33 research outputs found
Measurement of the neutrino velocity with the OPERA detector in the CNGS beam using the 2012 dedicated data
No full textIn spring 2012 CERN provided two weeks of a short bunch proton beam dedicated to the neutrino velocity measurement over a distance of 730 km. The OPERA neutrino experiment at the underground Gran Sasso Laboratory used an upgraded setup compared to the 2011 measurements, improving the measurement time accuracy. An independent timing system based on the Resistive Plate Chambers was exploited providing a time accuracy of ~1 ns. Neutrino and anti-neutrino contributions were separated using the information provided by the OPERA magnetic spectrometers. The new analysis profited from the precision geodesy measurements of the neutrino baseline and of the CNGS/LNGS clock synchronization. The neutrino arrival time with respect to the one computed assuming the speed of light in vacuum is found to be δt ν ≡ T OF c - T OF ν = (0.6±0.4 (stat.)±3.0 (syst.)) ns and δtν≡TOF c-TOFν = (1.7±1.4(stat.}±3.1(syst.) ns for νμ and νμ, respectively. This corresponds to a limit on the muon neutrino velocity with respect to the speed of light of -1.8 × 10-6 < (v ν - c)/c < 2.3 × 10-6 at 90% C.L. This new measurement confirms with higher accuracy the revised OPERA result. © 2013 SISSA.0OPERA Collaboration ;14 pp.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe
Measurement of the TeV atmospheric muon charge ratio with the complete OPERA data set
No full textThe OPERA detector, designed to search for nu(mu) -> nu(tau) oscillations in the CNGS beam, is located in the underground Gran Sasso laboratory, a privileged location to study TeV-scale cosmic rays. For the analysis here presented, the detector was used to measure the atmospheric muon charge ratio in the TeV region. OPERA collected charge-separated cosmic ray data between 2008 and 2012. More than 3 million atmospheric muon events were detected and reconstructed, among which about 110000 multiple muon bundles. The charge ratio R-mu = N-mu+/N-mu- was measured separately for single and for multiple muon events. The analysis exploited the inversion of the magnet polarity which was performed on purpose during the 2012 Run. The combination of the two data sets with opposite magnet polarities allowed minimizing systematic uncertainties and reaching an accurate determination of the muon charge ratio. Data were fitted to obtain relevant parameters on the composition of primary cosmic rays and the associated kaon production in the forward fragmentation region. In the surface energy range 1-20 TeV investigated by OPERA, R-mu is well described by a parametric model including only pion and kaon contributions to themuon flux, showing no significant contribution of the prompt component. The energy independence supports the validity of Feynman scaling in the fragmentation region up to 200 TeV/nucleon primary energy
Procedure for short-lived particle detection in the OPERA experiment and its application to charm decays
No full textThe OPERA experiment, designed to perform the first observation of oscillations in appearance mode through the detection of the leptons produced in charged current interactions, has collected data from 2008 to 2012. In the present paper, the procedure developed to detect particle decays, occurring over distances of the order of 1 mm from the neutrino interaction point, is described in detail. The results of its application to the search for charmed hadrons are then presented as a validation of the methods for appearance detection.The OPERA experiment, designed to perform the first observation of oscillations in appearance mode through the detection of the leptons produced in charged current interactions, has collected data from 2008 to 2012. In the present paper, the procedure developed to detect particle decays, occurring over distances of the order of from the neutrino interaction point, is described in detail and applied to the search for charmed hadrons, showing similar decay topologies as the lepton. In the analysed sample, 50 charm decay candidate events are observed while are expected, proving that the detector performance and the analysis chain applied to neutrino events are well reproduced by the OPERA simulation and thus validating the methods for appearance detection.The OPERA experiment, designed to perform the first observation of oscillations in appearance mode through the detection of the leptons produced in charged current interactions, has collected data from 2008 to 2012. In the present paper, the procedure developed to detect particle decays, occurring over distances of the order of 1 mm from the neutrino interaction point, is described in detail. The results of its application to the search for charmed hadrons are then presented as a validation of the methods for appearance detection
