arXiv subjects

M. Ikeda

Publications and source records attributed to M. Ikeda.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2022

Search for supernova bursts in Super-Kamiokande IV

Super-Kamiokande has been searching for neutrino bursts characteristic of core-collapse supernovae continuously, in real time, since the start of operations in 1996. The present work focuses on detecting more distant supernovae whose event rate may be too small to trigger in real time, but may be identified using an offline approach. The analysis of data collected from 2008 to 2018 found no evidence of distant supernovae bursts. This establishes an upper limit of 0.29 year$^{-1}$ on the rate of core-collapse supernovae out to 100 kpc at 90% C.L.. For supernovae that fail to explode and collapse directly to black holes the limit reaches to 300 kpc.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2022

Testing Non-Standard Interactions Between Solar Neutrinos and Quarks with Super-Kamiokande

Non-Standard Interactions (NSI) between neutrinos and matter affect the neutrino flavor oscillations. Due to the high matter density in the core of the Sun, solar neutrinos are suited to probe these interactions. Using the $277$ kton-yr exposure of Super-Kamiokande to $^{8}$B solar neutrinos, we search for the presence of NSI. Our data favors the presence of NSI with down quarks at 1.8$σ$, and with up quarks at 1.6$σ$, with the best fit NSI parameters being ($ε_{11}^{d},ε_{12}^{d}$) = (-3.3, -3.1) for $d$-quarks and ($ε_{11}^{u},ε_{12}^{u}$) = (-2.5, -3.1) for $u$-quarks. After combining with data from the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory and Borexino, the significance increases by 0.1$σ$.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2022

Search for solar electron anti-neutrinos due to spin-flavor precession in the Sun with Super-Kamiokande-IV

Due to a very low production rate of electron anti-neutrinos ($\barν_e$) via nuclear fusion in the Sun, a flux of solar $\barν_e$ is unexpected. An appearance of $\barν_e$ in solar neutrino flux opens a new window for the new physics beyond the standard model. In particular, a spin-flavor precession process is expected to convert an electron neutrino into an electron anti-neutrino (${ν_e\to\barν_e}$) when neutrino has a finite magnetic moment. In this work, we have searched for solar $\barν_e$ in the Super-Kamiokande experiment, using neutron tagging to identify their inverse beta decay signature. We identified 78 $\barν_e$ candidates for neutrino energies of 9.3 to 17.3 MeV in 2970.1 live days with a fiducial volume of 22.5 kiloton water (183.0 kton$\cdot$year exposure). The energy spectrum has been consistent with background predictions and we thus derived a 90% confidence level upper limit of ${4.7\times10^{-4}}$ on the $ν_e\to\barν_e$ conversion probability in the Sun. We used this result to evaluate the sensitivity of future experiments, notably the Super-Kamiokande Gadolinium (SK-Gd) upgrade.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2022

Development and application of CATCH: A cylindrical active tracker and calorimeter system for hyperon-proton scattering experiments

In this study, we developed a new proton detector system called CATCH, which was designed for a scattering experiment involving a $Σ$ hyperon and a proton (J-PARC E40). CATCH is a cylindrical detector system covering an inner target that can be used to measure the trajectory and energy of a proton emitted from the target for the kinematic identification of a $Σ$p scattering event. It comprises a cylindrical fiber tracker (CFT), a bismuth germanate (BGO) calorimeter, and a plastic scintillator hodoscope (PiID), which are coaxially arranged from the inner to the outer sides. The CFT is a tracking detector consisting of 5,000 scintillation fibers, and it has two types of cylindrical layers in which the fibers are arranged in straight and spiral configurations. 24 BGO crystals are placed around the CFT to measure the kinetic energy of the recoil proton. The PiID is used to determine whether the recoil proton is stopped in the BGO calorimeter. We performed proton-proton (pp) and proton-carbon (pC) scattering experiments using an 80 MeV proton beam to evaluate the performance of CATCH. The total energy resolution for the recoil proton was 2.8 MeV in $σ$ for the entire angular region after the energy calibrations of the BGO calorimeter and the CFT. The angular resolution of the CFT was 1.27 degrees in $σ$ for the proton, and the time resolution was more than 1.8 ns in $σ$. We also developed an analysis method for deriving the cross section of the pp scattering using CATCH. The obtained relative differential cross section for the pp elastic scattering was consistent with that obtained by reliable partial wave analysis, and the systematic error was maintained at below 10%. These performance results satisfy our requirements for a reliable detection system for the $Σ$p scattering experiment conducted at J-PARC .

