55849521
Early Neutrino Data in the NO$\nu$A Near Detector Prototype
NO{nu}A is a long-baseline neutrino experiment using an off-axis neutrino beam produced by the NuMI neutrino beam at Fermilab. The NO{nu}A experiment will study neutrino {nu}{sub {mu}} {yields} {nu}{sub e} oscillations. A short term goal for the NO{nu}A experiment is to develop a good understanding of the response of the detector. These studies are being carried out with the full Near Detector installed on the surface (NDOS) at Fermilab. This detector is currently running and will acquire neutrino data for a year. Using beam muon neutrino data, quasi-elastic charged-current interactions will be studied. Status of the NDOS running and early data will be shown.
199679707
Measurement of muon plus proton final states in $\nu_{\mu}$ Interactions on Hydrocarbon at $ $ = 4.2 GeV
52102076
Toward Characterization Of The Type IIP Supernova Progenitor Population: A Statistical Sample Of Light Curves From Pan-STARRS1
In recent years, wide-field sky surveys providing deep multiband imaging have presented a new path for indirectly characterizing the progenitor populations of core-collapse supernovae (SNe): systematic light-curve studies. We assemble a set of 76 grizy-band Type IIP SN light curves from Pan-STARRS1, obtained over a constant survey program of 4 yr and classified using both spectroscopy and machine-learning-based photometric techniques. We develop and apply a new Bayesian model for the full multiband evolution of each light curve in the sample. We find no evidence of a subpopulation of fast-declining explosions (historically referred to as Type IIL SNe). However, we identify a highly significant relation between the plateau phase decay rate and peak luminosity among our SNe IIP. These results argue in favor of a single parameter, likely determined by initial stellar mass, predominantly controlling the explosions of red supergiants. This relation could also be applied for SN cosmology, offering a standardizable candle good to an intrinsic scatter of 0.2 mag. We compare each light curve to physical models from hydrodynamic simulations to estimate progenitor initial masses and other properties of the Pan-STARRS1 Type IIP SN sample. We show that correction of systematic discrepancies between modeled and observed SN IIP light-curve properties and an expanded grid of progenitor properties are needed to enable robust progenitor inferences from multiband light-curve samples of this kind. This work will serve as a pathfinder for photometric studies of core-collapse SNe to be conducted through future wide-field transient searches.
10534441
New measurements and quantitative analysis of electron backscattering in the energy range of neutron beta-decay
We report on the first detailed measurements of electron backscattering from plastic scintillator targets, extending our previous work on beryllium and silicon targets. The scintillator experiment posed several additional experimental challenges associated with charging of the scintillator target, and those challenges are addressed in detail. In addition, we quantitatively compare the energy and angular distributions of this data, and our previous data, with electron transport simulations based on the GEANT4 and PENELOPE Monte Carlo simulation codes. The PENELOPE simulation is found globally to give a superior description of the data. Such information is crucial for a broad array of weak-interaction physics experiments, where electron backscattering can give rise to the dominant detector-related systematic uncertainty.