Atmospheric neutrino oscillations from upward throughgoing muon multiple scattering in MACRO

TL;DR

This paper presents an analysis of atmospheric neutrino oscillations using muon energy estimation via multiple Coulomb scattering in MACRO, providing strong evidence for neutrino oscillations independent of flux normalization.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method to estimate neutrino energy through muon scattering, enhancing the evidence for neutrino oscillations.

Findings

Strong evidence (>4 sigma) for neutrino oscillations.

Energy distortion of muons supports oscillation hypothesis.

Results are independent of neutrino flux normalization.

Abstract

The energy of atmospheric neutrinos detected by MACRO was estimated using multiple coulomb scattering of upward throughgoing muons. This analysis allows a test of atmospheric neutrino oscillations, relying on the distortion of the muon energy distribution. These results have been combined with those coming from the upward throughgoing muon angular distribution only. Both analyses are independent of the neutrino flux normalization and provide strong evidence, above the 4 sigma level, in favour of neutrino oscillations.