arXiv subjects

H. Tanaka

Publications and source records attributed to H. Tanaka.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2025

Search for neutron decay into an antineutrino and a neutral kaon in 0.401 megaton-years exposure of Super-Kamiokande

We searched for bound neutron decay via $n\to\barν+K^0$ predicted by the Grand Unified Theories in 0.401 Mton$\cdot$years exposure of all pure water phases in the Super-Kamiokande detector. About 4.4 times more data than in the previous search have been analyzed by a new method including a spectrum fit to kaon invariant mass distributions. No significant data excess has been observed in the signal regions. As a result of this analysis, we set a lower limit of $7.8\times10^{32}$ years on the neutron lifetime at a 90% confidence level.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2024

Measurements of the charge ratio and polarization of cosmic-ray muons with the Super-Kamiokande detector

We present the results of the charge ratio ($R$) and polarization ($P^μ_{0}$) measurements using the decay electron events collected from 2008 September to 2022 June by the Super-Kamiokande detector. Because of its underground location and long operation, we performed high precision measurements by accumulating cosmic-ray muons. We measured the muon charge ratio to be $R=1.32 \pm 0.02$ $(\mathrm{stat.}{+}\mathrm{syst.})$ at $E_μ\cos θ_{\mathrm{Zenith}}=0.7^{+0.3}_{-0.2}$ $\mathrm{TeV}$, where $E_μ$ is the muon energy and $θ_{\mathrm{Zenith}}$ is the zenith angle of incoming cosmic-ray muons. This result is consistent with the Honda flux model while this suggests a tension with the $πK$ model of $1.9σ$. We also measured the muon polarization at the production location to be $P^μ_{0}=0.52 \pm 0.02$ $(\mathrm{stat.}{+}\mathrm{syst.})$ at the muon momentum of $0.9^{+0.6}_{-0.1}$ $\mathrm{TeV}/c$ at the surface of the mountain; this also suggests a tension with the Honda flux model of $1.5σ$. This is the most precise measurement ever to experimentally determine the cosmic-ray muon polarization near $1~\mathrm{TeV}/c$. These measurement results are useful to improve the atmospheric neutrino simulations.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2024

Search for proton decay via $p\rightarrow{e^+η}$ and $p\rightarrow{μ^+η}$ with a 0.37 Mton-year exposure of Super-Kamiokande

A search for proton decay into $e^+/μ^+$ and a $η$ meson has been performed using data from a 0.373 Mton$\cdot$year exposure (6050.3 live days) of Super-Kamiokande. Compared to previous searches this work introduces an improved model of the intranuclear $η$ interaction cross section, resulting in a factor of two reduction in uncertainties from this source and $\sim$10\% increase in signal efficiency. No significant data excess was found above the expected number of atmospheric neutrino background events resulting in no indication of proton decay into either mode. Lower limits on the proton partial lifetime of $1.4\times\mathrm{10^{34}~years}$ for $p\rightarrow e^+η$ and $7.3\times\mathrm{10^{33}~years}$ for $p\rightarrow μ^+η$ at the 90$\%$ C.L. were set. These limits are around 1.5 times longer than our previous study and are the most stringent to date.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2024

Development of a data overflow protection system for Super-Kamiokande to maximize data from nearby supernovae

Neutrinos from very nearby supernovae, such as Betelgeuse, are expected to generate more than ten million events over 10\,s in Super-Kamokande (SK). At such large event rates, the buffers of the SK analog-to-digital conversion board (QBEE) will overflow, causing random loss of data that is critical for understanding the dynamics of the supernova explosion mechanism. In order to solve this problem, two new DAQ modules were developed to aid in the observation of very nearby supernovae. The first of these, the SN module, is designed to save only the number of hit PMTs during a supernova burst and the second, the Veto module, prescales the high rate neutrino events to prevent the QBEE from overflowing based on information from the SN module. In the event of a very nearby supernova, these modules allow SK to reconstruct the time evolution of the neutrino event rate from beginning to end using both QBEE and SN module data. This paper presents the development and testing of these modules together with an analysis of supernova-like data generated with a flashing laser diode. We demonstrate that the Veto module successfully prevents DAQ overflows for Betelgeuse-like supernovae as well as the long-term stability of the new modules. During normal running the Veto module is found to issue DAQ vetos a few times per month resulting in a total dead time less than 1\,ms, and does not influence ordinary operations. Additionally, using simulation data we find that supernovae closer than 800~pc will trigger Veto module resulting in a prescaling of the observed neutrino data.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2024