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2022

Precise measurement of differential cross sections of the Σ-p --> Λ n reaction in momentum range 470-650 MeV/c

The differential cross sections of the Σ-p --> Λ n reaction were measured accurately for the Σ- momentum (p_{Σ}) ranging from 470 to 650 MeV/c at the J-PARC Hadron Experimental Facility. Precise angular information about the Σ-p --> Λ n reaction was obtained for the first time by detecting approximately 100 reaction events at each angular step of Δcosθ = 0.1. The obtained differential cross sections show slightly forward-peaking structure in the measured momentum regions.The cross sections integrated for -0.7 < cosθ < 1.0 were obtained as 22.5 +- 0.68 (stat.) +- 0.65 (syst.) mb and 15.8 +-0.83(stat.) +- 0.52 (syst.) mb for 470<p_{Σ}(MeV/c)<550 and 550<p_{Σ}(MeV/c)<650, respectively. These results show a drastic improvement compared to past measurements of the hyperon-proton scattering experiments. They will play essential roles in updating the theoretical models of the baryon-baryon interactions.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2021

First Gadolinium Loading to Super-Kamiokande

In order to improve Super-Kamiokande's neutron detection efficiency and to thereby increase its sensitivity to the diffuse supernova neutrino background flux, 13 tons of $\rm Gd_2(\rm SO_4)_3\cdot \rm 8H_2O$ (gadolinium sulfate octahydrate) was dissolved into the detector's otherwise ultrapure water from July 14 to August 17, 2020, marking the start of the SK-Gd phase of operations. During the loading, water was continuously recirculated at a rate of 60 m$^3$/h, extracting water from the top of the detector and mixing it with concentrated $\rm Gd_2(\rm SO_4)_3\cdot \rm 8H_2O$ solution to create a 0.02% solution of the Gd compound before injecting it into the bottom of the detector. A clear boundary between the Gd-loaded and pure water was maintained through the loading, enabling monitoring of the loading itself and the spatial uniformity of the Gd concentration over the 35 days it took to reach the top of the detector. During the subsequent commissioning the recirculation rate was increased to 120 m$^3$/h, resulting in a constant and uniform distribution of Gd throughout the detector and water transparency equivalent to that of previous pure-water operation periods. Using an Am-Be neutron calibration source the mean neutron capture time was measured to be $115\pm1$ $μ$s, which corresponds to a Gd concentration of $111\pm2$ ppm, as expected for this level of Gd loading. This paper describes changes made to the water circulation system for this detector upgrade, the Gd loading procedure, detector commissioning, and the first neutron calibration measurements in SK-Gd.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2021

New Methods and Simulations for Cosmogenic Induced Spallation Removal in Super-Kamiokande-IV

Radioactivity induced by cosmic muon spallation is a dominant source of backgrounds for $\mathcal{O}(10)~$MeV neutrino interactions in water Cherenkov detectors. In particular, it is crucial to reduce backgrounds to measure the solar neutrino spectrum and find neutrino interactions from distant supernovae. In this paper we introduce new techniques to locate muon-induced hadronic showers and efficiently reject spallation backgrounds. Applying these techniques to the solar neutrino analysis with an exposure of $2790\times22.5$~kton.day increases the signal efficiency by $12.6\%$, approximately corresponding to an additional year of detector running. Furthermore, we present the first spallation simulation at SK, where we model hadronic interactions using FLUKA. The agreement between the isotope yields and shower pattern in this simulation and in the data gives confidence in the accuracy of this simulation, and thus opens the door to use it to optimize muon spallation removal in new data with gadolinium-enhanced neutron capture detection.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2021

