arXiv subjects

R. Guenette

Publications and source records attributed to R. Guenette.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2026

Measurement of single charged pion production in charged-current $ν_μ$-Ar interactions with the MicroBooNE detector

We present flux-averaged charged-current $ν_μ$ cross-section measurements on argon for final states containing exactly one $π^\pm$ and no other hadrons except nucleons. The analysis uses data from the MicroBooNE experiment in the Booster Neutrino Beam, corresponding to $1.11 \times 10^{21}$ protons on target. Total and single-differential cross-section measurements are provided within a phase space restricted to muon momenta above 150 MeV, pion momenta above 100 MeV, and muon-pion opening angles smaller than 2.65 rad. Differential cross sections are reported with respect to the scattering angles of the muon and pion relative to the beam direction, their momenta, and their combined opening angle. The differential cross section with respect to muon momentum is based on a subset of selected events with the muon track fully contained in the detector, whereas the cross section with respect to pion momentum is based on a subset of selected events rich in pions that have not hadronically scattered on the argon before coming to rest. The latter has not been measured on argon before. The total cross section is measured as $(3.75~\pm~0.07~\textrm{(stat.)}~\pm~0.80~\textrm{(syst.)}) \times 10^{-38} \, \text{cm}^2/\text{Ar}$ at a mean energy of approximately 0.8 GeV. Comparisons of the measured cross sections with predictions from multiple neutrino-nucleus interaction generators show good overall agreement, except at very forward muon angles.

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arXiv2026

Demonstration of Sub-Percent Energy Resolution in the NEXT-100 Detector

NEXT-100 is a high-pressure xenon time projection chamber with electroluminescent amplification, designed to operate with up to approximately 70.5 kg at 13.5 bar. It is the most recent detector developed by the NEXT collaboration to search for the neutrinoless double-beta decay ($ββ0ν$) of Xe-136. The NEXT gas TPC technology offers the best energy resolution near the Q-value of the decay ($Q_{ββ}$ = 2458 keV) among xenon detectors, which is set by design to be <1% FWHM. We report here the high-energy calibration of the detector using a Th-228 source, demonstrating linear response and an energy resolution of $(0.90 \pm 0.02)$% FWHM at the Tl-208 photopeak (2615 keV). This performance extrapolates to a resolution at the double-beta decay end-point of $R(Q_{ββ})$ = $(0.93 \pm 0.02)$% FWHM, confirming the detector's capability for precision energy measurement in the search for $ββ0ν$.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2026

First results of the NEXT-100 detector using $^{83m}$Kr decays

The NEXT collaboration is investigating the double beta decay of $^{136}$Xe using high-pressure gas electroluminescent time projection chambers, which provide excellent energy resolution together with a robust topological signature. Operating at the Laboratorio Subterráneo de Canfranc (LSC) and building on the success of the NEXT-White detector, the NEXT-100 apparatus began commissioning in May 2024 and started operation with xenon at a pressure of 4 bar in October 2024. We report here the first results obtained with NEXT-100 using low-energy calibration data from $^{83m}$Kr decays, which allow mapping of the detector response in the active volume and monitoring of its stability over time. After homogenizing the light response, we achieve an energy resolution of 4.37% FWHM at 41.5 keV for $^{83m}$Kr point-like energy deposits contained in a radius of 425 mm. In a fiducial region representing the operating conditions of NEXT-100 at 10 bar we obtain an improved energy resolution of 4.16% FWHM. These results are in good agreement with that obtained in NEXT-White, and an $E^{-1/2}$ extrapolation to $Q_{ββ}$ yields an energy resolution close to 0.5% FWHM, well below the 1% FWHM design target.

