arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Y. Nagasaka.
We report on a search for heavy neutrinos in B-meson decays. The results are obtained using a data sample that contains 772x10^6 BB-bar pairs collected at the Upsilon(4S) resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e+e- collider. No signal is observed and upper limits are set on mixing of heavy neutrinos with left-handed neutrinos of the Standard Model in the mass range 0.5 - 5.0 GeV/c^2.
A study on cosmic muons has been performed for the two identical near and far neutrino detectors of the Double Chooz experiment, placed at $\sim$120 and $\sim$300 m.w.e. underground respectively, including the corresponding simulations using the MUSIC simulation package. This characterization has allowed to measure the muon flux reaching both detectors to be (3.64 $\pm$ 0.04) $\times$ 10$^{-4}$ cm$^{-2}$s$^{-1}$ for the near detector and (7.00 $\pm$ 0.05) $\times$ 10$^{-5}$ cm$^{-2}$s$^{-1}$ for the far one. The seasonal modulation of the signal has also been studied observing a positive correlation with the atmospheric temperature, leading to an effective temperature coefficient of $α_{T}$ = 0.212 $\pm$ 0.024 and 0.355 $\pm$ 0.019 for the near and far detectors respectively. These measurements, in good agreement with expectations based on theoretical models, represent one of the first measurements of this coefficient in shallow depth installations.
During the commissioning of the first of the two detectors of the Double Chooz experiment, an unexpected and dominant background caused by the emission of light inside the optical volume has been observed. A specific study of the ensemble of phenomena called "Light Noise" has been carried out in-situ, and in an external laboratory, in order to characterize the signals and to identify the possible processes underlying the effect. Some mechanisms of instrumental noise originating from the PMTs were identified and it has been found that the leading one arises from the light emission localized on the photomultiplier base and produced by the combined effect of heat and high voltage across the transparent epoxy resin covering the electric components. The correlation of the rate and the amplitude of the signal with the temperature has been observed. For the first detector in operation the induced background has been mitigated using online and offline analysis selections based on timing and light pattern of the signals, while a modification of the photomultiplier assembly has been implemented for the second detector in order to blacken the PMT bases.
Using the Double Chooz detector, designed to measure the neutrino mixing angle $θ_{13}$, the products of $μ^-$ capture on $^{12}$C, $^{13}$C, $^{14}$N and $^{16}$O have been measured. Over a period of 489.5 days, $2.3\times10^6$ stopping cosmic $μ^-$ have been collected, of which $1.8\times10^5$ captured on carbon, nitrogen, or oxygen nuclei in the inner detector scintillator or acrylic vessels. The resulting isotopes were tagged using prompt neutron emission (when applicable), the subsequent beta decays, and, in some cases, $β$-delayed neutrons. The most precise measurement of the rate of $^{12}\mathrm C(μ^-,ν)^{12}\mathrm B$ to date is reported: $6.57^{+0.11}_{-0.21}\times10^{3}\,\mathrm s^{-1}$, or $(17.35^{+0.35}_{-0.59})\%$ of nuclear captures. By tagging excited states emitting gammas, the ground state transition rate to $^{12}$B has been determined to be $5.68^{+0.14}_{-0.23}\times10^3\,\mathrm s^{-1}$. The heretofore unobserved reactions $^{12}\mathrm C(μ^-,να)^{8}\mathrm{Li}$, $^{13}\mathrm C(μ^-,ν\mathrm nα)^{8}\mathrm{Li}$, and $^{13}\mathrm C(μ^-,ν\mathrm n)^{12}\mathrm B$ are measured. Further, a population of $β$n decays following stopping muons is identified with $5.5σ$ significance. Statistics limit our ability to identify these decays definitively. Assuming negligible production of $^{8}$He, the reaction $^{13}\mathrm C(μ^-,να)^{9}\mathrm{Li}$ is found to be present at the $2.7σ$ level. Limits are set on a variety of other processes.
