Measurement of the neutrino-oxygen neutral-current interaction cross section by observing nuclear deexcitation rays
K. Abe46, J. Adam32, H. Aihara45,23, T. Akiri9, C. Andreopoulos44, S. Aoki24, A. Ariga2, T. Ariga2, S. Assylbekov8 et al. (T2K Collaboration)
S. Assylbekov8, D. Autiero29, M. Barbi39, G. J. Barker54, G. Barr35, M. Bass8, M. Batkiewicz13, F. Bay11, S. W. Bentham26, V. Berardi18, B. E. Berger8,23, S. Berkman4, I. Bertram26, S. Bhadra58, F. d. M. Blaszczyk28, A. Blondel12, C. Bojechko51, S. Bordoni15, S. B. Boyd54, D. Brailsford17, A. Bravar12, C. Bronner23, N. Buchanan8, R. G. Calland27, J. Caravaca Rodríguez15, S. L. Cartwright42, R. Castillo15, M. G. Catanesi18, A. Cervera16, D. Cherdack8, G. Christodoulou27, A. Clifton8, J. Coleman27, S. J. Coleman7, G. Collazuol20, K. Connolly55, L. Cremonesi38, A. Dabrowska13, I. Danko37, R. Das8, S. Davis55, P. de Perio49, G. De Rosa19, T. Dealtry44,35, S. R. Dennis54,44, C. Densham44, D. Dewhurst35, F. Di Lodovico38, S. Di Luise11, O. Drapier10, T. Duboyski38, K. Duffy35, F. Dufour12, J. Dumarchez36, S. Dytman37, M. Dziewiecki53, S. Emery-Schrenk6, A. Ereditato2, L. Escudero16, A. J. Finch26, G. A. Fiorentini Aguirre58, M. Friend14,†, Y. Fujii14,†, Y. Fukuda30, A. P. Furmanski54, V. Galymov29, A. Gaudin51, S. Giffin39, C. Giganti36, K. Gilje32, D. Goeldi2, T. Golan57, J. J. Gomez-Cadenas16, M. Gonin10, N. Grant26, D. Gudin22, D. R. Hadley54, L. Haegel12, A. Haesler12, M. D. Haigh54, P. Hamilton17, D. Hansen37, T. Hara24, M. Hartz23,50, T. Hasegawa14,†, N. C. Hastings39, Y. Hayato46,23, C. Hearty4,‡, R. L. Helmer50, M. Hierholzer2, J. Hignight32, A. Hillairet51, A. Himmel9, T. Hiraki25, S. Hirota25, J. Holeczek43, S. Horikawa11, K. Huang25, A. K. Ichikawa25, K. Ieki25, M. Ieva15, M. Ikeda46, J. Imber32, J. Insler28, T. J. Irvine47, T. Ishida14,†, T. Ishii14,†, S. J. Ives17, E. Iwai14, K. Iwamoto40, K. Iyogi46, A. Izmaylov16,22, A. Jacob35, B. Jamieson56, R. A. Johnson7, S. Johnson7, J. H. Jo32, P. Jonsson17, C. K. Jung32,§, M. Kabirnezhad31, A. C. Kaboth17, T. Kajita47,§, H. Kakuno48, J. Kameda46, Y. Kanazawa45, D. Karlen51,50, I. Karpikov22, T. Katori38, E. Kearns3,23,§, M. Khabibullin22, A. Khotjantsev22, D. Kielczewska52, T. Kikawa25, A. Kilinski31, J. Kim4, S. King38, J. Kisiel43, P. Kitching1, T. Kobayashi14,†, L. Koch41, A. Kolaceke39, A. Konaka50, L. L. Kormos26, A. Korzenev12, K. Koseki14,†, Y. Koshio33,§, I. Kreslo2, W. Kropp5, H. Kubo25, Y. Kudenko22,∥, S. Kumaratunga50, R. Kurjata53, T. Kutter28, J. Lagoda31, K. Laihem41, I. Lamont26, E. Larkin54, M. Laveder20, M. Lawe42, M. Lazos27, K. P. Lee47, C. Licciardi39, T. Lindner50, C. Lister54, R. P. Litchfield54, A. Longhin20, L. Ludovici21, M. Macaire6, L. Magaletti18, K. Mahn50, M. Malek17, S. Manly40, A. D. Marino7, J. Marteau29, J. F. Martin49, S. Martynenko22, T. Maruyama14,†, J. Marzec53, E. L. Mathie39, V. Matveev22, K. Mavrokoridis27, E. Mazzucato6, M. McCarthy4, N. McCauley27, K. S. McFarland40, C. McGrew32, A. Mefodiev22, C. Metelko27, M. Mezzetto20, P. Mijakowski31, C. A. Miller50, A. Minamino25, O. Mineev22, S. Mine5, A. Missert7, M. Miura46,§, L. Monfregola16, S. Moriyama46,§, Th. A. Mueller10, A. Murakami25, M. Murdoch27, S. Murphy11, J. Myslik51, T. Nagasaki25, T. Nakadaira14,†, M. Nakahata46,23, T. Nakai34, K. Nakamura23,14,†, S. Nakayama46,§, T. Nakaya25,23, K. Nakayoshi14,†, C. Nantais4, D. Naples37, C. Nielsen4, M. Nirkko2, K. Nishikawa14,†, Y. Nishimura47, J. Nowak26, H. M. O’Keeffe26, R. Ohta14,†, K. Okumura47,23, T. Okusawa34, W. Oryszczak52, S. M. Oser4, T. Ovsyannikova22, R. A. Owen38, Y. Oyama14,†, V. Palladino19, J. L. Palomino32, V. Paolone37, D. Payne27, G. F. Pearce44, O. Perevozchikov28, J. D. Perkin42, Y. Petrov4, L. Pickard42, E. S. Pinzon Guerra58, C. Pistillo2, P. Plonski53, E. Poplawska38, B. Popov36,¶, M. Posiadala-Zezula52, J.