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DOE OSTI2025

Search for Neutrino Doublets and Triplets Using 11.4 yr of IceCube Data

We report a search for high-energy astrophysical neutrino multiplets, detections of multiple neutrino clusters in the same direction within 30 days, based on an analysis of 11.4 yr of IceCube data. A new search method optimized for transient neutrino emission with a monthly timescale is employed, providing a higher sensitivity to neutrino fluxes. This result is sensitive to neutrino transient emission, reaching per-flavor flux of approximately 10 -10 erg cm -2 s -1 from the Northern Sky in the energy range E ≳ 50 TeV. The number of doublets and triplets identified in this search is compatible with the atmospheric background hypothesis, which leads us to set limits on the nature of neutrino transient sources with emission timescales of one month.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2025

VERITAS and Multiwavelength Observations of the Blazar B3 2247+381 in Response to an IceCube Neutrino Alert

While the sources of the diffuse astrophysical neutrino flux detected by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory are still largely unknown, one of the promising methods to improve our understanding of them is investigating the potential temporal and spatial correlations between neutrino alerts and the electromagnetic radiation from blazars. We report on the multiwavelength target-of-opportunity observations of the blazar B3 2247+381, taken in response to an IceCube multiplet alert for a cluster of muon neutrino events compatible with the source location between 2022 May 20 and 2022 November 10. B3 2247+381 was not detected with VERITAS during this time period. The source was found to be in a low-flux state in the optical, ultraviolet, and gamma-ray bands for the time interval corresponding to the neutrino event, but was detected in the hard X-ray band with NuSTAR during this period. We find the multiwavelength spectral energy distribution is described well using a simple one-zone leptonic synchrotron self-Compton radiation model. Moreover, assuming the neutrinos originate from hadronic processes within the jet, the neutrino flux would be accompanied by a photon flux from the cascade emission, and the integrated photon flux required in such a case would significantly exceed the total multiwavelength fluxes and the VERITAS upper limits presented here. The lack of flaring activity observed with VERITAS, combined with the low multiwavelength flux levels, as well as the significance of the neutrino excess being at a 3σ level (uncorrected for trials), makes B3 2247+381 an unlikely source of the IceCube multiplet. We conclude that the neutrino excess is likely a background fluctuation.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2021

The continuous readout stream of the MicroBooNE liquid argon time projection chamber for detection of supernova burst neutrinos

The MicroBooNE continuous readout stream is a parallel readout of the MicroBooNE liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) which enables detection of non-beam events such as those from a supernova neutrino burst. The low energies of the supernova neutrinos and the intense cosmic-ray background flux due to the near-surface detector location makes triggering on these events very challenging. Instead, MicroBooNE relies on a delayed trigger generated by SNEWS (the Supernova Early Warning System) for detecting supernova neutrinos. The continuous readout of the LArTPC generates large data volumes, and requires the use of real-time compression algorithms (zero suppression and Huffman compression) implemented in an FPGA (field-programmable gate array) in the readout electronics. In this paper we present the results of the optimization of the data reduction algorithms, and their operational performance. To demonstrate the capability of the continuous stream to detect low-energy electrons, a sample of Michel electrons from stopping cosmic-ray muons is reconstructed and compared to a similar sample from the lossless triggered readout stream.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

DOE OSTI2025

Replication Data for: Measurement of the mean number of muons with energies above 500 GeV in air showers detected with the IceCube Neutrino Observatory

Measurement of the mean number of muons with energies above 500 GeV in air showers detected with the IceCube Neutrino Observatory This data release accompanies results submitted to Physical Review D describing the measurement of the average multiplicity of TeV muons with IceCube. It contains the data necessary to reproduce the main plots from the paper (Figs. 7 and 9), i.e. the numerical results for the average number of muons with energies above 500 GeV as a function of primary cosmic ray energy. For any questions about this data release, please write to analysis@icecube.wisc.edu. Files included in this release: <ul> <li>A README file <li>Files including data to reproduce the results plots from the paper (see below for details) <li>An example python script showing how to read and plot the data </ul> What is in the files icecube_Nmu500_X_Y.txt: Y indicates wether the file contains values obtained from experimental data (Y="data") or air-shower simulations (Y="MC"). X indicates the hadronic interaction model for which the plot is made. If Y="data", this means that the experimental data was interpreted using this model. If Y="MC", it means that the simulations were performed with this model. The three models included are Sibyll 2.1, QGSJet-II.04, and EPOS-LHC (see paper for references). The file with X="modelaverage" gives the average over the three individual results with the deviations from the average included in the systematic uncertainties. Please see the README file for details on how the data is structured in the files.

