Developing novel techniques for readout, calibration and event selection in the NOvA long-baseline neutrino experiment
Abstract
The NOvA long-baseline neutrino experiment uses a fine-grained, low-Z, fully active detector that offers unprecedented electron neutrino identification capabilities for a detector of its scale. In this award’s proposal, the PI outlined the development and implementation of novel techniques for channel readout, detector calibration, and event reconstruction that make full use of the strengths of the NOvA detector technology. In particular, this included designing custom event reconstruction algorithms that utilize the rich information available in the substructure of hadronic and electromagnetic showers. Exploiting this information provides not only substantial improvement in background rejection for the electron neutrino search but also better shower energy resolution (improving the precision on measured oscillation parameters) and a high-energy electromagnetic calibration source (through neutral pion events). The PI further proposed developing and deploying a new electronics readout scheme compatible with the existing hardware that can reduce near detector event pile-up and can offer powerful timing information to the reconstruction, allowing for cosmic ray muon tagging via track direction determination, among other things. In conjunction with the above, the PI proposed leading the calibration of the NOvA detectors, including characterizing individual electronics channels, correcting for spatial variations across the detector, and establishing absolute event energy scales.more »
- Authors:
-
- California Inst. of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- California Institute of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP)
- Contributing Org.:
- Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory; NOvA Collaboration
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1327930
- Report Number(s):
- DOE-CALTECH-06543
TRN: US1700329
- DOE Contract Number:
- SC0006543
- Resource Type:
- Technical Report
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY; ELECTRON NEUTRINOS; CALIBRATION; READOUT SYSTEMS; NEUTRINO OSCILLATION; COSMIC MUONS; ENERGY RESOLUTION; ALGORITHMS; PARTICLE TRACKS; ACCURACY; DESIGN; IMPLEMENTATION; PROPOSALS; VARIATIONS; SHOWER COUNTERS; PARTICLE DISCRIMINATION; SPACE DEPENDENCE
Citation Formats
Patterson, Ryan, Backhouse, Christopher, Bays, Kirk, Lozier, Joseph, and Pershey, Daniel. Developing novel techniques for readout, calibration and event selection in the NOvA long-baseline neutrino experiment. United States: N. p., 2016.
Web. doi:10.2172/1327930.
Patterson, Ryan, Backhouse, Christopher, Bays, Kirk, Lozier, Joseph, & Pershey, Daniel. Developing novel techniques for readout, calibration and event selection in the NOvA long-baseline neutrino experiment. United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/1327930
Patterson, Ryan, Backhouse, Christopher, Bays, Kirk, Lozier, Joseph, and Pershey, Daniel. 2016.
"Developing novel techniques for readout, calibration and event selection in the NOvA long-baseline neutrino experiment". United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/1327930. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1327930.
@article{osti_1327930,
title = {Developing novel techniques for readout, calibration and event selection in the NOvA long-baseline neutrino experiment},
author = {Patterson, Ryan and Backhouse, Christopher and Bays, Kirk and Lozier, Joseph and Pershey, Daniel},
abstractNote = {The NOvA long-baseline neutrino experiment uses a fine-grained, low-Z, fully active detector that offers unprecedented electron neutrino identification capabilities for a detector of its scale. In this award’s proposal, the PI outlined the development and implementation of novel techniques for channel readout, detector calibration, and event reconstruction that make full use of the strengths of the NOvA detector technology. In particular, this included designing custom event reconstruction algorithms that utilize the rich information available in the substructure of hadronic and electromagnetic showers. Exploiting this information provides not only substantial improvement in background rejection for the electron neutrino search but also better shower energy resolution (improving the precision on measured oscillation parameters) and a high-energy electromagnetic calibration source (through neutral pion events). The PI further proposed developing and deploying a new electronics readout scheme compatible with the existing hardware that can reduce near detector event pile-up and can offer powerful timing information to the reconstruction, allowing for cosmic ray muon tagging via track direction determination, among other things. In conjunction with the above, the PI proposed leading the calibration of the NOvA detectors, including characterizing individual electronics channels, correcting for spatial variations across the detector, and establishing absolute event energy scales. All three of these lines of effort have been successfully completed, feeding directly into the NOvA’s recent exciting neutrino oscillation results. The techniques developed under this award are detailed in this final technical report.},
doi = {10.2172/1327930},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1327930},
journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Sat Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 2016},
month = {Sat Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 2016}
}
Works referenced in this record:
Improved Search for Muon-Neutrino to Electron-Neutrino Oscillations in MINOS
journal, October 2011
- Adamson, P.; Auty, D. J.; Ayres, D. S.
- Physical Review Letters, Vol. 107, Issue 18
New Measurement of Antineutrino Oscillation with the Full Detector Configuration at Daya Bay
journal, September 2015
- An, F. P.; Balantekin, A. B.; Band, H. R.
- Physical Review Letters, Vol. 115, Issue 11
The NOvA experiment: status and outlook
journal, February 2013
- Patterson, R. B.
- Nuclear Physics B - Proceedings Supplements, Vol. 235-236