Sterile neutrinos in cold climates
Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Physics, 2015.
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | eng |
| Published: |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2016
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/101327 |
| _version_ | 1811068700862709760 |
|---|---|
| author | Jones, Benjamin J. P |
| author2 | Janet M. Conrad. |
| author_facet | Janet M. Conrad. Jones, Benjamin J. P |
| author_sort | Jones, Benjamin J. P |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Physics, 2015. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T07:59:49Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | mit-1721.1/101327 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T07:59:49Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1013272022-01-13T07:54:07Z Sterile neutrinos in cold climates Jones, Benjamin J. P Janet M. Conrad. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics Physics. Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Physics, 2015. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Includes bibliographical references (pages 313-339). Measurements of neutrino oscillations at short baselines contain an intriguing set of experimental anomalies that may be suggestive of new physics such as the existence of sterile neutrinos. This three-part thesis presents research directed towards understanding these anomalies and searching for sterile neutrino oscillations. Part I contains a theoretical discussion of neutrino coherence properties. The open-quantum-system picture of neutrino beams, which allows a rigorous prediction of coherence distances for accelerator neutrinos, is presented. Validity of the standard treatment of active and sterile neutrino oscillations at short baselines is verified and non-standard coherence loss effects at longer baselines are predicted. Part II concerns liquid argon detector development for the MicroBooNE experiment, which will search for short-baseline oscillations in the Booster Neutrino Beam at Fermilab. Topics include characterization and installation of the MicroBooNE optical system; test-stand measurements of liquid argon optical properties with dissolved impurities; optimization of wavelength-shifting coatings for liquid argon scintillation light detection; testing and deployment of high-voltage surge arrestors to protect TPC field cages; and software development for optical and TPC simulation and reconstruction. Part III presents a search for sterile neutrinos using the IceCube neutrino telescope, which has collected a large sample of atmospheric-neutrino-induced events in the 1-10 TeV energy range. Sterile neutrinos would modify the detected neutrino flux shape via MSW-resonant oscillations. Following a careful treatment of systematic uncertainties in the sample, no evidence for MSW-resonant oscillations is observed, and exclusion limits on 3+1 model parameter space are derived. Under the mixing assumptions made, the 90% confidence level exclusion limit extends to ... , and the LSND and MiniBooNE allowed regions are excluded at >99% confidence level. by Benjamin J.P. Jones. Ph. D. 2016-02-29T15:00:15Z 2016-02-29T15:00:15Z 2015 2015 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/101327 938820490 eng M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 339 pages application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| spellingShingle | Physics. Jones, Benjamin J. P Sterile neutrinos in cold climates |
| title | Sterile neutrinos in cold climates |
| title_full | Sterile neutrinos in cold climates |
| title_fullStr | Sterile neutrinos in cold climates |
| title_full_unstemmed | Sterile neutrinos in cold climates |
| title_short | Sterile neutrinos in cold climates |
| title_sort | sterile neutrinos in cold climates |
| topic | Physics. |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/101327 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jonesbenjaminjp sterileneutrinosincoldclimates |