-M. Poutissou50, R. Poutissou50, P. Przewlocki31, B. Quilain10, E. Radicioni18, P. N. Ratoff26, M. Ravonel12, M. A. M. Rayner12, A. Redij2, M. Reeves26, E. Reinherz-Aronis8, C. Riccio19, F. Retiere50, A. Robert36, P. A. Rodrigues40, P. Rojas8, E. Rondio31, S. Roth41, A. Rubbia11, D. Ruterbories40, R. Sacco38, K. Sakashita14,†, F. Sánchez15, F. Sato14, E. Scantamburlo12, K. Scholberg9,§, S. Schoppmann41, J. Schwehr8, M. Scott50, Y. Seiya34, T. Sekiguchi14,†, H. Sekiya46,23,§, D. Sgalaberna11, F. Shaker56, M. Shiozawa46,23, S. Short38, Y. Shustrov22, P. Sinclair17, B. Smith17, R. J. Smith35, M. Smy5, J. T. Sobczyk57, H. Sobel5,23, M. Sorel16, L. Southwell26, P. Stamoulis16, J. Steinmann41, B. Still38, Y. Suda45, A. Suzuki24, K. Suzuki25, S. Y. Suzuki14,†, Y. Suzuki23,23, T. Szeglowski43, R. Tacik39,50, M. Tada14,†, S. Takahashi25, A. Takeda46, Y. Takeuchi24,23, H. K. Tanaka46,§, H. A. Tanaka4,‡, M. M. Tanaka14,†, I. J. Taylor32, D. Terhorst41, R. Terri38, L. F. Thompson42, A. Thorley27, S. Tobayama4, W. Toki8, T. Tomura46, Y. Totsuka*, C. Touramanis27, T. Tsukamoto14,†, M. Tzanov28, Y. Uchida17, K. Ueno46, A. Vacheret35, M. Vagins23,5, G. Vasseur6, T. Wachala13, A. V. Waldron35, C. W. Walter9,§, D. Wark44,35, M. O. Wascko17, A. Weber44,35, R. Wendell46,§, R. J. Wilkes55, M. J. Wilking32, C. Wilkinson42, Z. Williamson35, J. R. Wilson38, R. J. Wilson8, T. Wongjirad9, Y. Yamada14,†, K. Yamamoto34, C. Yanagisawa32,**, T. Yano24, S. Yen50, N. Yershov22, M. Yokoyama45,§, T. Yuan7, M. Yu58, A. Zalewska13, J. Zalipska31, L. Zambelli14,†, K. Zaremba53, M. Ziembicki53, E. D. Zimmerman7, M. Zito6, and J. Żmuda57 (T2K Collaboration)
- 1Department of Physics, Centre for Particle Physics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
- 2Laboratory for High Energy Physics (LHEP), Albert Einstein Center for Fundamental Physics, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- 3Department of Physics, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- 4Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- 5Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California, USA
- 6IRFU, CEA Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- 7Department of Physics, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, USA
- 8Department of Physics, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
- 9Department of Physics, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA
- 10Laboratoire Leprince-Ringuet, Ecole Polytechnique, IN2P3-CNRS, Palaiseau, France
- 11Institute for Particle Physics, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- 12Section de Physique, University of Geneva, DPNC, Geneva, Switzerland
- 13H. Niewodniczanski Institute of Nuclear Physics PAN, Cracow, Poland
- 14High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK), Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
- 15Institut de Fisica d’Altes Energies (IFAE), Bellaterra (Barcelona), Spain
- 16IFIC (CSIC and University of Valencia), Valencia, Spain
- 17Department of Physics, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
- 18Dipartimento Interuniversitario di Fisica, INFN Sezione di Bari and Università e Politecnico di Bari, Bari, Italy
- 19Dipartimento di Fisica, INFN Sezione di Napoli and Università di Napoli, Napoli, Italy
- 20Dipartimento di Fisica, INFN Sezione di Padova and Università di Padova, Padova, Italy
- 21INFN Sezione di Roma and Università di Roma “La Sapienza,” Roma, Italy
- 22Institute for Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
- 23Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (WPI), Todai Institutes for Advanced Study, University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba, Japan
- 24Kobe University, Kobe, Japan
- 25Department of Physics, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
- 26Physics Department, Lancaster University, Lancaster, United Kingdom
- 27Department of Physics, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom
- 28Department of Physics and Astronomy, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA
