The MiniBooNE experiment at Fermilab was designed to be a definitive test of the LSND evidence for neutrino oscillations and has recently reported first results of a search for electron-neutrino appearance in a muon-neutrino Booster beam. No significant excess of events was observed at higher energies, but a sizable excess of events was observed at lower energies. The lack of the excess at higher energies allowed MiniBooNE to rule out simple two-neutrino oscillations as an explanation of the LSND signal. However, the excess at lower energies is presently unexplained.
A new data set of neutrinos from the NuMI beam line measured with the MiniBooNE detector at Fermilab has been analyzed. The measurement of NuMI neutrino interactions in MiniBooNE provide a clear proof-of-principle of the off-axis beam concept that is planned to be used by future neutrino experiments such as T2K and NOvA. Moreover, it complements the first oscillation results and will help to determine whether the lower-energy excess is due to background or to new physics.
New results from the re-analysis of low energy excess from the Booster beam line and the results from measurements of neutrino interactions from NuMI beam line are discussed. MiniBooNE observes an unexplained excess of $128.8 \pm 20.4 \pm 38.3$ electron-like events in the energy region $200 < E_ν < 475$ MeV. The NuMI data sample currently has a large systematic errors associated with $ν_{e}$ events, but shows an indication of an excess.
We present a novel framework that provides an explanation to the long-standing excess of electron-like events in the MiniBooNE experiment at Fermilab. We suggest a new dark sector containing a dark neutrino and a dark gauge boson, both with masses between a few tens and a few hundreds of MeV. Dark neutrinos are produced via neutrino-nucleus scattering, followed by their decay to the dark gauge boson, which in turn gives rise to electron-like events. This mechanism provides an excellent fit to MiniBooNE energy spectra and angular distributions.
We revisit models of heavy neutral leptons (neutrissimos) with transition magnetic moments as explanations of the $4.8σ$ excess of electron-like events at MiniBooNE. We perform a detailed Monte Carlo-based analysis to re-examine the preferred regions in the model parameter space to explain MiniBooNE, considering also potential contributions from oscillations due to an eV-scale sterile neutrino. We then derive robust constraints on the model using neutrino-electron elastic scattering data from MINERvA. We find that MINERvA rules out a large region of parameter space, but allowed solutions exist…
This thesis describes an analysis developed for the MicroBooNE experiment to investigate an anomalous excess of electron-like events observed in the MiniBooNE detector. The hypothesis investigated here is that the MiniBooNE anomaly represents appearance of electron neutrinos. Using an amalgam of novel Deep Learning and standard algorithmic techniques this analysis reconstructs and identifies a highly pure sample of charged current quasi-elastic muon neutrino and electron neutrino interactions. This thesis describes the steps in the analysis chain and provides data-to-simulation comparisons for…
We present the results of a new analysis of the data of the MiniBooNE experiment taking into account the additional background of photons from $Δ^{+/0}$ decay proposed in arXiv:1909.08571 and additional contributions due to coherent photon emission, incoherent production of higher mass resonances, and incoherent non-resonant nucleon production. We show that the new background can explain part of the MiniBooNE low-energy excess and the statistical significance of the MiniBooNE indication in favor of short-baseline neutrino oscillation decreases from $5.1σ$ to $3.6σ$. We also consider the implic…
We consider the non-oscillatory explanations of the low energy excess of events detected by MiniBooNE. We present a systematic search for phenomenological scenarios based on new physics which can produce the excess. We define scenarios as series of transitions and processes which connect interactions of accelerated protons in target with single shower events in the MiniBooNE detector. The key elements of the scenarios are production and decay of new light $\mathcal{O}(\text{keV}-100\,\text{MeV})$ particles (fermions or/and bosons). We find about $20$ scenarios with minimal possible number of n…
The electron-like excess observed by the MiniBooNE experiment is explained with a model comprising a new low mass state ($\mathcal{O}(1)$ eV) participating in neutrino oscillations and a new high mass state ($\mathcal{O}(100)$ MeV) that decays to $ν+γ$. Short-baseline oscillation data sets are used to predict the oscillation parameters. Fitting the MiniBooNE energy and scattering angle data, there is a narrow joint allowed region for the decay contribution at 95% CL. The result is a substantial improvement over the single sterile neutrino oscillation model, with $Δχ^2/dof$ = 19.3/2 for a decay…
Heavy neutrinos with additional interactions have recently been proposed as an explanation to the MiniBooNE excess. These scenarios often rely on marginally boosted particles to explain the excess angular spectrum, thus predicting large rates at higher-energy neutrino-electron scattering experiments. We place new constraints on this class of models based on neutrino-electron scattering sideband measurements performed at MINER$ν$A and CHARM-II. A simultaneous explanation of the angular and energy distributions of the MiniBooNE excess in terms of heavy neutrinos with light mediators is severely …
A new generation of neutrino experiments is testing the $4.8σ$ anomalous excess of electron-like events observed in MiniBooNE. This is of huge importance for particle physics, astrophysics, and cosmology, not only because of the potential discovery of physics beyond the Standard Model, but also because the lessons we will learn about neutrino-nucleus interactions will be crucial for the worldwide neutrino program. MicroBooNE has recently released results that appear to disfavor several explanations of the MiniBooNE anomaly. Here, we show quantitatively that MicroBooNE results, while a promisin…
Can neutrino-induced photon production explain the low energy excess in MiniBooNE?
这份报告总结了我们对MiniBooNE中中性电流（NC）诱导的光子产生的研究，这是由本实验中的低能量过剩所激发的[A. A. Aquilar-Arevalo et al.（MiniBooNE Collaboration），Phys. Rev. Lett. 98，231801（2007）; 103，111801（2009）]。提出了两个反常光子- $Z$玻色子-矢量介子耦合的NC光子产生可能解释这种过剩。然而，我们在中微子和反中微子运行中计算的事件数与以前的MiniBooNE估计是基于他们的π介子生产测量一致。在我们以前的工作中讨论的各种核效应，包括核子费米运动，泡利阻塞，和$Δ$共振加宽的核，考虑。用保守的方法研究了由于两个反常项和核效应引起的不确定度。
The MiniBooNE experiment has reported results from the analysis of $ν_e$ and $\bar ν_e$ appearance searches, which show an excess of signal-like events at low reconstructed neutrino energies, with respect to the expected background. A significant component of this background comes from photon emission induced by (anti)neutrino neutral current interactions with nucleons and nuclei. With an improved microscopic model for these reactions, we predict the number and distributions of photon events at the MiniBooNE detector. Our results are compared to the MiniBooNE in situ estimate and to other theo…
We point out that production of new bosons by charged meson decays can greatly enhance the sensitivity of beam-focused accelerator-based experiments to new physics signals. This enhancement arises since the charged mesons are focused and their three-body decays do not suffer from helicity suppression in the same way as their usual two-body decays. As a realistic application, we attempt to explain the MiniBooNE low energy excess utilizing this overlooked mechanism, uniquely realizing dark-sector interpretations as plausible solutions to the excess. As proof of the principle, we consider two wel…
The MiniBooNE experiment at Fermilab reports results from an analysis of $ν_e$ appearance data from $12.84 \times 10^{20}$ protons on target in neutrino mode, an increase of approximately a factor of two over previously reported results. A $ν_e$ charged-current quasielastic event excess of $381.2 \pm 85.2$ events ($4.5 σ$) is observed in the energy range $200<E_ν^{QE}<1250$~MeV. Combining these data with the $\bar ν_e$ appearance data from $11.27 \times 10^{20}$ protons on target in antineutrino mode, a total $ν_e$ plus $\bar ν_e$ charged-current quasielastic event excess of $460.5 \pm 99.0$ e…
A recent update from MiniBooNE has strengthened the observed $4.8σ$ excess of $e$-like events. Motivated by this and other notable deviations from standard model predictions, such as the muon $(g-2)$, we propose a solution to low energy anomalies through a dark neutrino sector. The model is renormalizable and can also explain light neutrino masses with an anomaly-free and dark $U(1)^\prime$ gauge symmetry broken at the GeV scale. Large kinetic mixing leads to s-channel production of heavy neutral leptons at $e^+e^-$ colliders, where we point out and explain a $\gtrsim 2σ$ excess observed in th…
