Explore the vast range of titles available.

A search for mixing between active neutrinos and light sterile neutrinos has been performed by looking for muon neutrino disappearance in two detectors at baselines of 1.04 km and 735 km, using a combined MINOS and MINOS+ exposure of \\(16.36\\times10^{20}\\) protons-on-target. A simultaneous fit to the charged-current muon neutrino and neutral-current neutrino energy spectra in the two detectors yields no evidence for sterile neutrino mixing using a 3+1 model. The most stringent limit to date is set on the mixing parameter \\(\\sin^2\\theta_{24}\\) for most values of the sterile neutrino mass-splitting \\(\\Delta m^2_{41} > 10^{-4}\\) eV\\(^2\\).

We have produced large and highly-reflective open-cell PVC extrusions for the NOvA neutrino oscillation experiment. The extrusions were sealed, instrumented, assembled into self-supporting detector blocks, and filled with liquid scintillator. Each Far Detector block stands 15.7 m high, is 15.7 m wide and 2.1 m thick. More than 22,000 extrusions were produced with high dimensional tolerance and robust mechanical strength. This paper provides an overview of the NOvA Far Detector, describes the preparation of the custom PVC powder, and the making of the extrusions. Quality control was a key element in the production and is described in detail.

We report results from the first search for sterile neutrinos mixing with active neutrinos through a reduction in the rate of neutral-current interactions over a baseline of 810\\,km between the NOvA detectors. Analyzing a 14-kton detector equivalent exposure of 6.05\\(\\times\\)10\\(^{20}\\) protons-on-target in the NuMI beam at Fermilab, we observe 95 neutral-current candidates at the Far Detector compared with \\(83.5 \\pm 9.7 \\mbox{(stat.)} \\pm 9.4 \\mbox{(syst.)}\\) events predicted assuming mixing only occurs between active neutrino species. No evidence for \\(\\nu_{\\mu} \\rightarrow \\nu_{s}\\) transitions is found. Interpreting these results within a 3+1 model, we place constraints on the mixing angles \\(\\theta_{24}<20.8^{\\circ}\\) and \\(\\theta_{34}<31.2^{\\circ}\\) at the 90% C.L. for \\(0.05~eV^2\\leq \\Delta m^2_{41}\\leq 0.5~eV^2\\), the range of mass splittings that produce no significant oscillations over the Near Detector baseline.

We report new constraints on the size of large extra dimensions from data collected by the MINOS experiment between 2005 and 2012. Our analysis employs a model in which sterile neutrinos arise as Kaluza-Klein states in large extra dimensions and thus modify the neutrino oscillation probabilities due to mixing between active and sterile neutrino states. Using Fermilab's NuMI beam exposure of \\(10.56 \\times 10^{20}\\) protons-on-target, we combine muon neutrino charged current and neutral current data sets from the Near and Far Detectors and observe no evidence for deviations from standard three-flavor neutrino oscillations. The ratios of reconstructed energy spectra in the two detectors constrain the size of large extra dimensions to be smaller than \\(0.45\\,\\mu\\text{m}\\) at 90% C.L. in the limit of a vanishing lightest active neutrino mass. Stronger limits are obtained for non-vanishing masses.

We report results of a search for oscillations involving a light sterile neutrino over distances of 1.04 and \\(735\\,\\mathrm{km}\\) in a \\(\\nu_{\\mu}\\)-dominated beam with a peak energy of \\(3\\,\\mathrm{GeV}\\). The data, from an exposure of \\(10.56\\times 10^{20}\\,\\textrm{protons on target}\\), are analyzed using a phenomenological model with one sterile neutrino. We constrain the mixing parameters \\(\\theta_{24}\\) and \\(\\Delta m^{2}_{41}\\) and set limits on parameters of the four-dimensional Pontecorvo-Maki-Nakagawa-Sakata matrix, \\(|U_{\\mu 4}|^{2}\\) and \\(|U_{\\tau 4}|^{2}\\), under the assumption that mixing between \\(\\nu_{e}\\) and \\(\\nu_{s}\\) is negligible (\\(|U_{e4}|^{2}=0\\)). No evidence for \\(\\nu_{\\mu} \\to \\nu_{s}\\) transitions is found and we set a world-leading limit on \\(\\theta_{24}\\) for values of \\(\\Delta m^{2}_{41} \\lesssim 1\\,\\mathrm{eV}^{2}\\).

We report results from the first search for \\(\\nu_\\mu\\to\\nu_e\\) transitions by the NOvA experiment. In an exposure equivalent to \\(2.74\\times10^{20}\\) protons-on-target in the upgraded NuMI beam at Fermilab, we observe 6 events in the Far Detector, compared to a background expectation of \\(0.99\\pm0.11\\) (syst.) events based on the Near Detector measurement. A secondary analysis observes 11 events with a background of \\(1.07\\pm0.14\\) (syst.). The \\(3.3\\sigma\\) excess of events observed in the primary analysis disfavors \\(0.1\\pi < \\delta_{CP} < 0.5\\pi\\) in the inverted mass hierarchy at the 90% C.L.

The charge ratio, \\(R_\\mu = N_{\\mu^+}/N_{\\mu^-}\\), for cosmogenic multiple-muon events observed at an under- ground depth of 2070 mwe has been measured using the magnetized MINOS Far Detector. The multiple-muon events, recorded nearly continuously from August 2003 until April 2012, comprise two independent data sets imaged with opposite magnetic field polarities, the comparison of which allows the systematic uncertainties of the measurement to be minimized. The multiple-muon charge ratio is determined to be \\(R_\\mu = 1.104 \\pm 0.006 {\\rm \\,(stat.)} ^{+0.009}_{-0.010} {\\rm \\,(syst.)} \\). This measurement complements previous determinations of single-muon and multiple-muon charge ratios at underground sites and serves to constrain models of cosmic ray interactions at TeV energies.

This paper reports the first measurement using the NOvA detectors of \\(\\nu_\\mu\\) disappearance in a \\(\\nu_\\mu\\) beam. The analysis uses a 14 kton-equivalent exposure of \\(2.74 \\times 10^{20}\\) protons-on-target from the Fermilab NuMI beam. Assuming the normal neutrino mass hierarchy, we measure \\(\\Delta m^{2}_{32}=(2.52^{+0.20}_{-0.18})\\times 10^{-3}\\) eV\\(^{2}\\) and \\(\\sin^2\\theta_{23}\\) in the range 0.38-0.65, both at the 68% confidence level, with two statistically-degenerate best fit points at \\(\\sin^2\\theta_{23} = \\) 0.43 and 0.60. Results for the inverted mass hierarchy are also presented.

This paper describes the hardware and operations of the Neutrinos at the Main Injector (NuMI) beam at Fermilab. It elaborates on the design considerations for the beam as a whole and for individual elements. The most important design details of individual components are described. Beam monitoring systems and procedures, including the tuning and alignment of the beam and NuMI long-term performance, are also discussed.

We report the first observation of seasonal modulations in the rates of cosmic ray multiple-muon events at two underground sites, the MINOS Near Detector with an overburden of 225 mwe, and the MINOS Far Detector site at 2100 mwe. At the deeper site, multiple-muon events with muons separated by more than 8 m exhibit a seasonal rate that peaks during the summer, similar to that of single-muon events. In contrast and unexpectedly, the rate of multiple-muon events with muons separated by less than 5-8 m, and the rate of multiple-muon events in the smaller, shallower Near Detector, exhibit a seasonal rate modulation that peaks in the winter.