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Neutrino-oscillation search with cosmic-ray neutrinos

Conference ·
OSTI ID:6413471
It is shown that a sensitive search for neutrino oscillations involving more flavors than just nu/sub e/ and nu/sub ..mu../ is provided by measurement of the ratio of the total interaction rates of upward- and downward-going cosmic-ray neutrinos within a massive (approx. 10 kiloton) detector. Assuming mixing between all pairs of nu/sub e/, nu/sub ..mu../ and nu/sub tau/, the experiment is capable of observing time-averaging probabilities < P/sub e tau/>/sub t/ of magnitude set by mixing strengths corresponding to, e.g., the d- to s-quark mixing strength, and of reaching the limit ..delta..m/sub ij//sup 2/ identical with vertical bar m/sub i//sup 2/-m/sub j//sup 2/ vertical bar approx. = 10/sup -4/ eV/sup 2/, where m/sub i/, m/sub j/ are neutrino mass eigenstates, and P/sub e tau/ and p/sub ..mu.. tau/ are the probabilities for nu/sub e/ and nu/sub ..mu../, respectively, to oscillate into nu/sub tau/ after traversing a distance L approx. = diameter of the earth.
Research Organization:
Argonne National Lab., IL (USA); Delaware Univ., Newark (USA). Bartol Research Foundation; Pennsylvania Univ., Philadelphia (USA). Dept. of Physics; State Univ. of New York, Stony Brook (USA). Inst. for Theoretical Physics
DOE Contract Number:
W-31109-ENG-38
OSTI ID:
6413471
Report Number(s):
ANL-HEP-CP-82-53; CONF-8206116-26; ON: DE83009075
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English