arXiv subjects

M. Bhattacharya

Publications and source records attributed to M. Bhattacharya.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Long-term scintillation light performance, calibrations, and triggering efficiency in the MicroBooNE detector

A detailed understanding of scintillation light in liquid argon time projection chambers (LArTPCs) is essential for the robust extraction of physics measurements from their data. This article presents the long-term performance of scintillation light production and detection using five years of data from the MicroBooNE LArTPC neutrino detector. We describe the MicroBooNE light simulation and light-based triggering schemes, and present the photomultiplier tube gain calibration and stability, light response stability, and light-based systematic uncertainties over the course of five years of data collection. We also make an in-situ measurement of the scintillation light triggering efficiency down to 30 MeV of visible energy. Finally, we discuss two notable observations in MicroBooNE's data, both reported here for the first time: an approximately 50\% decline in MicroBooNE's light yield over time, concentrated in the first two years of running; and a higher than expected O(200 kHz) rate of single photoelectrons (SPE). We present the first measurements of the dependence of the SPE rate on the TPC electric field strength and polarity. Together, the results presented in this article provide an important benchmark for the long-term performance of scintillation light systems in LArTPCs and their use in particle physics measurements.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2026

Exceptional Points as Witnesses of Non-Gaussian Noise

Efficient control of quantum devices requires the knowledge of their environmental noise, yet the commonly measured power spectrum does not fully characterize non-Gaussian fluctuations of realistic environments. Here we show that exceptional points (EPs) in the noise-averaged dephasing response can expose observable signatures of non-Gaussian statistics, distinguishing environments with identical lower-order statistics. We also introduce a theoretical model that describes dephasing environments in terms of identical independent noise sources while preserving the power spectrum. Given a calibrated single-source model, the largest EP order extracted from the measured dephasing response determines the number of sources and predicts the higher-order statistics of the combined noise. We illustrate an atomtronic readout that maps distinct EP signatures onto an evolving ensemble-averaged atomic interference pattern. Our results connect non-Hermitian dynamics to environmental noise statistics, providing a route to characterize noise in quantum devices used in computing, metrology, and precision measurement.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Optimal quantum discrimination at Liouvillian exceptional points

Central to non-Hermitian sensing is the question of whether exceptional points (EPs) can make weak perturbations easier to detect. We show that despite enhanced spectral response, in finite-dimensional Lindblad systems with a unique stationary state and a nonzero relaxation gap, EPs offer no fundamental advantage in how the observation time required for reliable detection of a weak perturbation scales with the perturbation strength. We nevertheless demonstrate that by selectively choosing perturbations that enhance the quantum Fisher information rate, EPs can shorten the observation time needed to reach a predefined detection accuracy relative to a comparable non-EP reference at the same decay rate. As an illustration, we show using an optomechanical model at an EP that we can detect a weak force through the cavity output at the same reliability in less time than a non-EP reference. Our results establish fundamental limits on perturbation detection at EPs and can guide the design of faster non-Hermitian sensors based on optomechanical resonators, superconducting qubits, and trapped ions.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Inclusive Search for Anomalous Single-Photon Production in MicroBooNE

We present an inclusive search for anomalous production of single-photon events from neutrino interactions in the MicroBooNE experiment. The search and its signal definition are motivated by the previous observation of a low-energy excess of electromagnetic shower events from the MiniBooNE experiment. We use the Wire-Cell reconstruction framework to select a sample of inclusive single-photon final-state interactions with a final efficiency and purity of 7.0% and 40.2%, respectively. We leverage simultaneous measurements of sidebands of charged current $ν_μ$ interactions and neutral current interactions producing $π^{0}$ mesons to constrain signal and background predictions and reduce uncertainties. We perform a blind analysis using a dataset collected from February 2016 to July 2018, corresponding to an exposure of $6.34\times10^{20}$ protons on target from the Booster Neutrino Beam (BNB) at Fermilab. In the full signal region, we observe agreement between the data and the prediction, with a goodness-of-fit $p$-value of 0.11. We then isolate a sub-sample of these events containing no visible protons, and observe $93\pm22\text{(stat.)}\pm35\text{(syst.)}$ data events above prediction, corresponding to just above $2σ$ local significance, concentrated at shower energies below 600 MeV.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2026

Characterizing the energy resolution of the MicroBooNE LArTPC at the MeV scale using monoenergetic features of $^{208}$Tl decays

