Dual baseline search for muon antineutrino disappearance at 0.1 eV^2 < {\Delta}m^2 < 100 eV^2

TL;DR

This study combines data from MiniBooNE and SciBooNE to search for short baseline muon antineutrino disappearance, significantly tightening constraints on oscillation parameters in the 0.1 to 100 eV^2 range.

Contribution

It presents a joint analysis methodology that reduces flux and cross section uncertainties, leading to improved limits on muon antineutrino disappearance.

Findings

Set a new 90% CL upper limit on antineutrino disappearance.

Improved constraints in the Δm^2=0.1-100 eV^2 region.

Combined dataset reduces systematic uncertainties.

Abstract

The MiniBooNE and SciBooNE collaborations report the results of a joint search for short baseline disappearance of \bar{{\nu}_{\mu}} at Fermilab's Booster Neutrino Beamline. The MiniBooNE Cherenkov detector and the SciBooNE tracking detector observe antineutrinos from the same beam, therefore the combined analysis of their datasets serves to partially constrain some of the flux and cross section uncertainties. Uncertainties in the {\nu}_{\mu} background were constrained by neutrino flux and cross section measurements performed in both detectors. A likelihood ratio method was used to set a 90% confidence level upper limit on \bar{{\nu}_{\mu}} disappearance that dramatically improves upon prior limits in the {\Delta}m^2=0.1-100 eV^2 region.