Observation of tau neutrino charged-current interactions

TL;DR

The paper reports the first observation of tau neutrino charged-current interactions, identifying four candidate events with a very low probability of background coincidence, confirming tau neutrino detection.

Contribution

First experimental observation of tau neutrino charged-current interactions using a hybrid emulsion spectrometer.

Findings

Four candidate tau neutrino events observed

Background probability for these events is extremely low

Confirms the existence of tau neutrinos in experimental data

Abstract

The DONUT collaboration has observed four events in a hybrid emulsion spectrometer consistent with tau neutrino charged-current interactions. The resulting tau lepton is identified by its decay into a single charged particle. The expected background of charm decays and secondary interactions is .34 +/- >.05 events. The probability that all tau neutrino candidates are due to background proceesses is 1.1 x 10-4.