Second gadolinium loading to Super-Kamiokande

The first loading of gadolinium (Gd) into Super-Kamiokande in 2020 was successful, and the neutron capture efficiency on Gd reached 50\%. To further increase the Gd neutron capture efficiency to 75\%, 26.1 tons of $\rm Gd_2(\rm SO_4)_3\cdot \rm 8H_2O$ was additionally loaded into Super-Kamiokande (SK) from May 31 to July 4, 2022. As the amount of loaded $\rm Gd_2(\rm SO_4)_3\cdot \rm 8H_2O$ was doubled compared to the first loading, the capacity of the powder dissolving system was doubled. We also developed new batches of gadolinium sulfate with even further reduced radioactive impurities. In addition, a more efficient screening method was devised and implemented to evaluate these new batches of $\rm Gd_2(\rm SO_4)_3\cdot \rm 8H_2O$. Following the second loading, the Gd concentration in SK was measured to be $333.5\pm2.5$ ppm via an Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (AAS). From the mean neutron capture time constant of neutrons from an Am/Be calibration source, the Gd concentration was independently measured to be 332.7 $\pm$ 6.8(sys.) $\pm$ 1.1(stat.) ppm, consistent with the AAS result. Furthermore, during the loading the Gd concentration was monitored continually using the capture time constant of each spallation neutron produced by cosmic-ray muons,and the final neutron capture efficiency was shown to become 1.5 times higher than that of the first loaded phase, as expected.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2024

Search for Periodic Time Variations of the Solar $^8$B Neutrino Flux between 1996 and 2018 in Super-Kamiokande

We report a search for time variations of the solar $^8$B neutrino flux using 5804 live days of Super-Kamiokande data collected between May 31, 1996, and May 30, 2018. Super-Kamiokande measured the precise time of each solar neutrino interaction over 22 calendar years to search for solar neutrino flux modulations with unprecedented precision. Periodic modulations are searched for in a dataset comprising five-day interval solar neutrino flux measurements with a maximum likelihood method. We also applied the Lomb-Scargle method to this dataset to compare it with previous reports. The only significant modulation found is due to the elliptic orbit of the Earth around the Sun. The observed modulation is consistent with astronomical data: we measured an eccentricity of (1.53$\pm$0.35)\%, and a perihelion shift of ($-$1.5$\pm$13.5) days.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2024

Performance of SK-Gd's Upgraded Real-time Supernova Monitoring System

Among multi-messenger observations of the next galactic core-collapse supernova, Super-Kamiokande (SK) plays a critical role in detecting the emitted supernova neutrinos, determining the direction to the supernova (SN), and notifying the astronomical community of these observations in advance of the optical signal. On 2022, SK has increased the gadolinium dissolved in its water target (SK-Gd) and has achieved a Gd concentration of 0.033%, resulting in enhanced neutron detection capability, which in turn enables more accurate determination of the supernova direction. Accordingly, SK-Gd's real-time supernova monitoring system (Abe te al. 2016b) has been upgraded. SK_SN Notice, a warning system that works together with this monitoring system, was released on December 13, 2021, and is available through GCN Notices (Barthelmy et al. 2000). When the monitoring system detects an SN-like burst of events, SK_SN Notice will automatically distribute an alarm with the reconstructed direction to the supernova candidate within a few minutes. In this paper, we present a systematic study of SK-Gd's response to a simulated galactic SN. Assuming a supernova situated at 10 kpc, neutrino fluxes from six supernova models are used to characterize SK-Gd's pointing accuracy using the same tools as the online monitoring system. The pointing accuracy is found to vary from 3-7$^\circ$ depending on the models. However, if the supernova is closer than 10 kpc, SK_SN Notice can issue an alarm with three-degree accuracy, which will benefit follow-up observations by optical telescopes with large fields of view.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2024