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arXiv2025

The NEXT-100 Detector

The NEXT collaboration is dedicated to the study of double beta decays of $^{136}$Xe using a high-pressure gas electroluminescent time projection chamber. This advanced technology combines exceptional energy resolution ($\leq 1\%$ FWHM at the $Q_{ββ}$ value of the neutrinoless double beta decay) and powerful topological event discrimination. Building on the achievements of the NEXT-White detector, the NEXT-100 detector started taking data at the Laboratorio Subterráneo de Canfranc (LSC) in May of 2024. Designed to operate with xenon gas at 13.5 bar, NEXT-100 consists of a time projection chamber where the energy and the spatial pattern of the ionising particles in the detector are precisely retrieved using two sensor planes (one with photo-multiplier tubes and the other with silicon photo-multipliers). The detector has been operating at stable conditions using argon and xenon gases at $\sim$4 bar and drift fields of 74 V/cm and 118 V/cm, respectively. Alpha decays from the $^{222}$Rn chain have been used to test and monitor the stability of the detector, showing a constant electron lifetime in the drift volume. In this paper, in addition to reporting the results of the commissioning run, we provide a detailed description of the NEXT-100 detector, describe its assembly, and present the current estimation of the radiopurity budget.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2025

Search for Light Sterile Neutrinos With Two Neutrino Beams at MicroBooNE

The existence of three distinct neutrino flavours, $ν_{e}$, $ν_μ$, and $ν_τ$, is a central tenet of the Standard Model of particle physics. Quantum-mechanical interference can allow a neutrino of one initial flavour to be detected some time later as a different flavour, a process called neutrino oscillation. Several anomalous observations inconsistent with this three-flavour picture have motivated the hypothesis that an additional neutrino state exists which does not interact directly with matter, termed a "sterile" neutrino, $ν_s$. This includes anomalous observations from the LSND and MiniBooNE experiments, consistent with $ν_μ\rightarrowν_{e}$ transitions at a distance inconsistent with the three-neutrino picture. Here, we use data obtained from the MicroBooNE liquid-argon time projection chamber in two accelerator neutrino beams to exclude the single light sterile neutrino interpretation of the LSND and MiniBooNE anomalies at the 95\% confidence level (CL). Additionally, we rule out a significant portion of the parameter space that could explain the gallium anomaly. This is the first measurement to use two accelerator neutrino beams to break a degeneracy between $ν_{e}$ appearance and disappearance that would otherwise weaken the sensitivity to the sterile neutrino hypothesis. We find no evidence for either $ν_μ\rightarrowν_{e}$ flavour transitions or $ν_{e}$ disappearance that would indicate non-standard flavour oscillations. Our results show that previous anomalous observations consistent with $ν_μ\rightarrowν_{e}$ transitions cannot be explained by introducing a single sterile neutrino state.

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arXiv2025

Measurement of three-dimensional inclusive muon-neutrino charged-current cross sections on argon with the MicroBooNE detector

We report the measurement of the differential cross section $d^{2}σ(E_ν)/ d\cos(θ_μ) dP_μ$ for inclusive muon-neutrino charged-current scattering on argon. This measurement utilizes data from 6.4$\times10^{20}$ protons on target of exposure collected using the MicroBooNE liquid argon time projection chamber located along the Fermilab Booster Neutrino Beam with a mean neutrino energy of approximately 0.8~GeV. The mapping from reconstructed kinematics to truth quantities, particularly from reconstructed to true neutrino energy, is validated within uncertainties by comparing the distribution of reconstructed hadronic energy in data to that of the model prediction in different muon scattering angle bins after applying a conditional constraint from the muon momentum distribution in data. The success of this validation gives confidence that the missing energy in the MicroBooNE detector is well-modeled within uncertainties in simulation, enabling the unfolding to a three-dimensional measurement over muon momentum, muon scattering angle, and neutrino energy. The unfolded measurement covers an extensive phase space, providing a wealth of information useful for future liquid argon time projection chamber experiments measuring neutrino oscillations. Comparisons against a number of commonly used model predictions are included and their performance in different parts of the available phase-space is discussed.

