Cosmogenic background rejection for the sterile neutrino search with the Short-Baseline Neutrino Program far detector
Date
2020
Authors
Hilgenberg, Christopher M., author
Wilson, Robert J., advisor
Harton, John, committee member
Toki, Walter, committee member
Zhu, Wen, committee member
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Abstract
As the Short-Baseline Neutrino Program Far Detector, the ICARUS liquid argon time-projection chamber will operate at shallow depth and therefore be exposed to the full surface flux of cosmic rays. This poses a problematic background to the sterile neutrino search. A direct way to reject this background is to surround the cryostat with a detector capable of tagging incident cosmic muons with high efficiency, the Cosmic Ray Tagging System (CRT). I have worked to develop the CRT detector hardware and the simulation and reconstruction software. This system, currently undergoing installation, is approximately 25% commissioned and taking data. I have developed a powerful method for cosmogenic background rejection utilizing the CRT and Photon Detection System. Results from a simulation based study, informed by CRT data, demonstrate the power of the technique in rejecting cosmogenic events with little adverse impact on the neutrino sample.
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Subject
HEP experiment
neutrino oscillation
sterile neutrino
neutrino
cosmogenic background
scintillator tracker