Journal Article

First observation of a tau neutrino charged current interaction with charm production in the OPERA experiment

Aoki, S, Aleksandrov, A, Agafonova, N, Anokhina, A, Ariga, T, Ariga, A, Bertolin, A

2020

Overview

An event topology with two secondary vertices compatible with the decay of short-lived particles was found in the analysis of neutrino interactions in the OPERA target. The observed topology is compatible with tau neutrino charged current (CC) interactions with charm production and neutrino neutral current (NC) interactions with [Formula omitted] pair production. However, other processes can mimic this topology. A dedicated analysis was implemented to identify the underlying process. A Monte Carlo simulation was developed and complementary procedures were introduced in the kinematic reconstruction. A multivariate analysis technique was used to achieve an optimal separation of signal from background. Most likely, this event is a [Formula omitted] CC interaction with charm production, the tau and charm particle decaying into 1 prong and 2 prongs, respectively. The significance of this observation is evaluated.

• Publisher: Springer,Springer Nature B.V,Springer Verlag (Germany),SpringerOpen
• Subject: Analysis / Apexes / Charm (particle physics) / Computer simulation / High Energy Physics - Experiment / Monte Carlo method / Monte Carlo simulation / Multivariate analysis / Neutral currents / Neutrinos / Pair production / Particle decay / Physics / Topology