Sterile neutrino searches at the Icecube Neutrino Observatory
Thesis: Sc. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Physics, 2020
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| Format: | Academic theses. |
| Language: | eng |
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2023
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/150460 |
| _version_ | 1811079084430589952 |
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| author | Axani, Spencer Nicholas Gaelan, author. |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics. |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics. Axani, Spencer Nicholas Gaelan, author. |
| author_sort | Axani, Spencer Nicholas Gaelan, author. |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Thesis: Sc. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Physics, 2020 |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T11:09:47Z |
| format | Academic theses. |
| id | mit-1721.1/150460 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T11:09:47Z |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| publisher | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1504602023-04-08T03:34:14Z Sterile neutrino searches at the Icecube Neutrino Observatory Axani, Spencer Nicholas Gaelan, author. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics Physics. Thesis: Sc. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Physics, 2020 "The following pages, 92-94, were not included in the original document submitted to the MIT Libraries. This is the most complete copy available"--Disclaimer page. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Supervised by Janet M. Conrad. Includes bibliographical references (pages 217-239). The IceCube Neutrino Observatory is capable of performing a unique search for sterile neutrinos through the exploitation of a matter enhanced resonant neutrino oscillation phenomena. As atmospheric muon neutrinos pass the dense material within the Earth, neutral current elastic forward scattering is predicted to induce a transition into a sterile state. This thesis presents two 3+1 sterile neutrino analyses by searching for spectral differences in the reconstructed energy and zenith direction of muon neutrino events, indicative of a transition into a sterile state. The first search probes the parameter space [delta]m²₄₁ and sin²(2[theta]₂₄) with relevant sensitivity to the global best fit region for a 3+1 sterile neutrino hypothesis. The second search performs a scan through sin²(2[theta]₂₄) and sin²([theta]₃₄) in the oscillation averaged out region of high-[delta]m²₄₁ ([theta]²₄₁ >~ 10 eV²). The analyses are performed using an improved event selection, which was found to extract 305,891 well reconstructed muon neutrino events with a sample purity above 99.9%, from eight years of IceCube data. Novel simulation techniques, along with updated calibration, and a re-assessment of the systematic uncertainties are also discussed. The first analysis finds a best fit sterile hypothesis point at [theta]²₄₁ = 4.47eV² and sin²([theta]₂₄ = 0.10, consistent with the no-sterile hypothesis at the 8% confidence level. The second analysis finds a best fit sterile hypothesis at sin²([theta]₃₄ = 0.40, sin²([theta]₃₄ =0.006, consistent with the null hypothesis at the 19% confidence level. by Spencer Nicholas Gaelan Axani. Sc. D. Sc. D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Physics 2023-04-07T16:54:30Z 2023-04-07T16:54:30Z 2020 2020 Academic theses. Academic theses. Thesis https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/150460 1373625353 eng MIT theses may be protected by copyright. Please reuse MIT thesis content according to the MIT Libraries Permissions Policy, which is available through the URL provided. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 239 pages application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| spellingShingle | Physics. Axani, Spencer Nicholas Gaelan, author. Sterile neutrino searches at the Icecube Neutrino Observatory |
| title | Sterile neutrino searches at the Icecube Neutrino Observatory |
| title_full | Sterile neutrino searches at the Icecube Neutrino Observatory |
| title_fullStr | Sterile neutrino searches at the Icecube Neutrino Observatory |
| title_full_unstemmed | Sterile neutrino searches at the Icecube Neutrino Observatory |
| title_short | Sterile neutrino searches at the Icecube Neutrino Observatory |
| title_sort | sterile neutrino searches at the icecube neutrino observatory |
| topic | Physics. |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/150460 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT axanispencernicholasgaelanauthor sterileneutrinosearchesattheicecubeneutrinoobservatory |