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arXiv2025

Enhanced search for neutral current $Δ$ radiative single-photon production in MicroBooNE

We report results from an updated search for neutral current (NC) resonant $Δ$(1232) baryon production and subsequent $Δ$ radiative decay (NC $Δ\rightarrow N γ$). We consider events with and without final state protons; events with a proton can be compared with the kinematics of a $Δ(1232)$ baryon decay, while events without a visible proton represent a more generic phase space. In order to maximize sensitivity to each topology, we simultaneously make use of two different reconstruction paradigms, Pandora and Wire-Cell, which have complementary strengths, and select mostly orthogonal sets of events. Considering an overall scaling of the NC $Δ\rightarrow N γ$ rate as an explanation of the MiniBooNE anomaly, our data exclude this hypothesis at 94.4% CL. When we decouple the expected correlations between NC $Δ\rightarrow N γ$ events with and without final state protons, and allow independent scaling of both types of events, our data exclude explanations in which excess events have associated protons, and do not exclude explanations in which excess events have no associated protons.

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arXiv2025

First Measurement of Charged Current Muon Neutrino-Induced $K^+$ Production on Argon using the MicroBooNE Detector

The MicroBooNE experiment is an 85 tonne active mass liquid argon time projection chamber neutrino detector exposed to the on-axis Booster Neutrino Beam (BNB) at Fermilab. One of MicroBooNE's physics goals is the precise measurement of neutrino interactions on argon in the 1 GeV energy regime. Building on the capabilities of the MicroBooNE detector, this analysis identifies $K^{+}$ mesons, a key signature for the study of strange particle production in neutrino interactions. This measurement is furthermore valuable for background estimation for future nucleon decay searches and for improved reconstruction and particle identification capabilities in experiments such as the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE). In this letter, we present the first-ever measurement of a flux-integrated cross section for charged-current muon neutrino induced $K^{+}$ production on argon nuclei, determined to be 7.93 $\pm$ 3.22 (stat.) $\pm$ 2.83 (syst.) $\times~10^{-42}\;$ cm$^2$/nucleon based on an analysis of 6.88$\times10^{20}$ protons on target. This result was found to be consistent with model predictions from different neutrino event generators within the reported uncertainties.

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arXiv2025

High Voltage Delivery and Distribution for the NEXT-100 Time Projection Chamber

A critical element in the realization of large liquid and gas time projection chambers (TPCs) is the delivery and distribution of high voltages into and around the detector. Such experiments require of order tens of kilovolts to enable electron drift over meter-scale distances. This paper describes the design and operation of the cathode feedthrough and high voltage distribution through the field cage of the NEXT-100 experiment, an underground TPC that will search for neutrinoless double beta decay $0νββ$. The feedthrough has been demonstrated to hold pressures up to 20~bar and sustain voltages as high as -65~kV, and the TPC is operating stably at its design high voltages. The system has been realized within the constraints of a stringent radiopurity budget and is now being used to execute a suite of sensitive double beta decay analyses.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2025

Opportunities and challenges to study solar neutrinos with a Q-Pix pixel readout

The study of solar neutrinos presents significant opportunities in astrophysics, nuclear physics, and particle physics. However, the low-energy nature of these neutrinos introduces considerable challenges to isolate them from background events, requiring detectors with low-energy threshold, high spatial and energy resolutions, and low data rate. We present the study of solar neutrinos with a kiloton-scale liquid argon detector located underground, instrumented with a pixel readout using the Q-Pix technology. We explore the potential of using volume fiducialization, directional topological information, light signal coincidence and pulse-shape discrimination to enhance solar neutrino sensitivity. We find that discriminating neutrino signals below 5 MeV is very difficult. However, we show that these methods are useful for the detection of solar neutrinos when external backgrounds are sufficiently understood and when the detector is built using low-background techniques. When building a workable background model for this study, we identify γ background from the cavern walls and from capture of α particles in radon decay chains as both critical to solar neutrino sensitivity and significantly underconstrained by existing measurements. Finally, we highlight that the main advantage of the use of Q-Pix for solar neutrino studies lies in its ability to enable the continuous readout of all low-energy events with minimal data rates and manageable storage for further offline analyses.