A detailed understanding of the capabilities and fidelity of low-energy reconstruction is crucial for taking advantage of MeV-scale neutrino physics opportunities in liquid argon time projection chambers (LArTPCs). This study presents a measurement of the resolution of reconstructed energy in the MicroBooNE LArTPC at $\approx 1.5$ MeV. The characterization is performed using monoenergetic signals generated by $2.614$ MeV $γ$-rays from $^{208}$Tl decays undergoing pair production in the detector. The resolution is found to be ($7.52 \pm 0.78 \text{(stat)} \pm 0.92 \text{(syst)}$)%. This value is consistent with the MicroBooNE simulation prediction of ($9.70 \pm 0.65 \text{(stat)}$)% at the $1.6 σ$ level. This study represents the first ever measurement of LArTPC energy resolution at the MeV scale and provides a pathway for monoenergetic energy calibrations in future experiments using LArTPC detectors.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2026

First double-differential cross-section measurements in proton multiplicity and kinematics for mesonless $ν_μ$ charged-current interactions on argon using the MicroBooNE detector

We present the first double-differential cross-section measurements of muon neutrino charged-current interactions on argon with no mesons and one or more protons ($N_{p} \geq 1$) in the final state as a function of proton multiplicity and kinematics. The analysis uses the full Booster Neutrino Beam dataset collected by the MicroBooNE detector at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, corresponding to a total of $1.30 \times 10^{21}$ protons on target. We measure cross sections as a function of the proton multiplicity, the momenta and muon-proton opening angles of the leading and subleading protons up to and including the fourth-leading proton, as well as the total available kinetic energy of the hadronic system. The treatment of the statistical and systematic uncertainties includes correlations between the different extracted distributions. The measured cross sections are compared to predictions from several event generators using different primary and final-state interaction models. The results reveal strong sensitivity to the modeling of final-state interactions, and none of the generators tested provides a fully adequate description of the data. Significant disagreement between data and predictions is observed in the proton multiplicity distributions, particularly at backward opening angles and for subleading proton kinematics.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2026

First Measurement of Differential Cross Sections in Kinematic Imbalance Variables with Electron Neutrino Interactions Using the MicroBooNE Detector

We report the first measurement of flux-integrated cross sections as a function of kinematic imbalance variables for electron neutrino interactions on argon. Kinematic imbalance variables, applied here to electron neutrino interactions for the first time, are particularly interesting due to their sensitivity to effects such as Fermi motion, multinucleon processes, and final-state interactions, providing a detailed lens to study neutrino-nucleus interactions. These measurements are performed using MicroBooNE's full dataset of $1.3 \times 10^{21}$ protons on target from the Booster Neutrino Beam at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. The measured cross sections are compared to several neutrino event generator configurations, revealing tensions between these models and data in the regions that are expected to be less dominated by final-state interactions.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2026

Demonstration and performance of an online data selection algorithm for liquid argon time projection chambers using MicroBooNE

The MicroBooNE detector is a liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) that produces three-dimensional images of particle interactions using ionization charge collected by anode wire plane arrays and scintillation light collected by a light detection system. In addition to testing long-standing experimental neutrino anomalies and performing measurements of neutrino interactions with argon nuclei using the Fermilab Booster Neutrino Beam, MicroBooNE aims to develop methodologies for rare beyond the Standard Model and off-beam physics searches. Looking ahead to the upcoming Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE), with MicroBooNE serving as a valuable testbed, achieving high sensitivity and livetime for off-beam physics while satisfying data processing and storage constraints will require data-driven, intelligent, and online or real-time data selection techniques. These techniques are essential for reducing data rates and preserving rare signals with high accuracy. In this paper, we describe a fast data selection algorithm suitable for online execution to identify electrons from stopping cosmic ray muons in the MicroBooNE detector utilizing ionization charge information, and present its performance. This represents the first demonstration of online data selection in a LArTPC using real data and charge information exclusively and provides an important proof-of-principle for applying such techniques to other LArTPC experiments such as the Short-Baseline Near Detector and DUNE.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2026

