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DOE OSTI2017

MicroBooNE: The Search For The MiniBooNE Low Energy Excess

This thesis describes work towards the search for a low energy excess in MicroBooNE. What MicroBooNE is, what the low energy excess is, and how one searches for the latter in the former will be described in detail.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2018

The Search for Low Energy Single Photons in MicroBooNE

The MiniBooNE experiment is a Cherenkov based experiment located on the Booster Neutrino Beam. It observed an unexplained excess of $\nu_e$ charged current quasi-elastic (CCQE) event candidates in the reconstructed $E_{\nu}^{QE}\approx 200-475$ MeV region known as the ``Low Energy Excess'' (LEE). These $\nu_e$ CCQE event candidates were in the form of lone showers, a signature left by both electrons and photons indistinguishably in the MiniBooNE detector. For this reason the identity of the MiniBooNE LEE as a photon or electron excess is currently unknown. Liquid argon time projection chambers (LArTPCs) are a relatively new type of detector able to distinguish between photons and electrons. The MicroBooNE detector is one such LArTPC and is situated on the same beamline and at a similar baseline as the MiniBooNE detector. This makes MicroBooNE an ideal experiment to test the photon and electron interpretations of the MiniBooNE LEE. This thesis presents the search for a photon LEE using an enhanced rate of neutrino-induced neutral current (NC) $\Delta$ production and subsequent radiative decay (NC $\Delta$ radiative) as the candidate source. A multi-stage NC $\Delta$ radiative event selection has been developed which takes full advantage of MicroBooNE's photon-electron discrimination capability. The ability of the search to select NC $\Delta$ radiative events in MicroBooNE and validation of the search with 4.8$\times 10^{19}$ protons-on-target worth of data are presented. Also shown are preliminary studies of MicroBooNE's sensitivity to a NC $\Delta$ radiative interpretation of the LEE.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2018

New light Higgs boson and short-baseline neutrino anomalies

Here, the low-energy excesses observed by the MiniBooNE experiment have, to date, defied a convincing explanation under the standard model even with accommodation for nonzero neutrino mass. In this paper we explore a new oscillation mechanism to explain these anomalies, invoking a light neutrinophilic Higgs boson, conceived to induce a low Dirac neutrino mass in accord with experimental limits. Beam neutrinos forward scattering off of a locally overdense relic neutrino background give rise to a novel matter effect with an energy-specific resonance. An enhanced oscillation around this resonance peak produces flavor transitions which are highly consistent with the MiniBooNE neutrino- and antineutrino-mode data sets. The model provides substantially improved χ2 values beyond either the no-oscillation hypothesis or the more commonly explored 3+1 sterile neutrino hypothesis. This mechanism would introduce distinctive signatures at each baseline in the upcoming short-baseline neutrino program at Fermilab, presenting opportunities for further exploration.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Search for an Anomalous Production of Charged-Current 𝜈 𝑒 Interactions without Visible Pions across Multiple Kinematic Observables in MicroBooNE

This Letter presents an investigation of low-energy electron-neutrino interactions in the Fermilab Booster Neutrino Beam by the MicroBooNE experiment, motivated by the excess of electron-neutrino-like events observed by the MiniBooNE experiment. This is the first measurement to use data from all five years of operation of the MicroBooNE experiment, corresponding to an exposure of 1.11 × 10 21 protons on target, a 70% increase on past results. Two samples of electron neutrino interactions without visible pions are used, one with visible protons and one without any visible protons. The MicroBooNE data show reasonable agreement with the nominal prediction, with 𝑝 values ≥26.7% when the two 𝜈 𝑒 samples are combined, though the prediction exceeds the data in limited regions of phase space. The data are further compared to two empirical models that modify the predicted rate of electron-neutrino interactions in different variables in the simulation to match the unfolded MiniBooNE low energy excess. In the first model, this unfolding is performed as a function of electron neutrino energy, while the second model aims to match the observed shower energy and angle distributions of the MiniBooNE excess. This measurement excludes an electronlike interpretation of the MiniBooNE excess based on these models at >99% CLs in all kinematic variables.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2015