Diffuse Supernova Neutrino Background Search at Super-Kamiokande

A new search for the diffuse supernova neutrino background (DSNB) flux has been conducted at Super-Kamiokande (SK), with a $22.5\times2970$-kton$\cdot$day exposure from its fourth operational phase IV. The new analysis improves on the existing background reduction techniques and systematic uncertainties and takes advantage of an improved neutron tagging algorithm to lower the energy threshold compared to the previous phases of SK. This allows for setting the world's most stringent upper limit on the extraterrestrial $\barν_e$ flux, for neutrino energies below 31.3 MeV. The SK-IV results are combined with the ones from the first three phases of SK to perform a joint analysis using $22.5\times5823$ kton$\cdot$days of data. This analysis has the world's best sensitivity to the DSNB $\barν_e$ flux, comparable to the predictions from various models. For neutrino energies larger than 17.3 MeV, the new combined $90\%$ C.L. upper limits on the DSNB $\barν_e$ flux lie around $2.7$ cm$^{-2}$$\cdot$$\text{sec}^{-1}$, strongly disfavoring the most optimistic predictions. Finally, potentialities of the gadolinium phase of SK and the future Hyper-Kamiokande experiment are discussed.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2021

Search for neutrinos in coincidence with gravitational wave events from the LIGO-Virgo O3a Observing Run with the Super-Kamiokande detector

The Super-Kamiokande detector can be used to search for neutrinos in time coincidence with gravitational waves detected by the LIGO-Virgo Collaboration (LVC). Both low-energy ($7-100$ MeV) and high-energy ($0.1-10^5$ GeV) samples were analyzed in order to cover a very wide neutrino spectrum. Follow-ups of 36 (out of 39) gravitational waves reported in the GWTC-2 catalog were examined; no significant excess above the background was observed, with 10 (24) observed neutrinos compared with 4.8 (25.0) expected events in the high-energy (low-energy) samples. A statistical approach was used to compute the significance of potential coincidences. For each observation, p-values were estimated using neutrino direction and LVC sky map ; the most significant event (GW190602_175927) is associated with a post-trial p-value of $7.8\%$ ($1.4σ$). Additionally, flux limits were computed independently for each sample and by combining the samples. The energy emitted as neutrinos by the identified gravitational wave sources was constrained, both for given flavors and for all-flavors assuming equipartition between the different flavors, independently for each trigger and by combining sources of the same nature.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2021

Measurement of the differential cross sections of the Sigma-p elastic scattering in momentum range of 470 to 850 MeV/c

A high statistics $Σp$ scattering experiment has been performed at the J-PARC Hadron Experimental Facility. Data for momentum-tagged $Σ^{-}$ running in a liquid hydrogen target were accumulated by detecting the $π^{-}p \to K^{+}Σ^{-}$ reaction with a high intensity $π^{-}$ beam of 20 M/spill. Differential cross sections of the $Σ^{-}p$ elastic scattering were derived with a drastically improved accuracy by identifying the largest statistics of about 4,500 events from 1.72 $\times$ $10^{7}$ $Σ^{-}$. The derived differential cross section shows a clear forward-peaking angular distribution for a $Σ^{-}$ momentum range from 470 to 850 MeV/$c$. The accurate data will impose a strong constraint on the theoretical models of the baryon-baryon interactions.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2021

Search for Tens of MeV Neutrinos associated with Gamma-Ray Bursts in Super-Kamiokande

A search for neutrinos produced in coincidence with Gamma-Ray Bursts(GRB) was conducted with the Super-Kamiokande (SK) detector. Between December 2008 and March 2017, the Gamma-ray Coordinates Network recorded 2208 GRBs that occurred during normal SK operation. Several time windows around each GRB were used to search for coincident neutrino events. No statistically significant signal in excess of the estimated backgrounds was detected. The $\barν_e$ fluence in the range from 8 MeV to 100 MeV in positron total energy for $\barν_e+p\rightarrow e^{+}+n$ was found to be less than $\rm 5.07\times10^5$ cm$^{-2}$ per GRB in 90\% C.L. Upper bounds on the fluence as a function of neutrino energy were also obtained.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2021