Spinor condensate persistent currents in an atomtronic Josephson necklace

The investigation of superflow in multi-junction Josephson circuits is currently a leading frontier of physics research, probing the fundamental manifestations of macroscopic phase coherence and enabling applications to quantum simulation, metrology and computing. In this work, we extensively investigate the stability and dynamics of persistent currents of a spinor atomic Bose-Einstein condensate on a ring with multiple Josephson junctions. Specifically, we examine the effects of positive and negative interspecies interactions, co- and counter-rotation, population and Manakov asymmetry, as well as Rabi coupling on the persistent currents carried by the two components. Our analysis reveals that the presence of a second species offers multiple mechanisms for unprecedented manipulation of supercurrents on the ring, including phase-slip engineering, stability control, current-inversion switching and supercurrent pumping. Our study provides a roadmap for the engineering of persistent currents in binary ring condensates in necklace potentials, with significant implications for atomtronics, matter-wave interferometry and sensing using atomic Bose gases.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2026

Krylov Tomography and Finite-Uncertainty Certification of Exceptional-Point Dynamics

Exceptional points (EPs) can produce striking responses, but locating one does not reveal how much of its dynamics an excitation accesses, which responses a detector distinguishes, or whether a missing signal is absent or undetected. We introduce Krylov tomography, a preparation- and measurement-aware framework that uses time-resolved data and models with stated uncertainty limits to answer these questions, while also bounding offset-induced departures from exact-EP behavior. As an explicit illustration of the general framework, we present finite-precision simulations of a red-sideband optomechanical model, whose second-moment coherence sector contains a third-order EP, certifying preparation-sensitive access to two and three directions. Krylov tomography thus bridges EP structure and finite-precision measurements, providing a general framework for non-Hermitian systems.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Modeling the non-Markovian Brownian motion of an optomechanical resonator

We propose a representative, globally-admissible phenomenological spectral density of the bath for the non-Markovian Brownian motion of an optomechanical resonator, motivated by the near-resonance experimental observation of a non-Ohmic spectrum in [Nat. Commun. 6, 7606 (2015)]. To avoid divergences arising from a naive global extrapolation, we propose a globally-admissible, phenomenological bath spectrum that extends the experimentally-observed, near-resonance non-Ohmic behavior beyond the measurement window while ensuring finite bath-induced renormalizations and quadrature fluctuations of the resonator. The corresponding model of the structured environment produces a nonlocal mechanical response whose analytic pole structure encodes the observed linewidth. The resulting dissipation kernel exhibits a power-law-modulated exponential decay with transient negativity, signaling memory effects. In the weak-coupling regime, the optical readout based on homodyne detection enables near-resonance spectroscopy and, with a calibrated drive on the resonator, permits, in principle, the reconstruction of the full mechanical susceptibility, thereby providing access to both the dissipative and dispersive bath contributions. Our results provide a consistent route from locally-inferred spectral properties to globally-admissible open-system descriptions and establish a framework for probing structured environments in cavity optomechanics.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Measurements of the electron neutrino-argon differential cross section without pions in the final state in MicroBooNE

We present a new measurement of the electron neutrino charged current cross section on argon without pions in the final state. This measurement uses the full MicroBooNE booster neutrino beam dataset of $1.3\times 10^{21}$ protons on target collected at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. Events are considered both with and without protons above the kinetic energy visibility threshold. Differential cross sections are extracted in proton and electron kinematics, including energy and angle relative to the neutrino beam direction. The relationship between the hadronic and leptonic systems is explored through the angle between the proton and electron directions. The resulting cross sections are compared to a variety of available generator predictions using different models of neutrino interactions. We find good agreement with most models in lepton kinematics and some discrepancies in the hadronic system modeling, particularly in proton angle.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2026

An improved direct limit on the muon electric dipole moment

A limit on the permanent electric dipole moment (EDM) of the positive muon is presented based on data from the Fermilab Muon g-2 Experiment taken between 2019 and 2020. The tracking detectors measure the average vertical decay angle of positrons from muon decays, enabling a search for an interaction between a possible muon EDM $d_μ$ and the lab-frame magnetic field. The result, $d_μ= (-0.35 \pm 0.19_{\mathrm{stat}} \pm 0.34_{\mathrm{sys}}) \times10^{-19}~e\cdot$cm, is consistent with zero and sets a new direct limit on the muon EDM of $|d_μ|<1.10\times10^{-19}~e\cdot$cm at the 95 percent confidence level.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2026

Improved muon energy estimation using a detailed model of multiple Coulomb scattering in the MicroBooNE LArTPC