Solar neutrino measurements using the full data period of Super-Kamiokande-IV

An analysis of solar neutrino data from the fourth phase of Super-Kamiokande~(SK-IV) from October 2008 to May 2018 is performed and the results are presented. The observation time of the data set of SK-IV corresponds to $2970$~days and the total live time for all four phases is $5805$~days. For more precise solar neutrino measurements, several improvements are applied in this analysis: lowering the data acquisition threshold in May 2015, further reduction of the spallation background using neutron clustering events, precise energy reconstruction considering the time variation of the PMT gain. The observed number of solar neutrino events in $3.49$--$19.49$ MeV electron kinetic energy region during SK-IV is $65,443^{+390}_{-388}\,(\mathrm{stat.})\pm 925\,(\mathrm{syst.})$ events. Corresponding $\mathrm{^{8}B}$ solar neutrino flux is $(2.314 \pm 0.014\, \rm{(stat.)} \pm 0.040 \, \rm{(syst.)}) \times 10^{6}~\mathrm{cm^{-2}\,s^{-1}}$, assuming a pure electron-neutrino flavor component without neutrino oscillations. The flux combined with all SK phases up to SK-IV is $(2.336 \pm 0.011\, \rm{(stat.)} \pm 0.043 \, \rm{(syst.)}) \times 10^{6}~\mathrm{cm^{-2}\,s^{-1}}$. Based on the neutrino oscillation analysis from all solar experiments, including the SK $5805$~days data set, the best-fit neutrino oscillation parameters are $\rm{sin^{2} θ_{12,\,solar}} = 0.306 \pm 0.013 $ and $Δm^{2}_{21,\,\mathrm{solar}} = (6.10^{+ 0.95}_{-0.81}) \times 10^{-5}~\rm{eV}^{2}$, with a deviation of about 1.5$σ$ from the $Δm^{2}_{21}$ parameter obtained by KamLAND. The best-fit neutrino oscillation parameters obtained from all solar experiments and KamLAND are $\sin^{2} θ_{12,\,\mathrm{global}} = 0.307 \pm 0.012 $ and $Δm^{2}_{21,\,\mathrm{global}} = (7.50^{+ 0.19}_{-0.18}) \times 10^{-5}~\rm{eV}^{2}$.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2024

Defect-Induced Low-Energy Majorana Excitations in the Kitaev Magnet $α$-RuCl$_3$

The excitations in the Kitaev spin liquid (KSL) can be described by Majorana fermions, which have characteristic field dependence of bulk gap and topological edge modes. In the high-field state of layered honeycomb magnet $α$-RuCl$_3$, experimental results supporting these Majorana features have been reported recently. However, there are challenges due to sample dependence and the impact of inevitable disorder on the KSL is poorly understood. Here we study how low-energy excitations are modified by introducing point defects in $α$-RuCl$_3$ using electron irradiation, which induces site vacancies and exchange randomness. High-resolution measurements of the temperature dependence of specific heat $C(T)$ under in-plane fields $H$ reveal that while the field-dependent Majorana gap is almost intact, additional low-energy states with $C/T=A(H)T$ are induced by introduced defects. At low temperatures, we obtain the data collapse of $C/T\sim H^{-γ}(T/H)$ expected for a disordered quantum spin system, but with an anomalously large exponent $γ$. This leads us to find a power-law relationship between the coefficient $A(H)$ and the field-sensitive Majorana gap. These results are consistent with the picture that the disorder induces low-energy linear Majorana excitations, which may be considered as a weak localization effect of Majorana fermions in the KSL.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2024

Measurement of $γ$-ray production via the neutron-$^{16}$O reaction using a 77 MeV quasi-monoenergetic neutron beam

Understanding of $γ$-ray production via neutron interactions on oxygen is essential for the study of neutrino neutral-current quasielastic interactions in water Cherenkov detectors. A measurement of $γ$-ray production from such reactions was performed using a 77~MeV quasi-monoenergetic neutron beam. Several $γ$-ray peaks, which are expected to come from neutron-${\rm ^{16}O}$ reactions, are observed and production cross sections are measured for nine $γ$-ray components of energies between 2 and 8~MeV. These are the first measurements at this neutron energy using a nearly monoenergetic beam.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2023

Atmospheric neutrino oscillation analysis with neutron tagging and an expanded fiducial volume in Super-Kamiokande I-V