The OPERA experiment in the CERN to Gran Sasso neutrino beam
No full textThe OPERA neutrino oscillation experiment has been designed to prove the appearance of ντ in a nearly pure νμ beam (CNGS) produced at CERN and detected in the underground Hall C of the Gran Sasso Laboratory, 730 km away from the source. In OPERA, τ leptons resulting from the interaction of ντ are produced in target units called bricks made of nuclear emulsion films interleaved with lead plates. The OPERA target contains 150000 of such bricks, for a total mass of 1.25 kton, arranged into walls interleaved with plastic scintillator strips. The detector is split into two identical supermodules, each supermodule containing a target section followed by a magnetic spectrometer for momentum and charge measurement of penetrating particles. Real time information from the scintillators and the spectrometers provide the identification of the bricks where the neutrino interactions occurred. The candidate bricks are extracted from the walls and, after X-ray marking and an exposure to cosmic rays for alignment, their emulsion films are developed and sent to the emulsion scanning laboratories to perform the accurate scan of the event. In this paper, we review the design and construction of the detector and of its related infrastructures, and report on some technical performances of the various components. The construction of the detector started in 2003 and it was completed in Summer 2008. The experiment is presently in the data taking phase. The whole sequence of operations has proven to be successful, from triggering to brick selection, development, scanning and event analysis
Measurement of TeV atmospheric muon charge ratio with the full OPERA data
No full text8 pages, 2 figures, 4 tablesThe OPERA detector, designed to search for oscillations in the CNGS beam, is located in the underground Gran Sasso laboratory, a privileged location to study TeV-scale cosmic rays. For the analysis here presented, the detector was used to measure the atmospheric muon charge ratio in the TeV region. OPERA collected charge-separated cosmic ray data between 2008 and 2012. More than 3 million atmospheric muon events were detected and reconstructed, among which about 110000 multiple muon bundles. The charge ratio was measured separately for single and for multiple muon events. The analysis exploited the inversion of the magnet polarity which was performed on purpose during the 2012 Run. The combination of the two data sets with opposite magnet polarities allowed minimizing systematic uncertainties and reaching an accurate determination of the muon charge ratio. Data were fitted to obtain relevant parameters on the composition of primary cosmic rays and the associated kaon production in the forward fragmentation region. In the surface energy range 1-20 TeV investigated by OPERA, is well described by a parametric model including only pion and kaon contributions to the muon flux, showing no significant contribution of the prompt component. The energy independence supports the validity of Feynman scaling in the fragmentation region up to TeV/nucleon primary energy
Measurement of the neutrino velocity with the OPERA detector in the CNGS beam
No full textThe OPERA neutrino experiment at the underground Gran Sasso Laboratory has measured the velocity of neutrinos from the CERN CNGS beam over a baseline of about 730 km with much higher accuracy than previous studies conducted with accelerator neutrinos. The measurement is based on high-statistics data taken by OPERA in the years 2009, 2010 and 2011. Dedicated upgrades of the CNGS timing system and of the OPERA detector, as well as a high precision geodesy campaign for the measurement of the neutrino baseline, allowed reaching comparable systematic and statistical accuracies. An early arrival time of CNGS muon neutrinos with respect to the one computed assuming the speed of light in vacuum of (60.7 \pm 6.9 (stat.) \pm 7.4 (sys.)) ns was measured. This anomaly corresponds to a relative difference of the muon neutrino velocity with respect to the speed of light (v-c)/c = (2.48 \pm 0.28 (stat.) \pm 0.30 (sys.)) \times 10-5.The OPERA neutrino experiment at the underground Gran Sasso Laboratory has measured the velocity of neutrinos from the CERN CNGS beam over a baseline of about 730 km. The measurement is based on data taken by OPERA in the years 2009, 2010 and 2011. Dedicated upgrades of the CNGS timing system and of the OPERA detector, as well as a high precision geodesy campaign for the measurement of the neutrino baseline, allowed reaching comparable systematic and statistical accuracies. An arrival time of CNGS muon neutrinos with respect to the one computed assuming the speed of light in vacuum of (6.5 +/- 7.4(stat.)((+8.3)(-8.0)sys.))ns was measured corresponding to a relative difference of the muon neutrino velocity with respect to the speed of light (v-c)/c =(2.7 +/-3.1(stat.)((+3.4)(-3.3)(sys.))x10^(-6). The above result, obtained by comparing the time distributions of neutrino interactions and of protons hitting the CNGS target in 10.5 microseconds long extractions, was confirmed by a test performed at the end of 2011 using a short bunch beam allowing to measure the neutrino time of flight at the single interaction level
