Searcharxiv⌕ Search
Home/Archive/arXiv

arXiv · 1911.10545

Search for heavy neutral leptons decaying into muon-pion pairs in the MicroBooNE detector

P. Abratenko·M. Alrashed·R. An·J. Anthony·J. Asaadi·A. Ashkenazi·S. Balasubramanian·B. Baller·C. Barnes·G. Barr·V. Basque·S. Berkman·A. Bhanderi·A. Bhat·M. Bishai·A. Blake·T. Bolton·L. Camilleri·D. Caratelli·I. Caro Terrazas·R. Castillo Fernandez·F. Cavanna·G. Cerati·Y. Chen·E. Church·D. Cianci·E. O. Cohen·J. M. Conrad·M. Convery·L. Cooper-Troendle·J. I. Crespo-Anadón·M. Del Tutto·D. Devitt·L. Domine·K. Duffy·S. Dytman·B. Eberly·A. Ereditato·L. Escudero Sanchez·J. J. Evans·R. S. Fitzpatrick·B. T. Fleming·N. Foppiani·D. Franco·A. P. Furmanski·D. Garcia-Gamez·S. Gardiner·V. Genty·D. Goeldi·S. Gollapinni·O. Goodwin·E. Gramellini·P. Green·H. Greenlee·L. Gu·W. Gu·R. Guenette·P. Guzowski·P. Hamilton·O. Hen·C. Hill·G. A. Horton-Smith·A. Hourlier·E. -C. Huang·R. Itay·C. James·J. Jan de Vries·X. Ji·L. Jiang·J. H. Jo·R. A. Johnson·J. Joshi·Y. -J. Jwa·G. Karagiorgi·W. Ketchum·B. Kirby·M. Kirby·T. Kobilarcik·I. Kreslo·R. LaZur·I. Lepetic·Y. Li·A. Lister·B. R. Littlejohn·S. Lockwitz·D. Lorca·W. C. Louis·M. Luethi·B. Lundberg·X. Luo·A. Marchionni·S. Marcocci·C. Mariani·J. Marshall·J. Martin-Albo·D. A. Martinez Caicedo·K. Mason·A. Mastbaum·N. McConkey·V. Meddage
View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

We present upper limits on the production of heavy neutral leptons (HNLs) decaying to $\mu \pi$ pairs using data collected with the MicroBooNE liquid-argon time projection chamber (TPC) operating at Fermilab. This search is the first of its kind performed in a liquid-argon TPC. We use data collected in 2017 and 2018 corresponding to an exposure of $2.0 \times 10^{20}$ protons on target from the Fermilab Booster Neutrino Beam, which produces mainly muon neutrinos with an average energy of $\approx 800$ MeV. HNLs with higher mass are expected to have a longer time-of-flight to the liquid-argon TPC than Standard Model neutrinos. The data are therefore recorded with a dedicated trigger configured to detect HNL decays that occur after the neutrino spill reaches the detector. We set upper limits at the $90\%$ confidence level on the element $\lvert U_{\mu4}\rvert^2$ of the extended PMNS mixing matrix in the range $\lvert U_{\mu4}\rvert^2<(6.6$-$0.9)\times 10^{-7}$ for Dirac HNLs and $\lvert U_{\mu4}\rvert^2<(4.7$-$0.7)\times 10^{-7}$ for Majorana HNLs, assuming HNL masses between $260$ and $385$ MeV and $\lvert U_{e 4}\rvert^2 = \lvert U_{\tau 4}\rvert^2 = 0$.

Explore related subjects

hep-exphysics.ins-det

Keep this discovery

BibTeXRIS

P. Abratenko, M. Alrashed, R. An, J. Anthony, J. Asaadi, A. Ashkenazi, S. Balasubramanian, B. Baller, C. Barnes, G. Barr, V. Basque, S. Berkman, A. Bhanderi, A. Bhat, M. Bishai, A. Blake, T. Bolton, L. Camilleri, D. Caratelli, I. Caro Terrazas, R. Castillo Fernandez, F. Cavanna, G. Cerati, Y. Chen, E. Church, D. Cianci, E. O. Cohen, J. M. Conrad, M. Convery, L. Cooper-Troendle, J. I. Crespo-Anadón, M. Del Tutto, D. Devitt, L. Domine, K. Duffy, S. Dytman, B. Eberly, A. Ereditato, L. Escudero Sanchez, J. J. Evans, R. S. Fitzpatrick, B. T. Fleming, N. Foppiani, D. Franco, A. P. Furmanski, D. Garcia-Gamez, S. Gardiner, V. Genty, D. Goeldi, S. Gollapinni, O. Goodwin, E. Gramellini, P. Green, H. Greenlee, L. Gu, W. Gu, R. Guenette, P. Guzowski, P. Hamilton, O. Hen, C. Hill, G. A. Horton-Smith, A. Hourlier, E. -C. Huang, R. Itay, C. James, J. Jan de Vries, X. Ji, L. Jiang, J. H. Jo, R. A. Johnson, J. Joshi, Y. -J. Jwa, G. Karagiorgi, W. Ketchum, B. Kirby, M. Kirby, T. Kobilarcik, I. Kreslo, R. LaZur, I. Lepetic, Y. Li, A. Lister, B. R. Littlejohn, S. Lockwitz, D. Lorca, W. C. Louis, M. Luethi, B. Lundberg, X. Luo, A. Marchionni, S. Marcocci, C. Mariani, J. Marshall, J. Martin-Albo, D. A. Martinez Caicedo, K. Mason, A. Mastbaum, N. McConkey, V. Meddage. 2019-11-24. Search for heavy neutral leptons decaying into muon-pion pairs in the MicroBooNE detector. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.101.052001