We present a measurement of neutrino oscillation parameters with the Super-Kamiokande detector using atmospheric neutrinos from the complete pure-water SK I-V (April 1996-July 2020) data set, including events from an expanded fiducial volume. The data set corresponds to 6511.3 live days and an exposure of 484.2 kiloton-years. Measurements of the neutrino oscillation parameters $Δm^2_{32}$, $\sin^2θ_{23}$, $\sin^2 θ_{13}$, $δ_{CP}$, and the preference for the neutrino mass ordering are presented with atmospheric neutrino data alone, and with constraints on $\sin^2 θ_{13}$ from reactor neutrino experiments. Our analysis including constraints on $\sin^2 θ_{13}$ favors the normal mass ordering at the 92.3% level.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2023

Measurement of the neutrino-oxygen neutral-current quasielastic cross section using atmospheric neutrinos in the SK-Gd experiment

We report the first measurement of the atmospheric neutrino-oxygen neutral-current quasielastic (NCQE) cross section in the gadolinium-loaded Super-Kamiokande (SK) water Cherenkov detector. In June 2020, SK began a new experimental phase, named SK-Gd, by loading 0.011% by mass of gadolinium into the ultrapure water of the SK detector. The introduction of gadolinium to ultrapure water has the effect of improving the neutron-tagging efficiency. Using a 552.2 day data set from August 2020 to June 2022, we measure the NCQE cross section to be 0.74 $\pm$ 0.22(stat.) $^{+0.85}_{-0.15}$ (syst.) $\times$ 10$^{-38}$ cm$^{2}$/oxygen in the energy range from 160 MeV to 10 GeV, which is consistent with the atmospheric neutrino-flux-averaged theoretical NCQE cross section and the measurement in the SK pure-water phase within the uncertainties. Furthermore, we compare the models of the nucleon-nucleus interactions in water and find that the Binary Cascade model and the Liege Intranuclear Cascade model provide a somewhat better fit to the observed data than the Bertini Cascade model. Since the atmospheric neutrino-oxygen NCQE reactions are one of the main backgrounds in the search for diffuse supernova neutrino background (DSNB), these new results will contribute to future studies - and the potential discovery - of the DSNB in SK.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2023

Measurement of the cosmogenic neutron yield in Super-Kamiokande with gadolinium loaded water

Cosmic-ray muons that enter the Super-Kamiokande detector cause hadronic showers due to spallation in water, producing neutrons and radioactive isotopes. Those are a major background source for studies of MeV-scale neutrinos and searches for rare events. Since 2020, gadolinium was introduced in the ultra-pure water in the Super-Kamiokande detector to improve the detection efficiency of neutrons. In this study, the cosmogenic neutron yield was measured using data acquired during the period after the gadolinium loading. The yield was found to be $(2.76 \pm 0.02\,\mathrm{(stat.) \pm 0.19\,\mathrm{(syst.)}}) \times 10^{-4}\,μ^{-1} \mathrm{g^{-1} cm^{2}}$ at 259 GeV of average muon energy at the Super-Kamiokande detector.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2023

Search for Cosmic-ray Boosted Sub-GeV Dark Matter using Recoil Protons at Super-Kamiokande

We report a search for cosmic-ray boosted dark matter with protons using the 0.37 megaton$\times$years data collected at Super-Kamiokande experiment during the 1996-2018 period (SKI-IV phase). We searched for an excess of proton recoils above the atmospheric neutrino background from the vicinity of the Galactic Center. No such excess is observed, and limits are calculated for two reference models of dark matter with either a constant interaction cross-section or through a scalar mediator. This is the first experimental search for boosted dark matter with hadrons using directional information. The results present the most stringent limits on cosmic-ray boosted dark matter and exclude the dark matter-nucleon elastic scattering cross-section between $10^{-33}\text{ cm}^{2}$ and $10^{-27}\text{ cm}^{2}$ for dark matter mass from 10 MeV/$c^2$ to 1 GeV/$c^2$.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2023

Search for astrophysical electron antineutrinos in Super-Kamiokande with 0.01wt% gadolinium-loaded water

