Measurement of neutron production in atmospheric neutrino interactions at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory

UNSPECIFIED (2019) Measurement of neutron production in atmospheric neutrino interactions at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory. Physical Review D, 99 (11): 112007. ISSN 1550-7998

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

Neutron production in giga electron volt-scale neutrino interactions is a poorly studied process. We have measured the neutron multiplicities in atmospheric neutrino interactions in the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory experiment and compared them to the prediction of a Monte Carlo simulation using GENIE and a minimally modified version of GEANT4. We analyzed 837 days of exposure corresponding to Phase I, using pure heavy water, and Phase II, using a mixture of Cl in heavy water. Neutrons produced in atmospheric neutrino interactions were identified with an efficiency of 15.3% and 44.3%, for Phases I and II respectively. The neutron production is measured as a function of the visible energy of the neutrino interaction and, for charged current quasielastic interaction candidates, also as a function of the neutrino energy. This study is also performed by classifying the complete sample into two pairs of event categories: charged current quasielastic and non charged current quasielastic, and nu(mu) and nu(e). Results show good overall agreement between data and Monte Carlo for both phases, with some small tension with a statistical significance below 2 sigma for some intermediate energies.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
Physical Review D
Subjects:
?? geant4 ??
ID Code:
136755
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
01 Oct 2019 12:55
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
15 Jul 2024 19:51