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arXiv2025

First measurement of $ν_e$ + $\barν_e$ charged current single charged pion production differential cross sections on argon using the MicroBooNE detector

Understanding electron neutrino interactions is crucial for measurements of neutrino oscillations and searches for new physics in neutrino experiments. We present the first measurement of the flux-averaged $ν_e$ + $\barν_e$ charged current single charged pion production cross section on argon using the MicroBooNE detector and data from the NuMI neutrino beam. The total cross section is measured to be (0.93 $\pm$ 0.13 (stat.) $\pm$ 0.27 (syst.)) $\times 10^{-39}$ cm$^2$/nucleon at a mean $ν_e$ + $\barν_e$ energy of 730 MeV. Differential cross sections are also reported in electron energy, electron and pion angles, and electron-pion opening angle.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2025

Search for an Anomalous Production of Charged-Current $ν_e$ Interactions Without Visible Pions Across Multiple Kinematic Observables in MicroBooNE

This Letter presents an investigation of low-energy electron-neutrino interactions in the Fermilab Booster Neutrino Beam by the MicroBooNE experiment, motivated by the excess of electron-neutrino-like events observed by the MiniBooNE experiment. This is the first measurement to use data from all five years of operation of the MicroBooNE experiment, corresponding to an exposure of $1.11\times 10^{21}$ protons on target, a $70\%$ increase on past results. Two samples of electron neutrino interactions without visible pions are used, one with visible protons and one without any visible protons. The MicroBooNE data show reasonable agreement with the nominal prediction, with $p$-values $\ge 26.7\%$ when the two $ν_e$ samples are combined, though the prediction exceeds the data in limited regions of phase space. The data is further compared to two empirical models that modify the predicted rate of electron-neutrino interactions in different variables in the simulation to match the unfolded MiniBooNE low energy excess. In the first model, this unfolding is performed as a function of electron neutrino energy, while the second model aims to match the observed shower energy and angle distributions of the MiniBooNE excess. This measurement excludes an electron-like interpretation of the MiniBooNE excess based on these models at $> 99\%$ CL$_\mathrm{s}$ in all kinematic variables.

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arXiv2025

Performance of an Optical TPC Geant4 Simulation with Opticks GPU-Accelerated Photon Propagation

We investigate the performance of Opticks, a NVIDIA OptiX API 7.5 GPU-accelerated photon propagation tool compared with a single-threaded Geant4 simulation. We compare the simulations using an improved model of the NEXT-CRAB-0 gaseous time projection chamber. Performance results suggest that Opticks improves simulation speeds by between 58.47+/-0.02 and 181.39+/-0.28 times relative to a CPU-only Geant4 simulation and these results vary between different types of GPU and CPU. A detailed comparison shows that the number of detected photons, along with their times and wavelengths, are in good agreement between Opticks and Geant4.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2025

Reconstructing neutrinoless double beta decay event kinematics in a xenon gas detector with vertex tagging

If neutrinoless double beta decay is discovered, the next natural step would be understanding the lepton number violating physics responsible for it. Several alternatives exist beyond the exchange of light neutrinos. Some of these mechanisms can be distinguished by measuring phase-space observables, namely the opening angle $\cosθ$ among the two decay electrons, and the electron energy spectra, $T_1$ and $T_2$. In this work, we study the statistical accuracy and precision in measuring these kinematic observables in a future xenon gas detector with the added capability to precisely locate the decay vertex. For realistic detector conditions (a gas pressure of 10 bar and spatial resolution of 4 mm), we find that the average $\overline{\cosθ}$ and $\overline{T_1}$ values can be reconstructed with a precision of 0.19 and 110 keV, respectively, assuming that only 10 neutrinoless double beta decay events are detected.

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arXiv2025

First study of neutrino angle reconstruction using quasielastic-like interactions in MicroBooNE

We investigate the expected precision of the reconstructed neutrino direction using a νμ-argon quasielastic-like event topology with one muon and one proton in the final state and the reconstruction capabilities of the MicroBooNE liquid argon time projection chamber. This direction is of importance in the context of DUNE sub-GeV atmospheric oscillation studies. MicroBooNE allows for a data-driven quantification of this resolution by investigating the deviation of the reconstructed muon-proton system orientation with respect to the well-known direction of neutrinos originating from the Booster Neutrino Beam with an exposure of 1.3 x 1021 protons on target. Using simulation studies, we derive the expected sub-GeV DUNE atmospheric-neutrino reconstructed simulated spectrum by developing a reweighting scheme as a function of the true neutrino energy. We further report flux-integrated single- and double-differential cross section measurements of charged-current νμ quasielastic-like scattering on argon as a function of the muon-proton system angle using the full MicroBooNE data sets. We also demonstrate the sensitivity of these results to nuclear effects and final state hadronic reinteraction modeling.