Astroparticle Physics↗

DOE OSTI2024

Search for an eV-Scale Sterile Neutrino Using Improved High-Energy νμ Event Reconstruction in IceCube

This Letter presents the result of a 3+1 sterile neutrino search using 10.7 yr of IceCube data. We analyze atmospheric muon neutrinos that traverse the Earth with energies ranging from 0.5 to 100 TeV, incorporating significant improvements in modeling neutrino flux and detector response compared to earlier studies. Notably, for the first time, we categorize data into starting and throughgoing events, distinguishing neutrino interactions with vertices inside or outside the instrumented volume, to improve energy resolution. The best-fit point for a 3+1 model is found to be at sin^{2}(2θ_{24})=0.16 and Δm_{41}^{2}=3.5 eV^{2}, which agrees with previous iterations of this Letter. The result is consistent with the null hypothesis of no sterile neutrinos with a p value of 3.1%.

Neutrino detection↗

DOE OSTI2026

Particle trajectory representation learning with masked point modeling

Liquid argon time projection chambers (LArTPCs) offer millimeter-scale 3D images of particle trajectories, enabling precision studies of neutrino oscillation, detection of supernova and solar neutrinos, searches for exotic dark matter, and proton decay. Current approaches utilize supervised machine learning models, requiring extensive simulations of particle physics and detector response that can introduce bias. Self-supervised learning (SSL), a machine learning approach that learns useful representations of unlabeled data from the data itself, has significantly advanced how large datasets are utilized for representation learning; however, its potential for applications to sensory data in high precision particle physics experiments remains largely unexplored. We introduce the Point-based liquid argon masked autoencoder (PoLAr-MAE), a self-supervised framework that learns physically meaningful representations directly from unlabeled LArTPC images. PoLAr-MAE achieves remarkable data efficiency for a point-level segmentation task, outperforming fully supervised methods in low data regimes. Linear classifiers on model outputs demonstrate robust performance across multiple downstream tasks. Our results position sensor-level SSL as a practical foundation model strategy for LArTPCs.

Young, Samuel [Stanford Univ., CA (United States)]↗

DOE OSTI2020

Detecting and studying high-energy collider neutrinos with FASER at the LHC

Neutrinos are copiously produced at particle colliders, but no collider neutrino has ever been detected. Colliders produce both neutrinos and anti-neutrinos of all flavors at very high energies, and they are therefore highly complementary to those from other sources. FASER, the Forward Search Experiment at the LHC, is ideally located to provide the first detection and study of collider neutrinos. We investigate the prospects for neutrino studies with FASER$ν$ , a proposed component of FASER, consisting of emulsion films interleaved with tungsten plates with a total target mass of 1.2 t, to be placed on-axis at the front of FASER. We estimate the neutrino fluxes and interaction rates, describe the FASER$ν$ detector, and analyze the characteristics of the signals and primary backgrounds. For an integrated luminosity of 150 fb –1 to be collected during Run 3 of the 14 TeV LHC in 2021-23, approximately 1300 electron neutrinos, 20,000 muon neutrinos, and 20 tau neutrinos will interact in FASER$ν$, with mean energies of 600 GeV to 1 TeV. With such rates and energies, FASER will measure neutrino cross sections at energies where they are currently unconstrained, will bound models of forward particle production, and could open a new window on physics beyond the standard model.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2026

Measurement of the light yield response of the Gd-compatible water-based liquid scintillator with the Brookhaven one-ton testbed

The water-based liquid scintillator (WbLS) enables hybrid detection by combining scintillation and Cherenkov signals, providing superior event reconstruction capabilities compared to conventional neutrino detectors. For this work, we measured the light yield of Gd-compatible WbLS at varying concentrations from 0.35% to 1% by mass, using cosmic-ray muons in a 1-ton scale detector at Brookhaven National Laboratory. The light yield is measured as (69.2 ± 6.9) ph/MeV at 0.35% concentration, which increased to (87.3 ± 8.7) ph/MeV at 1%. These results establish a quantitative basis for optimizing future WbLS-based detectors in neutrino physics.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2023

Detection and Calibration of Low-Energy Nuclear Recoils for Dark Matter and Neutrino Scattering Experiments

Detection of low-energy nuclear recoil events plays a central role in searches for particle dark matter interactions with atomic matter and studies of coherent neutrino scatters. Precise nuclear recoil calibration data allow the responses of these dark matter and neutrino detectors to be characterized and enable in situ evaluation of an experiment's sensitivity to anticipated signals. This article reviews the common methods for detection of nuclear recoil events and the wide variety of techniques that have been developed to calibrate detector response to nuclear recoils. We summarize the main experimental factors that are critical for accurate nuclear recoil calibrations, investigate mitigation strategies for different backgrounds and biases, and discuss how the presentation of calibration results can facilitate comparison between experiments. Lastly, we discuss the challenges for future nuclear recoil calibration efforts and the physics opportunities they may enable.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2025

