Title
Search for Active-Sterile Antineutrino Mixing Using Neutral-Current Interactions with the NOvA Experiment
Date Issued
12 November 2021
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Acero M.A.
Adamson P.
Anfimov N.
Antoshkin A.
Arrieta-Diaz E.
Asquith L.
Aurisano A.
Back A.
Backhouse C.
Baird M.
Balashov N.
Baldi P.
Bambah B.A.
Bashar S.
Bays K.
Bernstein R.
Bhatnagar V.
Bhuyan B.
Bian J.
Blair J.
Booth A.C.
Bowles R.
Bromberg C.
Buchanan N.
Butkevich A.
Calvez S.
Carroll T.J.
Catano-Mur E.
Choudhary B.C.
Christensen A.
Coan T.E.
Colo M.
Cremonesi L.
Davies G.S.
Derwent P.F.
Ding P.
Djurcic Z.
Dolce M.
Doyle D.
Dueñas Tonguino D.
Dukes E.C.
Duyang H.
Edayath S.
Ehrlich R.
Elkins M.
Ewart E.
Feldman G.J.
Filip P.
Franc J.
Frank M.J.
Gallagher H.R.
Gandrajula R.
Gao F.
Giri A.
Gomes R.A.
Goodman M.C.
Grichine V.
Groh M.
Group R.
Guo B.
Habig A.
Hakl F.
Hall A.
Hartnell J.
Hatcher R.
Hausner H.
Heller K.
Hewes J.
Himmel A.
Holin A.
Huang J.
Jargowsky B.
Jarosz J.
Jediny F.
Johnson C.
Judah M.
Kakorin I.
Kalra D.
Kalitkina A.
Kaplan D.M.
Keloth R.
Klimov O.
Koerner L.W.
Kolupaeva L.
Kotelnikov S.
Kralik R.
Kullenberg C.
Kubu M.
Kumar A.
Kuruppu C.D.
Kus V.
Lackey T.
Lasorak P.
Lang K.
Lesmeister J.
Lin S.
Lister A.
Liu J.
Lokajicek M.
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
Publisher(s)
American Physical Society
Abstract
This Letter reports results from the first long-baseline search for sterile antineutrinos mixing in an accelerator-based antineutrino-dominated beam. The rate of neutral-current interactions in the two NOvA detectors, at distances of 1 and 810 km from the beam source, is analyzed using an exposure of 12.51×1020 protons-on-target from the NuMI beam at Fermilab running in antineutrino mode. A total of 121 of neutral-current candidates are observed at the far detector, compared to a prediction of 122±11(stat.)±15(syst.) assuming mixing only between three active flavors. No evidence for ν¯μ→ν¯s oscillation is observed. Interpreting this result within a 3+1 model, constraints are placed on the mixing angles θ24<25° and θ34<32° at the 90% C.L. for 0.05 eV2≤Δm412≤0.5 eV2, the range of mass splittings that produces no significant oscillations at the near detector. These are the first 3+1 confidence limits set using long-baseline accelerator antineutrinos.
Volume
127
Issue
20
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Física de partículas, Campos de la Física
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85119211573
PubMed ID
Source
Physical Review Letters
ISSN of the container
00319007
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus