Search Results (24 total)

We present a new measurement of the difference between the nucleon strange and antistrange quark distributions from dimuon events recorded by the NuTeV experiment at Fermilab. This analysis is the first to use a complete next to leading order QCD description of charm production from neutrino scattering. Dimuon events in neutrino deep inelastic scattering allow direct and independent study of the strange and antistrange content of the nucleon. We find a positive strange asymmetry with a significance of 1.6σ. We also report a new measurement of the charm mass.

The NuTeV experiment at Fermilab has obtained a unique high-statistics sample of neutrino and antineutrino interactions using its high-energy sign-selected beam. We present a measurement of the differential cross section for charged-current neutrino and antineutrino scattering from iron. We determine the relative ν̅ to ν cross section, r=σ^ν̅ /σ^ν, at high energy with errors a factor of 2 smaller than the previous world average. Structure functions, F₂(x,Q²) and xF₃(x,Q²), are determined by fitting the inelasticity, y, dependence of the cross sections. This measurement has significantly improved systematic precision as a consequence of more precise understanding of hadron and muon energy scales.

The NuTeV Collaboration recently reported a value of sin²θ_W measured in neutrino-nucleon scattering that is 3 standard deviations above the standard model prediction. This result is derived assuming that (1) the strange sea is quark-antiquark symmetric, s(x)=s̅ (x), and (2) up and down quark distributions are symmetric under the simultaneous interchange of u↔d and p↔n. We report the impact of violations of these symmetries on sin²θ_W and discuss the theoretical and experimental constraints on such asymmetries.

Limits on ν_μ→ν_e and ν̅ _μ→ν̅ _e oscillations are extracted using the NuTeV detector with sign-selected ν_μ and ν̅ _μ beams. In ν̅ _μ mode, for the case of sin²2α  =  1, Δm²>2.6  eV² is excluded, and for Δm²≫1000 eV², sin²2α>1.1×10^-3. The NuTeV data exclude the high Δm² end of ν̅ _μ→ν̅ _e oscillation parameters favored by the LSND experiment without the need to assume that the oscillation parameters for ν and ν̅ are the same. We present the most stringent experimental limits for ν_μ(ν̅ _μ)→ν_e(ν̅ _e) oscillations in the large Δm² region.

The NuTeV Collaboration has extracted the electroweak parameter sin²θ_W from the measurement of the ratios of neutral current to charged current ν and ν̅ cross sections. Our value, sin²θ_W^(on-shell)  =  0.2277±0.0013(stat)±0.0009(syst), is 3 standard deviations above the standard model prediction. We also present a model independent analysis of the same data in terms of neutral-current quark couplings.

We report on the extraction of R  =  σ_L / σ_T from CCFR ν_μ-Fe and ν̅ _μ-Fe differential cross sections. The CCFR differential cross sections do not show the deviations from the QCD expectations that are seen in the CDHSW data at very low and very high x. R as measured in ν_μ scattering is in agreement with R as measured in muon and electron scattering. All data on R for Q²>1 GeV² are in agreement with a NNLO QCD calculation which uses NNLO parton distribution functions and includes target mass effects. We report on the first measurements of R in the low x and Q²<1 GeV² region (where an anomalous large rise in R for nuclear targets has been observed by the HERMES Collaboration).

We present measurements of the semi-inclusive cross sections for ν_μ- and ν̅ _μ-nucleon deep inelastic scattering interactions with two oppositely charged muons in the final state. These events dominantly arise from the production of a charm quark during the scattering process. The measurement was obtained from the analysis of 5102 ν_μ-induced and 1458 ν̅ _μ-induced events collected with the NuTeV detector exposed to a sign-selected beam at the Fermilab Tevatron. We also extract a cross-section measurement from a reanalysis of 5030 ν_μ-induced and 1060 ν̅ _μ-induced events collected from the exposure of the same detector to a quad-triplet beam by the Chicago Columbia Fermilab Rochester (CCFR) experiment. The results are combined to obtain the most statistically precise measurement of neutrino-induced dimuon production cross sections to date. These measurements should be of broad use to phenomenologists interested in the dynamics of charm production, the strangeness content of the nucleon, and the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix element V_cd.

The NuTeV experiment at Fermilab has used a sign-selected neutrino beam to perform a search for the lepton number violating process ν̅ _μe^-→μ^-ν̅ _e, and to measure the cross section of the standard model inverse muon decay process ν_μe^-→μ^-ν_e. NuTeV measures the inverse muon decay asymptotic cross-section slope σ/E to be (13.8±1.2±1.4)×10^-42 cm²/GeV. The experiment also observes no evidence for lepton number violation and places one of the most restrictive limits on the cross-section ratio σ(ν̅ _μe^-→μ^-ν̅ _e)/σ(ν_μe^-→μ^-ν_e)≤1.7% at 90% C.L. for V-A couplings and ≤0.6% for scalar couplings.

A search for long-lived neutral particles ( N⁰’s) with masses above 2.2 GeV/c² that decay into at least one muon has been performed using an instrumented decay channel at the NuTeV experiment at Fermilab. Data were examined for particles decaying into the final states μμ, μe, and μπ. Three μμ events were observed over an expected standard model background of 0.069±0.010 events; no events were observed in the other modes.

A new structure function analysis of CCFR deep inelastic ν-N and ν̅ -N scattering data is presented for previously unexplored kinematic regions down to Bjorken x  =  0.0045 and Q²  =  0.3 GeV². Comparisons to charged lepton scattering data from NMC and E665 experiments are made and the behavior of the structure function F₂^ν is studied in the limit Q²→0.

We report on the first observation of open charm production in neutral current deep inelastic neutrino scattering as seen in the NuTeV detector at Fermilab. The production rate is shown to be consistent with a pure gluon-Z⁰ boson production model, and the observed level of charm production is used to determine the effective charm mass. As part of our analysis, we also obtain a new measurement for the proton-nucleon charm production cross section at sqrt[s]=38.8 GeV.

We report on the extraction of the structure functions F₂ and ΔxF₃  =  xF₃^ν-xF₃^ν̅ from CCFR ν_μ-Fe and ν̅ _μ-Fe differential cross sections. The extraction is performed in a physics model-independent (PMI) way. This first measurement of ΔxF₃, which is useful in testing models of heavy charm production, is higher than current theoretical predictions. The ratio of the F₂ (PMI) values measured in ν_μ and μ scattering is in agreement (within 5%) with the predictions of next-to-leading-order parton distribution functions using massive charm production schemes, thus resolving the long-standing discrepancy between the two sets of data.

We report on a search for flavor-changing neutral-currents (FCNC) in the production of heavy quarks in deep inelastic ν_μN and ν̅ _μN scattering by the NuTeV experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron. This measurement, made possible by the high-purity NuTeV sign-selected beams, probes for FCNC in heavy flavors at the quark level, and is uniquely sensitive to neutrino couplings of potential FCNC mediators. All searches are consistent with zero, and limits on the effective mixing strengths |V_uc|², |V_db|², and |V_sb|² are obtained.

The E815 (NuTeV) neutrino experiment has performed a search for a 33.9 MeV/c² weakly interacting neutral particle produced in pion decay. Such a particle may be responsible for an anomaly in the timing distribution of neutrino interactions in the KARMEN experiment. E815 has searched for this particle's decays in an instrumented decay region; no evidence for this particle was found. The search is sensitive to pion branching ratios as low as 10^-13.

We present evidence for the diffractive processes ν_μFe→μ^-D_S⁺(D_S^*)Fe and ν̅ _μFe→μ⁺D_S^-(D_S^*)Fe using the Fermilab SSQT neutrino beam and the Lab E neutrino detector. The data are consistent with standard model production of the neutrino trident reactions ν_μFe→ν_μμ^-μ⁺Fe and ν̅ _μFe→ν̅ _μμ⁺μ^-Fe. We see no evidence for neutral-current production of J/ψ via either diffractive or deep inelastic scattering mechanisms.

Data from the CCFR E770 neutrino deep inelastic scattering experiment at Fermilab contain events with a large Bjorken x (x>0.7) and high momentum transfer [Q²>50 (GeV/c)²]. A comparison of the data with a model based on no nuclear effects at large x shows a significant excess of events in the data. The addition of Fermi gas motion of the nucleons in the nucleus to the model does not explain the excess. Adding a higher momentum tail due to the formation of “quasi-deuterons” makes some improvement. An exponentially falling F₂∝e^-s(x-x₀) at large x, predicted by “multi-quark clusters” and “few-nucleon correlations,” can describe the data. A value of s=8.3±0.7(stat)±0.7(syst) yields the best agreement with the data.

A search for neutral heavy leptons (NHLs) has been performed using an instrumented decay channel at the NuTeV (E-815) experiment at Fermilab. The data were examined for NHLs decaying into muonic final states ( μμν, μeν, μπ, and μρ); no evidence has been found for NHLs in the 0.25–2.0 GeV mass range. This analysis places limits on the mixing of NHLs with standard light neutrinos at a level up to an order of magnitude more restrictive than previous search limits in this mass range.

We present new limits on v_e(v_e)→v_τ(v_τ) and v_e(v_e)→v_s oscillations by searching for v_e disappearance in the high-energy wideband CCFR neutrino beam. Sensitivity to v_τ appearance comes from τ decay modes in which a large fraction of the energy deposited is electromagnetic. The beam is composed primarily of v_μ(v_μ), but this analysis uses the 2.3% v_e(v_e) component of the beam. Electron neutrino energies range from 30 to 600 GeV and flight lengths vary from 0.9 to 1.4 km. This limit improves the sensitivity of existing limits for v_e→v_τ at high Δm² and obtains a lowest 90% confidence upper limit in sin² 2α of 9.9×10^-2 at Δm²∼125 eV².

We extract a set of values for the Gross–Llewellyn Smith sum rule at different values of 4-momentum transfer squared ( Q²), by combining revised CCFR neutrino data with data from other neutrino deep-inelastic scattering experiments for 1<Q²<15 GeV²/c². A comparison with the order α_s³ theoretical predictions yields a determination of α_s at the scale of the Z-boson mass of 0.114±_0.012^0.009. This measurement provides a new and useful test of perturbative QCD at low Q², because of the low uncertainties in the higher order calculations.

We present an improved determination of the proton structure functions F₂ and xF₃ from the Columbia-Chicago-Fermilab-Rochester Collaboration ν-Fe deep inelastic scattering experiment. Comparisons to corrected high-statistics charged-lepton scattering results for F₂ from the NMC, E665, SLAC, and BCDMS experiments indicate good agreement for x>0.1 but some discrepancy at lower x. The Q² evolution of both the F₂ and xF₃ structure functions yields a value of the strong coupling constant at the scale of mass of the Z boson of α_s(M_Z²)  =  0.119±0.002(expt)±0.004(theory). This is one of the most precise measurements of this quantity.

Limits on ν_μ(ν̅ _μ)→ν_e(ν̅ _e) oscillations based on a statistical separation of ν_eN charged current interactions in the CCFR detector at Fermilab are presented. Neutrino energies range from 30 to 600 GeV with a mean of 140 GeV, and ν_μ flight lengths vary from 0.9 to 1.4 km. The result excludes oscillations in the region with sin²2α>1.8×10^-3 for large Δm² (>1000 eV²) and Δm²>1.6 eV² for sin²2α  =  1. This result is the most stringent limit to date for Δm²>25 eV² and it excludes the high Δm² oscillation region favored by the LSND experiment. The ν_μ-to- ν_e cross-section ratio was measured as a test of ν_μ(ν̅ _μ)↔ν_e(ν̅ _e) universality to be 1.026±0.025(stat)±0.049(syst).

We present limits on ν_μ(ν̅ _μ)→ν_τ(ν̅ _τ) and ν_μ(ν̅ _μ)→ν_e(ν̅ _e) oscillations based on a study of inclusive νN interactions performed using the CCFR massive coarse-grained detector in the Fermilab Tevatron Quadrupole Triplet neutrino beam. The sensitivity to oscillations is from the difference in the longitudinal energy deposition pattern of ν_μN vs ν_τN or ν_eN charged-current interactions. The ν_μ energies ranged from 30 to 500 GeV with a mean of 140 GeV. The minimum and maximum ν_μ flight lengths are 0.9 and 1.4 km, respectively. For ν_μ→ν_τ oscillations, the lowest 90% confidence upper limit in sin²2α of 2.7 × 10^-3 is obtained at Δm²∼50 eV². This result is the most stringent limit to date for 25<Δm²<90 eV². For ν_μ→ν_e oscillations, the lowest 90% confidence upper limit in sin²2α of 1.9 × 10^-3 is obtained at Δm²∼350 eV². This result is the most stringent limit to date for 250<Δm²<450 eV², and also excludes at 90% confidence much of the high Δm² region favored by the recent LSND observation.