Measurement of the mean number of muons with energies above 500 GeV in air showers detected with the IceCube Neutrino Observatory

We present a measurement of the mean number of muons with energies larger than 500 GeV in near-vertical extensive air showers initiated by cosmic rays with primary energies between 2.5 and 100 PeV. The measurement is based on events detected in coincidence between the surface and in-ice detectors of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. Air showers are recorded on the surface by IceTop, while a bundle of high-energy muons (TeV muons) from the shower can subsequently produce a tracklike event in the IceCube in-ice array. Results are obtained assuming the hadronic interaction models Sibyll 2.1, QGSJet-II.04, and EPOS-LHC. The measured number of TeV muons is found to be in agreement with predictions from air-shower simulations. The results have also been compared to a measurement of low-energy muons by IceTop, indicating an inconsistency between the predictions for low- and high-energy muons in simulations based on the EPOS-LHC model.

Abbasi, R. [Loyola University Chicago]↗

DOE OSTI2025

Demonstration of new MeV-scale capabilities in large neutrino LArTPCs using ambient radiogenic and cosmogenic activity in MicroBooNE

Large neutrino liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) experiments can broaden their physics reach by reconstructing and interpreting MeV-scale energy depositions, or blips, present in their data. We demonstrate new calorimetric and particle discrimination capabilities at the MeV energy scale using reconstructed blips in data from the MicroBooNE LArTPC at Fermilab. We observe a concentration of low-energy (<3 MeV) blips around fiberglass mechanical support struts along the time projection chamber edges with energy spectrum features consistent with the Compton edge of 2.614 MeV 208 Tl decay 𝛾 rays. These features are used to verify proper calibration of electron energy scales in MicroBooNE’s data to few percent precision and to measure the specific activity of 208 Tl in the fiberglass composing these struts, (11.7 ± 0.2⁢(stat) ± 3.1⁢(syst)) Bq/kg. Cosmogenically produced blips above 3 MeV in reconstructed energy are used to showcase the ability of large LArTPCs to distinguish between low-energy proton and electron energy depositions. An enriched sample of low-energy protons selected using this new particle discrimination technique is found to be smaller in data than in dedicated corsika cosmic-ray simulations, suggesting either incorrect corsika modeling of incident cosmic fluxes or particle transport modeling issues in geant4.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2020

A Search for IceCube Events in the Direction of ANITA Neutrino Candidates

During the first three flights of the Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna (ANITA) experiment, the collaboration detected several neutrino candidates. Two of these candidate events were consistent with an ultra-high-energy upgoing air shower and compatible with a tau neutrino interpretation. A third neutrino candidate event was detected in a search for Askaryan radiation in the Antarctic ice, although it is also consistent with the background expectation. The inferred emergence angle of the first two events is in tension with IceCube and ANITA limits on isotropic cosmogenic neutrino fluxes. Here we test the hypothesis that these events are astrophysical in origin, possibly caused by a point source in the reconstructed direction. Given that any ultra-high-energy tau neutrino flux traversing the Earth should be accompanied by a secondary flux in the TeV-PeV range, we search for these secondary counterparts in 7 yr of IceCube data using three complementary approaches. In the absence of any significant detection, we set upper limits on the neutrino flux from potential point sources. Finally, we compare these limits to ANITA's sensitivity in the same direction and show that an astrophysical explanation of these anomalous events under standard model assumptions is severely constrained regardless of source spectrum.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2020

The Monte Carlo simulation of the Borexino detector

Borexino is a 300 ton sub-MeV liquid scintillator solar neutrino detector which has been running at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (Italy) since 2007. Thanks to its unprecedented radio-purity, it was able to measure the flux of 7 Be, 8 B, pp, and pep solar neutrinos and to detect geo-neutrinos. A reliable simulation of the detector is an invaluable tool for all Borexino physics analyses. The simulation accounts for the energy loss of particles in all the detector components, the generation of the scintillation photons, their propagation within the liquid scintillator volume, and a detailed simulation of the electronics chain. A novel efficient method for simulating the external background which survives the Borexino passive shield was developed. This technique allows to reliably predict the effect of the contamination in the peripheral construction materials. The techniques developed to simulate the Borexino detector and their level of refinement are of possible interest to the neutrino and dark matter communities, especially for current and future large-volume liquid scintillator experiments.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

DOE OSTI2025

Reactor antineutrino directionality measurement with the PROSPECT-I detector

The PROSPECT-I detector has several features that enable measurement of the direction of a compact neutrino source. Here, in this paper, a detailed report on the directional measurements made on electron antineutrinos emitted from the High Flux Isotope Reactor is presented. With an estimated true neutrino (reactor to detector) direction of φ = 40.8° ± 0.7° and θ= 98.6° ± 0.4°, the PROSPECT-I detector is able to reconstruct an average neutrino direction of φ = 39.4° ± 2.9° and θ = 97.6° ± 1.6°. This measurement is made with approximately 48 000 Inverse Beta Decay signal events and is the most precise directional reconstruction of reactor antineutrinos to date.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2020