We present an improved technique for estimating a muon's energy by measuring the deflections along its path inside the MicroBooNE detector from multiple Coulomb scattering (MCS). This approach implements several innovations that better capture detector non-idealizations compared to previous MCS-based muon energy estimators. As a result, it achieves improved resolution, reduced bias, and better data-model agreement. Using model simulation, for fully contained events the estimated bias is within 1% and the estimated resolution varies from 4.3% to 10% as muon energy increases from 0.1 GeV to 2 GeV. For events with particles exiting the detector volume, at least a meter of reconstructed muon track, and a muon energy below 2 GeV, the estimated bias is less than 2% and the estimated resolution varies from 7% to 17% over muon energy. These demonstrate significant improvements over the performance of previous work using an MCS-based energy estimator at MicroBooNE, which achieves twice as large a resolution as well as a bias of 20% over the same energy region. Data-model goodness-of-fit studies are used to validate the estimator's performance on data, showing good agreement within model uncertainties.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2026

Non-Markovian renormalization of optomechanical exceptional points

We investigate how non-Markovian mechanical dissipation affects exceptional points in linearized optomechanical systems with red-sideband drive. For a chosen non-Ohmic mechanical bath, we derive analytical conditions for the memory-renormalized exceptional point by employing a pseudomode mapping, thereby demonstrating that structured environments displace the mode coalescence away from the Markovian prediction. Crucially, we reveal that failing to account for this memory-induced shift suppresses the divergent Petermann factor by orders of magnitude, showing that accurate bath modeling is essential for the successful operation of exceptional-point-based devices whenever reservoir-induced memory is non-negligible. We finally show that non-Markovianity modifies the cavity reflection spectrum, manifesting as a shallower optomechanically-induced-transparency dip, providing therefore an experimentally-accessible signature of structured mechanical environments.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Probing Nuclear Effects with Transverse Kinematic Imbalance in Muon-neutrino Induced Charged-Current $π^0$ Production on Argon with the MicroBooNE Detector

Neutrino-nucleus cross-section measurements are needed to improve interaction modeling and to enable precision neutrino oscillation measurements in upcoming experiments such as the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE), Hyper-Kamiokande, and the Short-Baseline Neutrino program. Baryon-resonance neutrino interactions constitute a dominant contribution near the peak of the DUNE neutrino energy spectrum. We present the first measurement of muon neutrino charged-current resonance-like interactions on argon using transverse kinematic imbalance variables with the MicroBooNE detector. These observables are highly sensitive to the modeling of final-state interactions. This measurement probes kinematic imbalances using the reconstructed momenta of the muon, leading proton, and neutral pion. A comprehensive characterization of the $π^0$-proton final state is presented; however, none of the models considered are able to simultaneously reproduce all measured observables.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2026

Final Report on the Measurement of the Positive Muon Anomalous Magnetic Moment at Fermilab to 127 ppb

This report details the final measurement of the muon magnetic anomaly, $a_μ=(g_μ-2)/2$, by the Muon $g-2$ experiment at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), using positive muons collected from 2021 to 2023. The value of $a_μ$ is determined from the ratio of the anomalous spin precession frequency to the shielded proton precession frequency in the muon storage ring magnetic field, combined with external constants known at the 22 ppb level. The new dataset, containing over $2.5$ times the statistics of our previous results, yields $a_μ=116\,592\,0710(162)\times 10^{-12}$ (139 ppb), or $a_μ=116\,592\,0705(148)\times 10^{-12}$ (127 ppb) when combined with our previous results. The new experimental world average, dominated by the measurements at FNAL, is $a_μ^{\text{Exp}}=116\,592\,0715(145)\times 10^{-12}$ (124 ppb).

hep-ex↗

arXiv2026

First Measurement of Sub-GeV $ν_μ$ Charged-Current Coherent Pion Production on Argon in MicroBooNE

We report a measurement of the charged-current coherent pion production cross section on argon using the MicroBooNE liquid argon time projection chamber exposed to the Booster Neutrino Beam at Fermilab. The measurement uses the MicroBooNE data set corresponding to $1.26 \times 10^{21}$ protons on target with a mean neutrino energy of $0.8$~GeV. The flux-averaged cross section is measured to be $(9.1 \pm 1.2_{\text{stat}} \pm 1.2_\text{syst}) \times 10^{-40}\,\text{cm}^2/\text{Ar}$. This result represents the first measurement of charged-current coherent pion production on argon at sub-GeV neutrino energies. Due to its clean two-body kinematics, where the neutrino interacts coherently with the entire nucleus producing a forward muon and pion with no nuclear breakup, this process provides a useful tool for constraining neutrino flux uncertainties in current and future oscillation experiments such as DUNE.

hep-ex↗