We report the first search result for the flux of astrophysical electron antineutrinos for energies O(10) MeV in the gadolinium-loaded Super-Kamiokande (SK) detector. In June 2020, gadolinium was introduced to the ultra-pure water of the SK detector in order to detect neutrons more efficiently. In this new experimental phase, SK-Gd, we can search for electron antineutrinos via inverse beta decay with efficient background rejection and higher signal efficiency thanks to the high efficiency of the neutron tagging technique. In this paper, we report the result for the initial stage of SK-Gd with a $22.5\times552$ $\rm kton\cdot day$ exposure at 0.01% Gd mass concentration. No significant excess over the expected background in the observed events is found for the neutrino energies below 31.3 MeV. Thus, the flux upper limits are placed at the 90% confidence level. The limits and sensitivities are already comparable with the previous SK result with pure-water ($22.5 \times 2970 \rm kton\cdot day$) owing to the enhanced neutron tagging.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2023

Majorana-fermion origin of the planar thermal Hall effect in the Kitaev magnet $α$-RuCl$_3$

The field-induced quantum disordered state of layered honeycomb magnet $α$-RuCl$_3$ is a prime candidate for Kitaev spin liquids hosting Majorana fermions and non-Abelian anyons. Recent observations of anomalous planar thermal Hall effect demonstrate a topological edge mode, but whether it originates from Majorana fermions or bosonic magnons remains controversial. Here we distinguish these origins from low-temperature measurements of high-resolution specific heat and thermal Hall conductivity with rotating in-plane fields. In the honeycomb bond direction, a distinct closure of the low-energy bulk gap is observed concomitantly with the sign reversal of the Hall effect. General discussions of topological bands show that this is the hallmark of an angle-rotation-induced topological transition of fermions, providing conclusive evidence for the Majorana-fermion origin of the thermal Hall effect in $α$-RuCl$_3$.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2023

Time-, spin-, and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy with a 1-MHz 10.7-eV pulse laser

We describe a setup of time-, spin-, and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (tr-SARPES) employing a 10.7-eV ($λ$=115.6 nm) pulse laser at 1-MHz repetition rate as a probe photon source. This equipment effectively combines technologies of a high-power Yb:fiber laser, ultraviolet-driven harmonic generation in Xe gas, and a SARPES apparatus equipped with very-low-energy-electron-diffraction (VLEED) spin detectors. A high repetition rate (1 MHz) of the probe laser allows experiments with the photoemission space-charge effects significantly reduced, despite a high flux of 10$^{13}$ photons/s on the sample. The relatively high photon energy (10.7 eV) also brings the capability of observing a wide momentum range that covers the entire Brillouin zone of many materials while ensuring high momentum resolution. The experimental setup overcomes a low efficiency of spin-resolved measurements, which gets even more severe for the pump-probed unoccupied states, and affords for investigating ultrafast electron and spin dynamics of modern quantum materials with energy and time resolutions of 25 meV and 360 fs, respectively.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2022

Searching for neutrinos from solar flares across solar cycles 23 and 24 with the Super-Kamiokande detector

Neutrinos associated with solar flares (solar-flare neutrinos) provide information on particle acceleration mechanisms during the impulsive phase of solar flares. We searched using the Super-Kamiokande detector for neutrinos from solar flares that occurred during solar cycles $23$ and $24$, including the largest solar flare (X28.0) on November 4th, 2003. In order to minimize the background rate we searched for neutrino interactions within narrow time windows coincident with $γ$-rays and soft X-rays recorded by satellites. In addition, we performed the first attempt to search for solar-flare neutrinos from solar flares on the invisible side of the Sun by using the emission time of coronal mass ejections (CMEs). By selecting twenty powerful solar flares above X5.0 on the visible side and eight CMEs whose emission speed exceeds $2000$ $\mathrm{km \, s^{-1}}$ on the invisible side from 1996 to 2018, we found two (six) neutrino events coincident with solar flares occurring on the visible (invisible) side of the Sun, with a typical background rate of $0.10$ ($0.62$) events per flare in the MeV-GeV energy range. No significant solar-flare neutrino signal above the estimated background rate was observed. As a result we set the following upper limit on neutrino fluence at the Earth $\mathitΦ<1.1\times10^{6}$ $\mathrm{cm^{-2}}$ at the $90\%$ confidence level for the largest solar flare. The resulting fluence limits allow us to constrain some of the theoretical models for solar-flare neutrino emission.

astro-ph.SR↗