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Title: Significant Excess of Electronlike Events in the MiniBooNE Short-Baseline Neutrino Experiment

Abstract

The MiniBooNE experiment at Fermilab reports results from an analysis of $$\nu_e$$ appearance data from $$12.84 \times 10^{20}$$ protons on target in neutrino mode, an increase of approximately a factor of two over previously reported results. A $$\nu_e$$ charged-current quasielastic event excess of $$381.2 \pm 85.2$$ events ($$4.5 \sigma$$) is observed in the energy range $$200<1250$$~MeV. Combining these data with the $$\bar \nu_e$$ appearance data from $$11.27 \times 10^{20}$$ protons on target in antineutrino mode, a total $$\nu_e$$ plus $$\bar \nu_e$$ charged-current quasielastic event excess of $$460.5 \pm 99.0$$ events ($$4.7 \sigma$$) is observed. If interpreted in a two-neutrino oscillation model, $${\nu}_{\mu} \rightarrow {\nu}_e$$, the best oscillation fit to the excess has a probability of $$21.1\%$$, while the background-only fit has a $$\chi^2$$ probability of $$6 \times 10^{-7}$$ relative to the best fit. The MiniBooNE data are consistent in energy and magnitude with the excess of events reported by the Liquid Scintillator Neutrino Detector (LSND), and the significance of the combined LSND and MiniBooNE excesses is $$6.0 \sigma$$. A two-neutrino oscillation interpretation of the data would require at least four neutrino types and indicate physics beyond the three neutrino paradigm.Although the data are fit with a two-neutrino oscillation model, othermore » models may provide better fits to the data.« less

Authors:
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Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States); Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States); Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP); National Science Foundation (NSF)
Contributing Org.:
MiniBooNE; MiniBooNE Collaboration
OSTI Identifier:
1483346
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1462213; OSTI ID: 1484651; OSTI ID: 1577253; OSTI ID: 1638228
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-18-24586; FERMILAB-PUB-18-219-AD-PPD-ND; arXiv:1805.12028
Journal ID: ISSN 0031-9007; PRLTAO; 221801
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC02-07CH11359; 89233218CNA000001; SC0007859; AC02-06CH11357
Resource Type:
Journal Article: Published Article
Journal Name:
Physical Review Letters
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: Physical Review Letters Journal Volume: 121 Journal Issue: 22; Journal ID: ISSN 0031-9007
Publisher:
American Physical Society (APS)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS; atomic; nuclear and particle physics; sterile neutrinos; neutrino oscillations; neutrino detectors