- 29Université de Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, IPN Lyon (IN2P3), Villeurbanne, France
- 30Department of Physics, Miyagi University of Education, Sendai, Japan
- 31National Centre for Nuclear Research, Warsaw, Poland
- 32Department of Physics and Astronomy, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, New York, USA
- 33Department of Physics, Okayama University, Okayama, Japan
- 34Department of Physics, Osaka City University, Osaka, Japan
- 35Department of Physics, Oxford University, Oxford, United Kingdom
- 36Laboratoire de Physique Nucléaire et de Hautes Energies (LPNHE), UPMC, Université Paris Diderot, CNRS/IN2P3, Paris, France
- 37Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
- 38School of Physics and Astronomy, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom
- 39Department of Physics, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
- 40Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, USA
- 41III. Physikalisches Institut, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
- 42University of Sheffield, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Sheffield, United Kingdom
- 43Institute of Physics, University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland
- 44Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell Oxford, and Daresbury Laboratory, STFC, Warrington, United Kingdom
- 45Department of Physics, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
- 46Kamioka Observatory, Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, University of Tokyo, Kamioka, Japan
- 47Research Center for Cosmic Neutrinos, Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Japan
- 48Department of Physics, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo, Japan
- 49Department of Physics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- 50TRIUMF, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- 51Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
- 52Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
- 53Institute of Radioelectronics, Warsaw University of Technology, Warsaw, Poland
- 54Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom
- 55Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
- 56Department of Physics, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
- 57Faculty of Physics and Astronomy, Wroclaw University, Wroclaw, Poland
- 58Department of Physics and Astronomy, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- *Deceased.
- †Also at J-PARC, Tokai, Japan.
- ‡Also at Institute of Particle Physics, Canada.
- §Also at Kavli IPMU (WPI), The University of Tokyo, Japan.
- ∥Also at Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and National Research Nuclear University “MEPhI,” Moscow, Russia.
- ¶Also at JINR, Dubna, Russia.
- **Also at BMCC/CUNY, Science Department, New York, NY, USA.
Phys. Rev. D 90, 072012 – Published 31 October, 2014
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.90.072012
Abstract
We report the first measurement of the neutrino-oxygen neutral-current quasielastic (NCQE) cross section. It is obtained by observing nuclear deexcitation rays which follow neutrino-oxygen interactions at the Super-Kamiokande water Cherenkov detector. We use T2K data corresponding to protons on target. By selecting only events during the T2K beam window and with well-reconstructed vertices in the fiducial volume, the large background rate from natural radioactivity is dramatically reduced. We observe 43 events in the 4–30 MeV reconstructed energy window, compared with an expectation of 51.0, which includes an estimated 16.2 background events. The background is primarily nonquasielastic neutral-current interactions and has only 1.2 events from natural radioactivity. The flux-averaged NCQE cross section we measure is with a 68% confidence interval of at a median neutrino energy of 630 MeV, compared with the theoretical prediction of .