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Fleming, B.

Publications and source records attributed to Fleming, B..

Scintillation light in SBND: simulation, reconstruction, and expected performance of the photon detection system

SBND is the near detector of the Short-Baseline Neutrino program at Fermilab. Its location near to the Booster Neutrino Beam source and relatively large mass will allow the study of neutrino interactions on argon with unprecedented statistics. This paper describes the expected performance of the SBND photon detection system, using a simulated sample of beam neutrinos and cosmogenic particles. Its design is a dual readout concept combining a system of 120 photomultiplier tubes, used for triggering, with a system of 192 X-ARAPUCA devices, located behind the anode wire planes. Furthermore, covering the cathode plane with highly-reflective panels coated with a wavelength-shifting compound recovers part of the light emitted towards the cathode, where no optical detectors exist. We show how this new design provides a high light yield and a more uniform detection efficiency, an excellent timing resolution and an independent 3D-position reconstruction using only the scintillation light. Finally, the whole reconstruction chain is applied to recover the temporal structure of the beam spill, which is resolved with a resolution on the order of nanoseconds.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

A deep-learning based raw waveform region-of-interest finder for the liquid argon time projection chamber

The liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) detector technology has an excellent capability to measure properties of low-energy neutrinos produced by the sun and supernovae and to look for exotic physics at very low energies. In order to achieve those physics goals, it is crucial to identify and reconstruct signals in the waveforms recorded on each TPC wire. In this work, we report on a novel algorithm based on a one-dimensional convolutional neural network (CNN) to look for the region-of-interest (ROI) in raw waveforms. We test this algorithm using data from the ArgoNeuT experiment in conjunction with an improved noise mitigation procedure and a more realistic data-driven noise model for simulated events. This deep-learning ROI finder shows promising performance in extracting small signals and gives an efficiency approximately twice that of the traditional algorithm in the low energy region of ~0.03–0.1 MeV. This method offers great potential to explore low-energy physics using LArTPCs.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

First measurement of electron neutrino scattering cross section on argon

We report the first electron neutrino cross section measurements on argon, based on data collected by the ArgoNeuT experiment running in the GeV-scale NuMI beamline at Fermilab. A flux-averaged $\nu_e + \overline{\nu}_e$ total and a lepton angle differential cross section are extracted using 13 $\nu_e$ and $\overline{\nu}_e$ events identified with fully-automated selection and reconstruction. We employ electromagnetic-induced shower characterization and analysis tools developed to identify $\nu_e/\overline{\nu}_e$-like events among complex interaction topologies present in ArgoNeuT data ($\langle E_{\bar{\nu}_e} \rangle = 4.3$ GeV and $\langle E_{\nu_e} \rangle = 10.5$ GeV). The techniques are widely applicable to searches for electron-flavor appearance at short- and long-baseline using liquid argon time projection chamber technology. Notably, the data-driven studies of GeV-scale $\nu_e/\overline{\nu}_e$ interactions presented in this Letter probe an energy regime relevant for future DUNE oscillation physics.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Improved Limits on Millicharged Particles Using the ArgoNeuT Experiment at Fermilab

A search for millicharged particles, a simple extension of the standard model, has been performed with the ArgoNeuT detector exposed to the Neutrinos at the Main Injector beam at Fermilab. The ArgoNeuT liquid argon time projection chamber detector enables a search for millicharged particles through the detection of visible electron recoils. We search for an event signature with two soft hits (MeV-scale energy depositions) aligned with the upstream target. For an exposure of the detector of 1.0×10 20 protons on target, one candidate event has been observed, compatible with the expected background. This search is sensitive to millicharged particles with charges between 10 -3 $e$ and 10 -1 $e$ and with masses in the range from 0.1 to 3 GeV. This measurement provides leading constraints on millicharged particles in this large unexplored parameter space region.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