We construct a neutrino model of three twin neutrinos in light of the neutrino appearance excesses at LSND and MiniBooNE. The model, which includes a twin parity, naturally predicts identical lepton Yukawa structures in the Standard Model and the twin sectors. As a result, a universal mixing angle controls all three twin neutrino couplings to the Standard Model charged leptons. This mixing angle is predicted to be the ratio of the electroweak scale over the composite scale of the Higgs boson and has the right order of magnitude to fit the data. The heavy twin neutrinos decay within the experim…
Recently, MiniBooNE observed an electromagnetic excess at low energy. What is the nature of this excess? What about the nature of the low-energy excess at LSND 20 years ago? The MicroBooNE detector will see neutrinos from the same Booster beam at Fermilab as used by MiniBooNE. MicroBooNE's design will enable us to discriminate photons from electrons elucidating the MiniBooNE and LSND low-energy electromagnetic excesses. MicroBooNE is a 170 ton liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) capable of imaging neutrino interactions with the detail of a bubble chamber, but with electronic data acq…
Standard three-flavor neutrino oscillations have well explained by a wide range of neutrino experiments. However, the anomalous results, such as electron-antineutrino excess seen by LSND and MiniBooNE do not fit the three-flavor paradigm. This can be explained by an additional fourth flavor sterile neutrino at a larger scale than the existing three flavor neutrinos. The NOvA experiment consists of two finely segmented, liquid scintillator detectors operating 14 .6 mrad off-axis from the NuMI muon-neutrino beam. The Near Detector is located on the Fermilab campus, 1 km from the NuMI target, whi…
While the low-energy excess observed at MiniBooNE remains unchallenged, it has become increasingly difficult to reconcile it with the results from other sterile neutrino searches and cosmology. Recently, it has been shown that non-minimal models with new particles in a hidden sector could provide a better fit to the data. As their main ingredients they require a GeV-scale $Z'$, kinetically mixed with the photon, and an unstable heavy neutrino with a mass in the 150 MeV range that mixes with the light neutrinos. In this letter we point out that atmospheric neutrino experiments (and, in particul…
The strong statistical significance of an observed electron-like event excess in the MiniBooNE (MB) experiment, along with an earlier similar excess seen in the Liquid Scintillator Neutrino Detector (LSND), when interpreted in conjunction with recent MicroBooNE results may have brought us to the cusp of new physics discoveries. This has led to many attempts to understand these observations, both for each experiment individually and in conjunction, via physics beyond the Standard Model (SM). We provide an overview of the current situation, and discuss three major categories under which the many…
The MiniBooNE experiment at Fermilab reports a total excess of $638.0 \pm 132.8$ electron-like events ($4.8 σ$) from a data sample corresponding to $18.75 \times 10^{20}$ protons-on-target in neutrino mode, which is a 46\% increase in the data sample with respect to previously published results, and $11.27 \times 10^{20}$ protons-on-target in antineutrino mode. The additional statistics allow several studies to address questions on the source of the excess. First, we provide two-dimensional plots in visible energy and cosine of the angle of the outgoing lepton, which can provide valuable input…
We present a dark sector model that reproduces the KOTO, MiniBooNE and muon anomalous magnetic moment anomalies. The dark sector is comprised of a light scalar singlet $S$ that has a large coupling to a slightly heavier sterile neutrino that mixes with the active neutrinos. The scalar couples to standard model fermions via Yukawa couplings, and to photons via a higher-dimensional coupling. The KOTO signal is a result of the flavor-changing penguin process $K_L \to π^0 S$ followed by the decay of $S$ to neutrinos. The sterile neutrino produced in neutrino-nucleus scattering at MiniBooNE decays …