CCQE, 2p2h excitations and ν—energy reconstruction

We analyze the MiniBooNE muon neutrino CCQE-like dσ/dT{sub μ} d cos θ{sub μ} data using a theoretical model that, among other nuclear effects, includes RPA correlations and 2p2h (multinucleon) mechanisms. These corrections turn out to be essential for the description of the data. We find that MiniBooNE CCQE-like data are fully compatible with former determinations of the nucleon axial mass M{sub A} ∼ 1.05 GeV. This is in sharp contrast with several previous analysis where anomalously large values of M{sub A} ∼ 1.4 GeV have been suggested. We also show that because of the the multinucleon mechanism effects, the algorithm used to reconstruct the neutrino energy is not adequate when dealing with quasielastic-like events. Finally, we analyze the MiniBooNE unfolded cross section, and show that it exhibits an excess (deficit) of low (high) energy neutrinos, which is an artifact of the unfolding process that ignores 2p2h mechanisms.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2019

Search for a low-energy excess of electron neutrinos in MicroBooNE

The Micro Booster Neutrino Experiment (MicroBooNE) is a Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber (LArTPC) designed for short-baseline neutrino physics at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. The main physics goal of MicroBooNE is to address the low-energy excess of electron-like events observed by the MiniBooNE experiment and, if confirmed, clarify its nature. The MiniBooNE experiment is a Cherenkov detector and this technology does not allow to distinguish between electrons and single photons in the final state. LArTPC detectors, instead, offer excellent granularity and powerful separation between electrons and photons. For this reason, they represent an ideal technology for the detection of electron neutrino interactions. This thesis presents the first fully-automated electron neutrino selection in a LArTPC. The selection looks for charged-current electron neutrino interactions with no pions and at least one proton in the final state. It is applied on a sub-sample of the data acquired by the detector in the Booster Neutrino Beam, corresponding to $4.34\times10^{19}$~protons-on-target. A validation of the analysis is performed on two orthogonal side-bands, enriched with neutral-current and charged-current muon neutrino interactions, respectively. The uncertainties on the neutrino cross sections, flux, and detector simulation are evaluated. The MicroBooNE detector is placed off-axis with the Neutrinos at the Main Injector (NuMI) beam. An independent dataset of events acquired by triggering on the NuMI beam is employed to measure the significance of the detection of electron neutrinos in the beam using the selection presented here. The sensitivity of the MicroBooNE experiment to the MiniBooNE low-energy excess of electron-like events is evaluated. The efficiency and background-rejection power necessary to achieve $5\sigma$ sensitivity are also quantified.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2024

First search for an anomalous excess of charged-current $\nu_e$ interactions without visible pions using the full MicroBooNE dataset

This public note presents an investigation of low-energy electron-neutrino events in the Fermilab Booster Neutrino Beam by the MicroBooNE experiment. This search is motivated by the excess of low energy electromagnetic events observed by the MiniBooNE experiment and, more broadly, by the landscape of neutrino anomalies observed at short baselines. This is the first measurement to use all of the data collected by the MicroBooNE experiment, corresponding to $1.1\times 10^{21}$ protons on target. Two exclusive samples of electron neutrinos without visible pions are used, one with visible protons and one without any visible protons. MicroBooNE data is compared to two empirical models of the MiniBooNE low energy excess, one obtained by enhancing the electron-neutrino content as a function of the neutrino energy, and one representing the excess for the first time as a function of the kinematics of shower energy and angle. This measurement excludes an electron-like interpretation of the MiniBooNE excess based on these models at $\geq 99\%$ confidence level in all kinematic variables.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Search for NC Delta Radiative Decay Single Photon Events In MicroBooNE