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arXiv2025

Data-driven model validation for neutrino-nucleus cross section measurements

Neutrino-nucleus cross section measurements are needed to improve interaction modeling to meet the precision needs of neutrino experiments in efforts to measure oscillation parameters and search for physics beyond the Standard Model. We review the difficulties associated with modeling neutrino-nucleus interactions that lead to a dependence on event generators in oscillation analyses and cross section measurements alike. We then describe data-driven model validation techniques intended to address this model dependence. The method relies on utilizing various goodness-of-fit tests and the correlations between different observables and channels to probe the model for defects in the phase space relevant for the desired analysis. These techniques shed light on relevant mis-modeling, allowing it to be detected before it begins to bias the cross section results. We compare more commonly used model validation methods which directly validate the model against alternative ones to these data-driven techniques and show their efficacy with fake data studies. These studies demonstrate that employing data-driven model validation in cross section measurements represents a reliable strategy to produce robust results that will stimulate the desired improvements to interaction modeling.

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arXiv2025

The Short-Baseline Near Detector at Fermilab

SBND is a 112 ton liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) neutrino detector located 110 meters from the Booster Neutrino Beam (BNB) target at Fermilab. Its main goals include searches for eV-scale sterile neutrinos as part of the Short-Baseline Neutrino (SBN) program, other searches for physics beyond the Standard Model, and precision studies of neutrino-argon interactions. In addition, SBND is providing a platform for LArTPC neutrino detector technology development and is an excellent training ground for the international group of scientists and engineers working towards the upcoming flagship Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE). SBND began operation in July 2024, and started collecting stable neutrino beam data in December 2024 with an unprecedented rate of ~7,000 neutrino events per day. During its currently approved operation plans (2024-2027), SBND is expected to accumulate nearly 10 million neutrino interactions. The near detector dataset will be instrumental in testing the sterile neutrino hypothesis with unprecedented sensitivity in SBN and in probing signals of beyond the Standard Model physics. It will also be used to significantly advance our understanding of the physics of neutrino-argon interactions ahead of DUNE. After the planned accelerator restart at Fermilab (2029+), opportunities are being explored to operate SBND in antineutrino mode in order to address the scarcity of antineutrino-argon scattering data, or in a dedicated beam-dump mode to significantly enhance sensitivity to searches for new physics. SBND is an international effort, with approximately 40% of institutions from Europe, contributing to detector construction, commissioning, software development, and data analysis. Continued European involvement and leadership are essential during SBND's operations and analysis phase for both the success of SBND, SBN and its role leading up to DUNE.

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arXiv2025

First double-differential cross section measurement of neutral-current $π^0$ production in neutrino-argon scattering in the MicroBooNE detector

We report the first double-differential cross section measurement of neutral-current neutral pion (NC$π^0$) production in neutrino-argon scattering, as well as single-differential measurements of the same channel in terms of final states with and without protons. The kinematic variables of interest for these measurements are the $π^0$ momentum and the $π^0$ scattering angle with respect to the neutrino beam. A total of 4971 candidate NC$π^0$ events fully-contained within the MicroBooNE detector are selected using data collected at a mean neutrino energy of $\sim 0.8$~GeV from $6.4\times10^{20}$ protons on target from the Booster Neutrino Beam at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. After extensive data-driven model validation to ensure unbiased unfolding, the Wiener-SVD method is used to extract nominal flux-averaged cross sections. The results are compared to predictions from commonly used neutrino event generators, which tend to overpredict the measured NC$π^0$ cross section, especially in the 0.2-0.5~GeV/c $π^0$ momentum range and at forward scattering angles. Events with at least one proton present in the final state are also underestimated. This data will help improve the modeling of NC$π^0$ production, which represents a major background in measurements of charge-parity violation in the neutrino sector and in searches for new physics beyond the Standard Model.

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