A search for muon neutrino and antineutrino disappearance in MiniBooNE

TL;DR

Fits to the shape of the nu_{micro} and nu[over]_{ micro} energy spectra reveal no evidence for disappearance at the 90% confidence level (C.L.) in either mode.

Abstract

The MiniBooNE Collaboration reports a search for \numu and \numubar disappearance in the \dmsq region of a few \evsq. These measurements are important for constraining models with extra types of neutrinos, extra dimensions an d CPT violation. Fits to the shape of the \numu and \numubar energy spectra reveal no evidence for disappearance at 90% confidence level (CL) in either mode. This is the first test of \numubar disappearance between \dmsq=0.1-10\evsq.

Figures (3)

• Figure 1: The top plot shows the $E_{\nu}^{QE}$ distribution for neutrino data (black) with statistical error rectangles (thickness of line indicates size of statistical error), and prediction assuming no oscillation (grey). Attached to the prediction are the diagonal elements of the shape error matrix. The predicted CC$1\pi$ background (dash) and background antineutrino (solid) events are also shown. The bottom plot shows the ratio of data to no oscillation (black), and the ratio of no oscillation to: $\Delta m^{2}=0.5 ~{eV}^{2}$, $\sin^2 2 \theta=1.0$ disappearance (dashed line), $\Delta m^{2}=3.0 ~{eV}^{2}$, $\sin^2 2 \theta=0.5$ disappearance (dotted line) and for the minimum $\chi^2=12.72$ (13 DF) at $\Delta m^{2}=17.5 ~{eV}^{2}$, $\sin^2 2 \theta=0.16$ (solid line).
• Figure 2: Same convention as Fig. \ref{['datamc_numu']} for the antineutrino mode sample. Minimum $\chi^2=5.43$ (11 DF) is at $\Delta m^{2}=31.3 ~{eV}^{2}$, $\sin^2 2 \theta=0.96$.
• Figure 3: The top plot shows the sensitivity (dashed line) and limit (solid line) for 90% CL for neutrino disappearance in MiniBooNE. Previous limits by CCFR (dark grey) and CDHS (light grey) are also shown. The bottom plot uses the same convention for antineutrino disappearance.