MicroBooNE, a liquid argon time projection chamber at Fermilab, is investigating the MiniBooNE anomaly, which consists of an excess of low-energy electromagnetic showers in a neutrino beam. Recent results from MicroBooNE have ruled out a 3+1 sterile neutrino explanation of the anomaly, leaving the single photon-like explanation as the most likely possibility. In this poster, we describe results of a new expanded search for the neutral current Delta radiative decay topology, a rare type of event which is by far the largest expected source of neutrino-induced single photons. Using two different reconstruction paradigms simultaneously, we study in detail events both with and without visible hadronic activity; either category of event could explain the MiniBooNE anomaly, but the two could have very different implications for underlying physics. We find that events with visible protons are excluded as an explanation of the MiniBooNE anomaly, but events without visible protons remain a possible explanation requiring further study.

Hagaman, Lee [Nevis Labs, Columbia U.] (ORCID:0000↗
DOE OSTI2020

On the decaying-sterile-neutrino solution to the electron (anti)neutrino appearance anomalies

We explore the hypothesis that the unexplained data from LSND and MiniBooNE are evidence for a new, heavy neutrino mass-eigenstate that mixes with the muon-type neutrino and decays into an electron-type neutrino and a new, very light scalar particle. We consider two different decay scenarios, one with Majorana neutrinos, one with Dirac neutrinos; both fit the data equally well. We find a reasonable, albeit not excellent, fit to the data of MiniBooNE and LSND. The decaying-sterile-neutrino hypothesis, however, cleanly evades constraints from disappearance searches and precision measurements of leptonic meson decays, as long as $1~{\rm MeV}\gtrsim m_4\gtrsim 10$~keV. The SBN program at Fermilab should be able to definitively test the decaying-sterile-neutrino hypothesis.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Search for light sterile neutrinos with two neutrino beams at MicroBooNE

The existence of three distinct neutrino flavours, ν e , ν μ and ν τ , is a central tenet of the Standard Model of particle physics. Quantum-mechanical interference can allow a neutrino of one initial flavour to be detected sometime later as a different flavour, a process called neutrino oscillation. Several anomalous observations inconsistent with this three-flavour picture have motivated the hypothesis that an additional neutrino state exists, which does not interact directly with matter, termed as ‘sterile’ neutrino, ν s . This includes anomalous observations from the Liquid Scintillator Neutrino Detector (LSND)3 experiment and Mini-Booster Neutrino Experiment (MiniBooNE), consistent with ν μ → ν e transitions at a distance inconsistent with the three-neutrino picture. Here we use data obtained from the MicroBooNE liquid-argon time projection chamber in two accelerator neutrino beams to exclude the single light sterile neutrino interpretation of the LSND and MiniBooNE anomalies at the 95% confidence level (CL). Moreover, we rule out a notable portion of the parameter space that could explain the gallium anomaly. This is one of the first measurements to use two accelerator neutrino beams to break a degeneracy between ν e appearance and disappearance, which would otherwise weaken the sensitivity to the sterile neutrino hypothesis. We find no evidence for either ν μ → ν e flavour transitions or ν e disappearance that would indicate non-standard flavour oscillations. Our results indicate that previous anomalous observations consistent with ν μ → ν e transitions cannot be explained by introducing a single sterile neutrino state.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Consistent analysis of neutral- and charged-current (anti)neutrino scattering off carbon

Good understanding of the cross sections for (anti)neutrino scattering off nuclear targets in the few-GeV energy region is a prerequisite for the correct interpretation of results of ongoing and planned oscillation experiments. To clarify a possible source of disagreement between recent measurements of the cross sections on carbon, we analyze the available data within an approach based on the realistic spectral function of carbon, treating neutral-current elastic (NCE) and charged-current quasielastic (CCQE) processes on equal footing. We show that the axial mass from the shape analysis of the MiniBooNE data is in good agreement with the results reported by the BNL E734 and NOMAD Collaborations. However, the combined analysis of the NCE and CCQE data does not seem to support the contribution of multinucleon final states being large enough to explain the normalization of the MiniBooNE-reported cross sections.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