Measurement of the atmospheric muon charge ratio with the OPERA detector
No full text14 pages, 10 figuresThe OPERA detector at the Gran Sasso underground laboratory (LNGS) was used to measure the atmospheric muon charge ratio in the TeV energy region. We analyzed 403069 atmospheric muons corresponding to 113.4 days of livetime during the 2008 CNGS run. We computed separately the muon charge ratio for single and for multiple muon events in order to select different energy regions of the primary cosmic ray spectrum and to test the charge ratio dependence on the primary composition. The measured charge ratio values were corrected taking into account the charge-misidentification errors. Data have also been grouped in five bins of the "vertical surface energy". A fit to a simplified model of muon production in the atmosphere allowed the determination of the pion and kaon charge ratios weighted by the cosmic ray energy spectrum
Determination of a time-shift in the OPERA set-up using high-energy horizontal muons in the LVD and OPERA detectors
No full textThe purpose of this work is to report the measurement of a time-shift in the OPERA setup in a way totally independent of the Time-Of-Flight (TOF) measurements of CNGS neutrino events and without the need to know the distance between the two laboratories, CERN and LNGS, where the neutrinos are produced and detected, respectively. The LVD and OPERA experiments are both installed in the same laboratory: LNGS. The relative position of the two detectors, separated by an average distance of similar to 160 m, allows the use of very high-energy horizontal muons to cross-calibrate the timing systems of the two detectors, using a TOF technique, which, as stated above, is totally independent of the TOF of CNGS neutrino events. Indeed, the OPERA-LVD direction lies along the so-called "Teramo anomaly", a region in the Gran Sasso massif where LVD has established, many years ago, the existence of an anomaly in the mountain structure, which exhibits a low m.w.e. thickness for horizontal directions. The "abundant" high-energy horizontal muons (nearly 100 per year) going through LVD and OPERA exist because of this anomaly in the mountain orography. The total live time of the data in coincidence between the two experiments correspond to 1200 days from mid 2007 until March 2012. The time coincidence study of LVD and OPERA detectors is based on 306 cosmic-horizontal-muon events and shows the existence of a negative time-shift in the OPERA set-up of the order of Delta t(AB) = -(73 +/- 9) ns when two calendar periods, A and B, are compared. The first, A, goes from August 2007 to August 2008 plus the period from January 2012 to March 2012; the second period, B, goes from August 2008 to December 2011. This result shows a systematic effect in the OPERA timing system present from August 2008 until December 2011. The size of the effect, in terms of the cosmic horizontal muons TOF, is comparable with the neutrino velocity excess recently measured by OPERA. It is probably interesting not to forget that with the MRPC technology developed by the ALICE Bologna group the TOF world record accuracy of 20 ps was reached. This technology can be implemented at LNGS for a high-precision determination of TOF with the CNGS neutrino beams. If new experiments are needed for the study of neutrino velocities they must be able to detect effects an order of magnitude smaller than the value of the OPERA systematic effect
Addendum: search for ν μ → ν e oscillations with the OPERA experiment in the CNGS beam
No full textA first result of the search for ν ( )μ( ) → ν ( )e( ) oscillations in the OPERA experiment, located at the Gran Sasso Underground Laboratory, is presented. The experiment looked for the appearance of ν ( )e( ) in the CNGS neutrino beam using the data collected in 2008 and 2009. Data are compatible with the non-oscillation hypothesis in the three-flavour mixing model. A further analysis of the same data constrains the non-standard oscillation parameters θ (new) and suggested by the LSND and MiniBooNE experiments. For large values (>0.1 eV(2)), the OPERA 90% C.L. upper limit on sin(2)(2θ (new)) based on a Bayesian statistical method reaches the value 7.2 × 10(−3)