Improved constraints on neutrino mixing from the T2K experiment with $\mathbf{3.13\times10^{21}}$ protons on target

The T2K experiment reports updated measurements of neutrino and antineutrino oscillations using both appearance and disappearance channels. This result comes from an exposure of $14.9~(16.4) \times 10^{20}$ protons on target in neutrino (antineutrino) mode. Significant improvements have been made to the neutrino interaction model and far detector reconstruction. An extensive set of simulated data studies have also been performed to quantify the effect interaction model uncertainties have on the T2K oscillation parameter sensitivity. T2K performs multiple oscillation analyses that present both frequentist and Bayesian intervals for the PMNS parameters. For fits including a constraint on \ssqthonethree from reactor data and assuming normal mass ordering T2K measures $\sin^2θ_{23} = 0.53^{+0.03}_{-0.04}$ and $Δm^2_{32} = (2.45 \pm 0.07) \times 10^{-3}$ eV$^{2}$c$^{-4}$. The Bayesian analyses show a weak preference for normal mass ordering (89% posterior probability) and the upper $\sin^2θ_{23}$ octant (80% posterior probability), with a uniform prior probability assumed in both cases. The T2K data exclude CP conservation in neutrino oscillations at the $2σ$ level.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2021

First T2K measurement of transverse kinematic imbalance in the muon-neutrino charged-current single-$π^+$ production channel containing at least one proton

This paper reports the first T2K measurement of the transverse kinematic imbalance in the single-$π^+$ production channel of neutrino interactions. We measure the differential cross sections in the muon-neutrino charged-current interaction on hydrocarbon with a single $π^+$ and at least one proton in the final state, at the ND280 off-axis near detector of the T2K experiment. The extracted cross sections are compared to the predictions from different neutrino-nucleus interaction event generators. Overall, the results show a preference for models which have a more realistic treatment of nuclear medium effects including the initial nuclear state and final-state interactions.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2021

Constraint on the Matter-Antimatter Symmetry-Violating Phase in Neutrino Oscillations

The current laws of physics do not explain the observed imbalance of matter and antimatter in the universe. Sakharov proposed that an explanation would require the violation of CP symmetry between matter and antimatter. The only CP violation observed so far is in the weak interactions of quarks, and it is too small to explain the matter-antimatter imbalance of the universe. It has been shown that CP violation in the lepton sector could generate the matter-antimatter disparity through the process called leptogenesis. The quantum mixing of neutrinos, the neutral leptons in the Standard Model, provides a potential source of CP violation through a complex phase dCP, which may have consequences for theoretical models of leptogenesis. This CP violation can be measured in muon neutrino to electron neutrino oscillations and the corresponding antineutrino oscillations, which are experimentally accessible with accelerator-produced beams as established by the T2K experiment. Until now, the value of dCP has not been significantly constrained by neutrino oscillation experiments. Here the T2K collaboration reports a measurement that favors large enhancement of the neutrino oscillation probability, excluding values of dCP which result in a large enhancement of the observed anti-neutrino oscillation probability at three standard deviations (3 sigma). The 3 sigma confidence level interval for dCP, which is cyclic and repeats every 2pi, is [-3.41,-0.03] for the so-called normal mass ordering, and [-2.54,-0.32] for the inverted mass ordering. Our results show an indication of CP violation in the lepton sector. Herein we establish methods for sensitive searches for matter-antimatter asymmetry in neutrino oscillations using accelerator-produced neutrino beams. Future measurements with larger data samples will determine whether the leptonic CP violation is larger than the quark sector CP violation.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2020

Search for proton decay via $p\to e^+π^0$ and $p\to μ^+π^0$ with an enlarged fiducial volume in Super-Kamiokande I-IV

