three searches for high-frequency signals in the solar neutrino flux measured by the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory, motivated by the possibility that solar g-mode oscillations could affect the production or propagation of solar 8B neutrinos. The first search looked for any significant peak in the frequency range 1-144 day–1, with a sensitivity to sinusoidal signals with amplitudes of 12% or greater. The second search focused on regions in which g-mode signals have been claimed by experiments aboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory satellite, and was sensitive to signals with amplitudes of 10% or greater. The third search looked for extra power across the entire frequency band. No statistically significant signal was detected in any of the three searches.
121047477
Letter of Intent: A new investigation of $\nu_\mu\rightarrow\nu_e$ oscillations with improved sensitivity in an enhanced MiniBooNE experiment
118504720
Events with isolated leptons and missing transverse momentum and measurement of W production at HERA
Events with high energy isolated electrons, muons or tau leptons and missing transverse momentum are studied using the full e±p data sample collected by the H1 experiment at HERA, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 474 pb−1. Within the Standard Model, events with isolated leptons and missing transverse momentum mainly originate from the production of single W bosons. The total single W boson production cross section is measured as 1.14±0.25 (stat.)±0.14 (sys.) pb, in agreement with the Standard Model expectation. The data are also used to establish limits on the WWγ gauge couplings and for a measurement of the W boson polarisation.
17709141
A search for excited neutrinos in e- p collisions at HERA
A search for first generation excited neutrinos is performed using the full e(-) p data sample collected by the HI experiment at HERA at a centre-of-mass energy of 319 GeV, corresponding to a total luminosity of 184 pb(-1). The electroweak decays of excited neutrinos nu* -> nu gamma, v* -> nu Z and nu* -> eW with subsequent hadronic or leptonic decays of the W and Z bosons are considered. No evidence for excited neutrino production is found. Mass dependent exclusion limits on nu* production cross sections and on the ratio of the coupling to the compositeness scale f/boolean AND are derived within gauge mediated models. A limit on f/boolean AND A, independent of the relative couplings to the SU(2) and U(1) gauge bosons, is also determined. These limits extend the excluded region to higher masses than has been possible in previous excited neutrino searches. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
16061870
Virial scaling of massive dark matter halos: why clusters prefer a high normalization cosmology
We present a precise estimate of the bulk virial scaling relation of halos formed via hierarchical clustering in an ensemble of simulated cold dark matter cosmologies. The result is insensitive to cosmological parameters; the presence of a trace, dissipationless gas component; and numerical resolution down to a limit of ~1000 particles. The dark matter velocity dispersion scales with total mass as log [?DM(M,z)] = = log(1082.9 ? 4.0 km s?1) + (0.3361 ? 0.0026)log[h(z)M200/1015 M?], with h(z) being the dimensionless Hubble parameter. At fixed mass, the velocity dispersion likelihood is nearly lognormal, with scatter ?ln ? = 0.0426 ? 0.015, except for a tail with higher dispersions containing 10% of the population that are merger transients. We combine this relation with the halo mass function in ?CDM models and show that a low normalization condition, S8 = ?8(?m/0.3)0.35 = 0.69, favored by recent WMAP and SDSS analysis requires that galaxy and gas-specific energies in rich clusters be 50% larger than that of the underlying dark matter. Such large energetic biases are in conflict with the current generation of direct simulations of cluster formation. A higher normalization, S8 = 0.80, alleviates this tension and implies that the hot gas fraction within r500 is , a value consistent with recent Sunyaev-Zel'dovich observations.
6106194
Exact and approximate dynamics of the quantum mechanical O(N) model
We study the dynamics of the quantum mechanical O(N) model as a specific example to investigate the systematics of a 1/N expansion. The closed time path formalism melded with an expansion in 1/N is used to derive time evolution equations valid to order 1/N (next-to-leading order). The effective potential is also obtained to this order and its properties are elucidated. In order to compare theoretical predictions against numerical solutions of the time-dependent Schro''dinger equation, we consider two initial conditions consistent with O(N) symmetry, one of them a quantum roll, the other a wave packet initially to one side of the potential minimum, whose center has all coordinates equal. For the case of the quantum roll we map out the domain of validity of the large-N expansion. We also discuss the existence of unitarity violation in this expansion, a well-known problem faced by moment truncation techniques. The 1/N results, both static and dynamic, are contrasted with those given by a Hartree variational ansatz at given values of N. A comparison against numerical results leads us to conclude that late-time dynamical behavior, where nonlinear effects are significant, is not well described by either approximation.
38819256
Nonparametric dark energy reconstruction from supernova data.
Understanding the origin of the accelerated expansion of the Universe poses one of the greatest challenges in physics today. Lacking a compelling fundamental theory to test, observational efforts are targeted at a better characterization of the underlying cause. If a new form of mass-energy, dark energy, is driving the acceleration, the redshift evolution of the equation of state parameter w(z) will hold essential clues as to its origin. To best exploit data from observations it is necessary to develop a robust and accurate reconstruction approach, with controlled errors, for w(z). We introduce a new, nonparametric method for solving the associated statistical inverse problem based on Gaussian process modeling and Markov chain Monte Carlo sampling. Applying this method to recent supernova measurements, we reconstruct the continuous history of w out to redshift z=1.5.