The excess of electron-like events measured by MiniBooNE challenges our understanding of neutrinos and their interactions. We review the status of this open problem and ongoing efforts to resolve it. After introducing the experiment and its results, we consider the main experimental backgrounds and the related physics of neutrino interactions with matter such as quasielastic-like scattering and weak pion production on nucleons and nuclei. Special attention is paid to single photon emission in neutral current interactions and, in particular, its coherent channel. The difficulties to reconcile t…
A search for sub-GeV dark matter produced from collisions of the Fermilab 8 GeV Booster protons with a steel beam dump was performed by the MiniBooNE-DM Collaboration using data from $1.86 \times 10^{20}$ protons on target in a dedicated run. The MiniBooNE detector, consisting of 818 tons of mineral oil and located 490 meters downstream of the beam dump, is sensitive to a variety of dark matter initiated scattering reactions. Three dark matter interactions are considered for this analysis: elastic scattering off nucleons, inelastic neutral pion production, and elastic scattering off electrons.…
We study the impact of the effect of multinucleon interactions in the reconstruction of the neutrino energy on the fit of the MiniBooNE data in terms of neutrino oscillations. We obtain some improvement of the fit of the MiniBooNE low-energy excess in the framework of two-neutrino oscillations and a shift of the allowed region in the $\sin^2 2\vartheta$--$Δ{m}^2$ plane towards smaller values of $\sin^2 2\vartheta$ and larger values of $Δ{m}^2$. However this effect is not enough to solve the problem of the appearance-disappearance tension in the global fit of short-baseline neutrino oscillation…
MicroBooNE is a neutrino experiment that utilizes a liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) located on-axis in the Booster Neutrino Beam (BNB) at Fermilab. One of the experiment's main goals is to search for excess low-energy electromagnetic-like events as seen by the MiniBooNE experiment, located just downstream of MicroBooNE in the BNB. As MicroBooNE nears the completion of its first single-electron-like and single-photon-like searches, these proceedings present the status of MicroBooNE's low-energy excess search as of early summer 2020. In addition to presenting an overview of the app…
Two of the most widely studied extensions of the Standard Model (SM) are $a)$ the addition of a new $U(1)$ symmetry to its existing gauge groups, and $b)$ the expansion of its scalar sector to incorporate a second Higgs doublet. We show that when combined, they allow us to understand the electron-like event excess seen in the MiniBooNE (MB) experiment as well as account for the observed anomalous values of the muon magnetic moment. A light $Z'$ associated with an additional $U(1)$ coupled to baryons and to the dark sector, with flavor non-universal couplings to leptons, in conjunction with a s…
The MiniBooNE experiment reported results from the analysis of $ν_e$ and $\overlineν_e$ appearance searches, which showed an excess of signal-like events at low reconstructed neutrino energies with respect to the expected background. A proposed explanation for this anomaly is based on the existence of a heavy ($\sim 50$~MeV) sterile neutrino. These $ν_h$ would be produced by $ν_μ$ electromagnetic and neutral current interactions. A fraction of them decays radiatively inside the detector. The emitted photon is misidentified as an electron or positron in MiniBooNE. We have investigated the $ν_h$…
Implications for new physics solutions to the LSND and MiniBooNE anomalies after MicroBooNE results
Cairo University（开罗大学）；Harish-Chandra Research Institute（哈里什-昌德拉研究所）；Amity School of Engineering and Technology, Amity University Hyderabad（海德拉巴阿米蒂大学工程与技术学院）；School of Physics, University of Hyderabad（海德拉巴大学物理学院）
We critically examine a number of theoretical uncertainties affecting the MiniBooNE short-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment in an attempt to better understand the observed excess of electron-like events. We re-examine the impact of fake charged current quasi-elastic (CCQE) events, the background due to neutral current $π^0$ production, and the single-photon background. For all processes, we compare the predictions of different event generators (GENIE, GiBUU, NUANCE, and NuWro) and, for GENIE, of different tunes. Where MiniBooNE uses data-driven background predictions, we discuss the unc…