We have searched for proton decay via $p\to e^+π^0$ and $p\to μ^+π^0$ modes with the enlarged fiducial volume data of Super-Kamiokande from April 1996 to May 2018, which corresponds to 450 kton$\cdot$years exposure. We have accumulated about 25% more livetime and enlarged the fiducial volume of the Super-Kamiokande detector from 22.5 kton to 27.2 kton for this analysis, so that 144 kton$\cdot$years of data, including 78 kton$\cdot$years of additional fiducial volume data, has been newly analyzed. No candidates have been found for $p\to e^+π^0$ and one candidate remains for $p\to μ^+π^0$ in the conventional 22.5 kton fiducial volume and it is consistent with the atmospheric neutrino background prediction. We set lower limits on the partial lifetime for each of these modes: $τ/B(p\to e^+π^0) > 2.4 \times 10^{34}$ years and $τ/B(p\to μ^+π^0) > 1.6 \times 10^{34}$ years at 90% confidence level.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2020

T2K measurements of muon neutrino and antineutrino disappearance using $3.13\times 10^{21}$ protons on target

We report measurements by the T2K experiment of the parameters $θ_{23}$ and $Δm^2_{32}$ which govern the disappearance of muon neutrinos and antineutrinos in the three-flavor PMNS neutrino oscillation model at T2K's neutrino energy and propagation distance. Utilizing the ability of the experiment to run with either a mainly neutrino or a mainly antineutrino beam, muon-like events from each beam mode are used to measure these parameters separately for neutrino and antineutrino oscillations. Data taken from $1.49 \times 10^{21}$ protons on target (POT) in neutrino mode and $1.64 \times 10^{21}$ POT in antineutrino mode are used. The best-fit values obtained by T2K were $\sin^2\left(θ_{23}\right)=0.51^{+0.06}_{-0.07} \left(0.43^{+0.21}_{-0.05}\right)$ and $Δm^2_{32}=2.47^{+0.08}_{-0.09} \left(2.50^{+0.18}_{-0.13}\right)$\evmass for neutrinos (antineutrinos). No significant differences between the values of the parameters describing the disappearance of muon neutrinos and antineutrinos were observed. An analysis using an effective two-flavor neutrino oscillation model where the sine of the mixing angle is allowed to take non-physical values larger than 1 is also performed to check the consistency of our data with the three-flavor model. Our data were found to be consistent with a physical value for the mixing angle.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2020

Neutron-Antineutron Oscillation Search using a 0.37 Megaton$\cdot$Year Exposure of Super-Kamiokande

As a baryon number violating process with $ΔB=2$, neutron-antineutron oscillation ($n\to\bar n$) provides a unique test of baryon number conservation. We have performed a search for $n\to\bar n$ oscillation with bound neutrons in Super-Kamiokande, with the full data set from its first four run periods, representing an exposure of 0.37~Mton-years. The search used a multivariate analysis trained on simulated $n\to\bar n$ events and atmospheric neutrino backgrounds and resulted in 11 candidate events with an expected background of 9.3 events. In the absence of statistically significant excess, we derived a lower limit on $\bar n$ appearance lifetime in $^{16}$O nuclei of $3.6\times{10}^{32}$ years and on the neutron-antineutron oscillation time of $τ_{n\to\bar n} > 4.7\times10^{8}$~s at 90\% C.L..

hep-ex↗

arXiv2020

Simultaneous measurement of the muon neutrino charged-current cross section on oxygen and carbon without pions in the final state at T2K

This paper reports the first simultaneous measurement of the double differential muon neutrino charged-current cross section on oxygen and carbon without pions in the final state as a function of the outgoing muon kinematics, made at the ND280 off-axis near detector of the T2K experiment. The ratio of the oxygen and carbon cross sections is also provided to help validate various models' ability to extrapolate between carbon and oxygen nuclear targets, as is required in T2K oscillation analyses. The data are taken using a neutrino beam with an energy spectrum peaked at 0.6 GeV. The extracted measurement is compared with the prediction from different Monte Carlo neutrino-nucleus interaction event generators, showing particular model separation for very forward-going muons. Overall, of the models tested, the result is best described using Local Fermi Gas descriptions of the nuclear ground state with RPA suppression.

hep-ex↗