Citation Formats

Aguilar-Arevalo, A. A., Brown, B. C., Bugel, L., Cheng, G., Conrad, J. M., Cooper, R. L., Dharmapalan, R., Diaz, A., Djurcic, Z., Finley, D. A., Ford, R., Garcia, F. G., Garvey, G. T., Grange, J., Huang, E. -C., Huelsnitz, W., Ignarra, C., Johnson, R. A., Karagiorgi, G., Katori, T., Kobilarcik, T., Louis, W. C., Mariani, C., Marsh, W., Mills, G. B., Mirabal, J., Monroe, J., Moore, C. D., Mousseau, J., Nienaber, P., Nowak, J., Osmanov, B., Pavlovic, Z., Perevalov, D., Ray, H., Roe, B. P., Russell, A. D., Shaevitz, M. H., Spitz, J., Stancu, I., Tayloe, R., Thornton, R. T., Tzanov, M., Van de Water, R. G., White, D. H., Wickremasinghe, D. A., Zimmerman, E. D., and MiniBooNE Collaboration. Significant Excess of Electronlike Events in the MiniBooNE Short-Baseline Neutrino Experiment. United States: N. p., 2018. Web. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.221801.
Aguilar-Arevalo, A. A., Brown, B. C., Bugel, L., Cheng, G., Conrad, J. M., Cooper, R. L., Dharmapalan, R., Diaz, A., Djurcic, Z., Finley, D. A., Ford, R., Garcia, F. G., Garvey, G. T., Grange, J., Huang, E. -C., Huelsnitz, W., Ignarra, C., Johnson, R. A., Karagiorgi, G., Katori, T., Kobilarcik, T., Louis, W. C., Mariani, C., Marsh, W., Mills, G. B., Mirabal, J., Monroe, J., Moore, C. D., Mousseau, J., Nienaber, P., Nowak, J., Osmanov, B., Pavlovic, Z., Perevalov, D., Ray, H., Roe, B. P., Russell, A. D., Shaevitz, M. H., Spitz, J., Stancu, I., Tayloe, R., Thornton, R. T., Tzanov, M., Van de Water, R. G., White, D. H., Wickremasinghe, D. A., Zimmerman, E. D., & MiniBooNE Collaboration. Significant Excess of Electronlike Events in the MiniBooNE Short-Baseline Neutrino Experiment. United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.221801
Aguilar-Arevalo, A. A., Brown, B. C., Bugel, L., Cheng, G., Conrad, J. M., Cooper, R. L., Dharmapalan, R., Diaz, A., Djurcic, Z., Finley, D. A., Ford, R., Garcia, F. G., Garvey, G. T., Grange, J., Huang, E. -C., Huelsnitz, W., Ignarra, C., Johnson, R. A., Karagiorgi, G., Katori, T., Kobilarcik, T., Louis, W. C., Mariani, C., Marsh, W., Mills, G. B., Mirabal, J., Monroe, J., Moore, C. D., Mousseau, J., Nienaber, P., Nowak, J., Osmanov, B., Pavlovic, Z., Perevalov, D., Ray, H., Roe, B. P., Russell, A. D., Shaevitz, M. H., Spitz, J., Stancu, I., Tayloe, R., Thornton, R. T., Tzanov, M., Van de Water, R. G., White, D. H., Wickremasinghe, D. A., Zimmerman, E. D., and MiniBooNE Collaboration. 2018. "Significant Excess of Electronlike Events in the MiniBooNE Short-Baseline Neutrino Experiment". United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.221801.
@article{osti_1483346,
title = {Significant Excess of Electronlike Events in the MiniBooNE Short-Baseline Neutrino Experiment},
author = {Aguilar-Arevalo, A. A. and Brown, B. C. and Bugel, L. and Cheng, G. and Conrad, J. M. and Cooper, R. L. and Dharmapalan, R. and Diaz, A. and Djurcic, Z. and Finley, D. A. and Ford, R. and Garcia, F. G. and Garvey, G. T. and Grange, J. and Huang, E. -C. and Huelsnitz, W. and Ignarra, C. and Johnson, R. A. and Karagiorgi, G. and Katori, T. and Kobilarcik, T. and Louis, W. C. and Mariani, C. and Marsh, W. and Mills, G. B. and Mirabal, J. and Monroe, J. and Moore, C. D. and Mousseau, J. and Nienaber, P. and Nowak, J. and Osmanov, B. and Pavlovic, Z. and Perevalov, D. and Ray, H. and Roe, B. P. and Russell, A. D. and Shaevitz, M. H. and Spitz, J. and Stancu, I. and Tayloe, R. and Thornton, R. T. and Tzanov, M. and Van de Water, R. G. and White, D. H. and Wickremasinghe, D. A. and Zimmerman, E. D. and MiniBooNE Collaboration},
abstractNote = {The MiniBooNE experiment at Fermilab reports results from an analysis of $\nu_e$ appearance data from $12.84 \times 10^{20}$ protons on target in neutrino mode, an increase of approximately a factor of two over previously reported results. A $\nu_e$ charged-current quasielastic event excess of $381.2 \pm 85.2$ events ($4.5 \sigma$) is observed in the energy range $200<1250$~MeV. Combining these data with the $\bar \nu_e$ appearance data from $11.27 \times 10^{20}$ protons on target in antineutrino mode, a total $\nu_e$ plus $\bar \nu_e$ charged-current quasielastic event excess of $460.5 \pm 99.0$ events ($4.7 \sigma$) is observed. If interpreted in a two-neutrino oscillation model, ${\nu}_{\mu} \rightarrow {\nu}_e$, the best oscillation fit to the excess has a probability of $21.1\%$, while the background-only fit has a $\chi^2$ probability of $6 \times 10^{-7}$ relative to the best fit. The MiniBooNE data are consistent in energy and magnitude with the excess of events reported by the Liquid Scintillator Neutrino Detector (LSND), and the significance of the combined LSND and MiniBooNE excesses is $6.0 \sigma$. A two-neutrino oscillation interpretation of the data would require at least four neutrino types and indicate physics beyond the three neutrino paradigm.Although the data are fit with a two-neutrino oscillation model, other models may provide better fits to the data.},
doi = {10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.221801},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1483346}, journal = {Physical Review Letters},
issn = {0031-9007},
number = 22,
volume = 121,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Nov 26 00:00:00 EST 2018},
month = {Mon Nov 26 00:00:00 EST 2018}
}

Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record at https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.221801

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Cited by: 300 works
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Figures / Tables:

FIG. 1. FIG. 1. : The MiniBooNE neutrino mode $$E^{QE}_ν$$ distributions, corresponding to the total 12.84 × 1020 POT data, for $$\upsilon$$$$e$$ CCQE data (points with statistical errors) and background (histogram with systematic errors). The dashed curve shows the best fit to the neutrino-mode data assuming two-neutrino oscillations. The last bin ismore » for the energy interval from 1500–3000 MeV.« less

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