Review of uncertainties in the cosmic supernova relic neutrino background

We review the computation of and associated uncertainties in the current understanding of the relic neutrino background due to core-collapse supernovae, black hole formation and neutron star merger events. We consider the current status of uncertainties due to the nuclear equation of state (EoS), the progenitor masses, the source supernova neutrino spectrum, the cosmological star formation rate, the stellar initial mass function, neutrino oscillations, and neutrino self-interactions. We summarize the current viability of future neutrino detectors to distinguish the nuclear EoS and the temperature of supernova neutrinos via the detected relic supernova neutrino spectrum.

Astronomy & Astrophysics↗

DOE OSTI2023

Status of DUNE Offline Computing

We summarize the status of Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) Offline Software and Computing program. We describe plans for the computing infrastructure needed to acquire, catalog, reconstruct, simulate and analyze the data from the DUNE experiment and its prototypes in pursuit of the experiment's physics goals of precision measurements of neutrino oscillation parameters, detection of astrophysical neutrinos, measurement of neutrino interaction properties and searches for physics beyond the Standard Model. In contrast to traditional HEP computational problems, DUNE's Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber data consist of simple but very large (many GB) data objects which share many characteristics with astrophysical images. We have successfully reconstructed and simulated data from 4% prototype detector runs at CERN. The data volume from the full DUNE detector, when it starts commissioning late in this decade will present memory management challenges in conventional processing but significant opportunities to use advances in machine learning and pattern recognition as a frontier user of High Performance Computing facilities capable of massively parallel processing. Our goal is to develop infrastructure resources that are flexible and accessible enough to support creative software solutions as HEP computing evolves.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

DOE OSTI2025

A search for Heavy Neutral Leptons with masses up to 150 MeV and studies on scintillation light detection in SBND

Introduction Neutrino physics is one of today’s most promising fields in particle physics. The discovery of neutrino oscillations is an evidence of their mass not being null. However, the Standard Model of elementary particles (SM) does not contain a mechanism that generates them, so we have to search beyond the SM to find answers. Other unknowns remain open, such as the amount of CP symmetry violated in the lepton sector that could help explain the differences between matter and antimatter that formed the present universe. Nor is it understood why these particles are so light, more than six orders of magnitude below the next fermion, the electron. A possible explanation is the existence of heavier neutrino mass states usually referred as heavy neutral leptons (HNLs). One of the most advanced technologies for detecting neutrino interactions is the liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC). LArTPC detectors form a 3D image of the ionized electrons in the interaction, producing a detailed description of each neutrino event. Argon is also a prolific scintillator (40k photons/MeV) with light signals indicating the interaction time. The Short-Baseline Near Detector (SBND), a 112-active mass LArTPC at Fermilab, will measure millions of neutrino interactions from the Booster Neutrino Beam (BNB). As the near (L=110 m) detector of the Short-Baseline neutrino program, SBND will search for a fourth light neutrino (∼ eV) in the coming years. This hypothesis could explain the anomalous data observed in the LSND and MiniBooNE experiments.

Álvarez Garrote, Rodrigo [Madrid U.] (ORCID:000000↗

DOE OSTI2025

Neutrino-portal dark matter detection prospects at a future muon collider

With no concrete evidence for nongravitational interactions of dark matter to date, it is natural to wonder whether dark matter couples predominantly to the Standard Model (SM)’s neutrinos. Neutrino interactions (and the possible existence of additional neutrinophilic mediators) are substantially less understood than those of other SM particles, yet this picture will change dramatically in the coming decades with new neutrino sources. One potential new source arises with the construction of a high-energy muon collider (MuCol); due to muons’ instability, a MuCol is a source of high-energy collimated neutrinos. Importantly, since the physics of muon decays (into neutrinos) is very well-understood, this leads to a neutrino flux with systematic uncertainties far smaller than fluxes from conventional high-energy (proton-sourced) neutrino beams. In this work, we study the capabilities of a potential neutrino detector, “ MuCol ν ”, placed ∼ 100 m downstream of the MuCol interaction point. The MuCol ν detector would be especially capable of searching for a neutrinophilic mediator ϕ through the mononeutrino scattering process ν μ N → μ + ϕ X , exceeding searches from other terrestrial approaches for m ϕ in the ∼ few MeV- ten GeV range. Even with a 10 kg-yr exposure, MuCol ν is capable of searching for well-motivated classes of thermal freeze-out and freeze-in neutrino-portal dark matter. Published by the American Physical Society 2025

Adhikary, Jyotismita (ORCID:0000000253894170)↗