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

arXiv2026

Production of Light Nuclei and Hypernuclei in Heavy-Ion Collisions

We review recent STAR and ALICE measurements of light-nucleus and hypernucleus yields, femtoscopic correlations, and collective flow presented at SQM 2026. Statistical-hadronization calculations provide a useful baseline for integrated yields but do not simultaneously describe all measured light-nucleus ratios across collision energies and system sizes. For bound states with mass number $A<4$, current coalescence calculations provide a broadly consistent description of yields, femtoscopic correlations, and collective flow, although the quantitative hypertriton comparison depends on the assumed few-body wave function. The suppressed production of resonant $^{4}$Li relative to compact $^{4}$He indicates an effect of nuclear structure and late-stage dynamics. However, the quantitative model comparison also depends on the treatment of feed-down from unstable states. In high-multiplicity $p$+$p$ collisions, pion-deuteron femtoscopy further indicates that most observed (anti)deuterons are formed through nucleon fusion after strong decays of short-lived resonances. Taken together, these measurements show that production chronology and internal nuclear structure leave measurable imprints on the physics observables.

hep-ex↗
arXiv2026

Search for the process $e^+e^-\to f_1(1285)$ at the SND detector

In the experiment with the SND detector at the VEPP-2000 $e^+e^-$ collider, a search is performed for the direct production of the $C$-even $f_1(1285)$ resonance in $e^+e^-$ collisions. The analysis is based on data with an integrated luminosity of about 200 pb$^{-1}$, accumulated in the center-of-mass energy range of 1.14--1.46 GeV, of which about 72 pb$^{-1}$ were recorded near the maximum of the $f_1(1285)$ resonance. The $f_1(1285)$ production cross section at the resonance maximum $\sigma(e^+e^-\to f_1)=(31\pm 13\pm 2)$ pb and the branching fraction $B(f_1(1285)\to e^+e^-)=(3.5\pm 1.4\pm 0.3)\times 10^{-9}$ have been measured. The significance of the observation of the $e^+e^-\to f_1(1285)$ process is $2.5\sigma$. Since the significance is low, we also present the upper limits at the 90% confidence level: $\sigma(e^+e^-\to f_1)<48\mbox{ pb}$ and $B(f_1(1285)\to e^+e^-)<5.4\times 10^{-9}$.

hep-ex↗
arXiv2026

Projected Sensitivity to Slow Muonphilic Dark Matter with Accelerator Muon Beams

The nature of dark matter (DM) remains one of the most enduring open questions in modern physics, and muonphilic DM has emerged as a promising scenario that complements traditional DM candidates. Following the recently established cosmic-ray muon scattering approach, we investigate the sensitivity for probing slow muonphilic DM with accelerator muon beams. A Geant4-based simulation framework is developed, incorporating the detector geometry from the PKMu muon tomography system and a dedicated elastic $\mu$-DM scattering process. The projected sensitivity is found to be largely insensitive to both the beam energy and the transverse beam size when the beam is fully contained within the detector acceptance. For a benchmark beam intensity of $10^5/\rm{s}$, the simulated pure-muon beam surpasses the existing cosmic-ray limit of $1.61\times10^{-17}$ cm$^2$ at $m_{\rm DM}=1$ GeV within approximately 11 seconds. A realistic muon beam phase-space distribution based on simulations for the High Intensity heavy-ion Accelerator Facility (HIAF) is also implemented, yielding projected limits that improve upon the cosmic-ray results by nearly two orders of magnitude in a one-day exposure. These results demonstrate that a beam-muon scattering experiment offers a robust and promising route toward significantly improved sensitivity to slow muonphilic DM.

hep-ex↗