Limits on Neutrino Oscillations from the CHOOZ Experiment

Limits on Neutrino Oscillations from the CHOOZ Experiment

19 Jul 1999 | M. Apollonio, A. Baldini, C. Bemporad, E. Caffau, F. Cei, Y. Déclais, H. de Kerret, B. Dieterle, A. Etenko, J. George, G. Giannini, M. Grassi, Y. Kozlov, W. Kropp, D. Kryn, M. Laiman, C.E. Lane, B. Lefièvre, I. Machulin, A. Martemyanov, V. Martemyanov, L. Mikaelyan, D. Nicolò, M. Obolensky, R. Pazzi, G. Pieri, L. Price, S. Riley, R. Reeder, A. Sabelnikov, G. Santin, M. Skorokhvatov, H. Sobel, J. Steele, R. Steinberg, S. Sukhotin, S. Tomshaw, D. Veron, and V. Vyrodov
The CHOOZ experiment, conducted at a nuclear power plant, has provided new results on neutrino oscillations. Using the entire data sample, the experiment found no evidence for neutrino oscillations in the $\bar{\nu}_e$ disappearance mode for the parameter region of approximately $\delta m^2 > 7 \cdot 10^{-4} \, \text{eV}^2$ with maximum mixing and $\sin^2 2\theta = 0.10$ for large $\delta m^2$ at 90% confidence level. The experiment also presented lower sensitivity results based on the comparison of positron spectra from two different-distance reactors, which are independent of the absolute normalization of the $\bar{\nu}_e$ flux, cross section, number of target protons, and detector efficiencies. The experiment involved two pressurized-water reactors with a total thermal power of 8.5 GW. Data was collected from April 7, 1997, to July 20, 1997, resulting in 1.2 × 10^7 events recorded, with 7 × 10^5 events fully reconstructed. The experiment used the inverse beta decay reaction to detect $\bar{\nu}_e$ and analyzed the resulting positron spectra. The detector stability was carefully monitored, and the response was checked using calibration sources. The experiment found that the detector response was stable over time, with small variations in trigger threshold, event reconstruction, and background separation. The experiment analyzed the positron spectra from the two reactors and compared them with expected neutrino-oscillated spectra. The results showed that the measured positron spectrum agreed with the no-oscillation hypothesis, with a 82% probability from the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. The measured vs. expected ratio was found to be 1.01 ± 2.8% (statistical) ± 2.7% (systematic). The experiment also determined the neutrino interaction yield from each reactor and found that the yield parameters $X_1$ and $X_2$ were slightly correlated. The results from the three analyses (A, B, and C) showed that the no-oscillation hypothesis was in excellent agreement with the data. The exclusion plots for the oscillation parameters showed that the region allowed by Kamiokande for $\nu_\mu \rightarrow \nu_e$ oscillations was almost completely excluded by the oscillation test. The CHOOZ experiment has significantly improved its statistics and understanding of systematic effects, leading to the conclusion that there is no evidence for neutrino oscillations in the $\bar{\nu}_e$ disappearance mode for the given parameter region at 90% confidence level. The experiment also found that a lower sensitivity result, independent of most systematic effects, could almost completely exclude the Kamiokande allowed oscillation region.The CHOOZ experiment, conducted at a nuclear power plant, has provided new results on neutrino oscillations. Using the entire data sample, the experiment found no evidence for neutrino oscillations in the $\bar{\nu}_e$ disappearance mode for the parameter region of approximately $\delta m^2 > 7 \cdot 10^{-4} \, \text{eV}^2$ with maximum mixing and $\sin^2 2\theta = 0.10$ for large $\delta m^2$ at 90% confidence level. The experiment also presented lower sensitivity results based on the comparison of positron spectra from two different-distance reactors, which are independent of the absolute normalization of the $\bar{\nu}_e$ flux, cross section, number of target protons, and detector efficiencies. The experiment involved two pressurized-water reactors with a total thermal power of 8.5 GW. Data was collected from April 7, 1997, to July 20, 1997, resulting in 1.2 × 10^7 events recorded, with 7 × 10^5 events fully reconstructed. The experiment used the inverse beta decay reaction to detect $\bar{\nu}_e$ and analyzed the resulting positron spectra. The detector stability was carefully monitored, and the response was checked using calibration sources. The experiment found that the detector response was stable over time, with small variations in trigger threshold, event reconstruction, and background separation. The experiment analyzed the positron spectra from the two reactors and compared them with expected neutrino-oscillated spectra. The results showed that the measured positron spectrum agreed with the no-oscillation hypothesis, with a 82% probability from the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. The measured vs. expected ratio was found to be 1.01 ± 2.8% (statistical) ± 2.7% (systematic). The experiment also determined the neutrino interaction yield from each reactor and found that the yield parameters $X_1$ and $X_2$ were slightly correlated. The results from the three analyses (A, B, and C) showed that the no-oscillation hypothesis was in excellent agreement with the data. The exclusion plots for the oscillation parameters showed that the region allowed by Kamiokande for $\nu_\mu \rightarrow \nu_e$ oscillations was almost completely excluded by the oscillation test. The CHOOZ experiment has significantly improved its statistics and understanding of systematic effects, leading to the conclusion that there is no evidence for neutrino oscillations in the $\bar{\nu}_e$ disappearance mode for the given parameter region at 90% confidence level. The experiment also found that a lower sensitivity result, independent of most systematic effects, could almost completely exclude the Kamiokande allowed oscillation region.
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