The Double Chooz collaboration presents a measurement of the neutrino mixing angle $θ_{13}$ using reactor $\overlineν_{e}$ observed via the inverse beta decay reaction in which the neutron is captured on hydrogen. This measurement is based on 462.72 live days data, approximately twice as much data as in the previous such analysis, collected with a detector positioned at an average distance of 1050m from two reactor cores. Several novel techniques have been developed to achieve significant reductions of the backgrounds and systematic uncertainties. Accidental coincidences, the dominant background in this analysis, are suppressed by more than an order of magnitude with respect to our previous publication by a multi-variate analysis. These improvements demonstrate the capability of precise measurement of reactor $\overlineν_{e}$ without gadolinium loading. Spectral distortions from the $\overlineν_{e}$ reactor flux predictions previously reported with the neutron capture on gadolinium events are confirmed in the independent data sample presented here. A value of $\sin^{2}2θ_{13} = 0.095^{+0.038}_{-0.039}$(stat+syst) is obtained from a fit to the observed event rate as a function of the reactor power, a method insensitive to the energy spectrum shape. A simultaneous fit of the hydrogen capture events and of the gadolinium capture events yields a measurement of $\sin^{2}2θ_{13} = 0.088\pm0.033$(stat+syst).
We present a search for the rare leptonic decays $B^+ \to e^+ ν_e$ and $B^+ \to μ^+ ν_μ$, using the full $Υ(4S)$ data sample of $772\times 10^6$ $B\bar{B}$ pairs collected with the Belle detector at the $\small\textbf{KEKB}$ asymmetric-energy $e^+ e^-$ collider. One of the $B$ mesons from the $Υ(4S) \to B\bar{B}$ decay is fully reconstructed in a hadronic mode, while the recoiling side is analyzed for the signal decay. We find no evidence of a signal in any of the decay modes. Upper limits of the corresponding branching fractions are determined as ${\cal B}(B^+ \to e^+ ν_e)<3.5\times 10^{-6}$ and ${\cal B}(B^+ \to μ^+ ν_μ)<2.7 \times 10^{-6}$ at 90$\%$ confidence level.
The Double Chooz experiment presents improved measurements of the neutrino mixing angle $θ_{13}$ using the data collected in 467.90 live days from a detector positioned at an average distance of 1050 m from two reactor cores at the Chooz nuclear power plant. Several novel techniques have been developed to achieve significant reductions of the backgrounds and systematic uncertainties with respect to previous publications, whereas the efficiency of the $\barν_{e}$ signal has increased. The value of $θ_{13}$ is measured to be $\sin^{2}2θ_{13} = 0.090 ^{+0.032}_{-0.029}$ from a fit to the observed energy spectrum. Deviations from the reactor $\barν_{e}$ prediction observed above a prompt signal energy of 4 MeV and possible explanations are also reported. A consistent value of $θ_{13}$ is obtained from a fit to the observed rate as a function of the reactor power independently of the spectrum shape and background estimation, demonstrating the robustness of the $θ_{13}$ measurement despite the observed distortion.
The Double Chooz experiment measures the neutrino mixing angle $θ_{13}$ by detecting reactor $\barν_e$ via inverse beta decay. The positron-neutron space and time coincidence allows for a sizable background rejection, nonetheless liquid scintillator detectors would profit from a positron/electron discrimination, if feasible in large detector, to suppress the remaining background. Standard particle identification, based on particle dependent time profile of photon emission in liquid scintillator, can not be used given the identical mass of the two particles. However, the positron annihilation is sometimes delayed by the ortho-positronium (o-Ps) metastable state formation, which induces a pulse shape distortion that could be used for positron identification. In this paper we report on the first observation of positronium formation in a large liquid scintillator detector based on pulse shape analysis of single events. The o-Ps formation fraction and its lifetime were measured, finding the values of 44$\%$ $\pm$ 12$\%$ (sys.) $\pm$ 5$\%$ (stat.) and $3.68$ns $\pm$ 0.17ns (sys.) $\pm$ 0.15ns (stat.) respectively, in agreement with the results obtained with a dedicated positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy setup.
We report a measurement of the inclusive semileptonic $B_s^0$ branching fraction in a $121~fb^{-1}$ data sample collected near the $Υ(5S)$ resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric energy $e^+ e^-$ collider. Events containing $B_s^0$ pairs are selected by reconstructing a tag side $D_s^+$ and identifying a signal side lepton $\ell^+$ ($\ell = e, μ$) that is required to have the same-sign charge to ensure that both originate from different $B_s^0$ mesons. The $B_s^0 \rightarrow X^- \ell^+ ν_\ell$ branching fraction is extracted from the ratio of the measured yields of $D_s^+$ mesons and $D_s^+ \ell^+$ pairs and the known production and branching fractions. The inclusive semileptonic branching fraction is measured to be $[9.6 \pm 0.4\text{(stat)} \pm 0.7\text{(syst)}]~\%$.
We describe a muon track reconstruction algorithm for the reactor anti-neutrino experiment Double Chooz. The Double Chooz detector consists of two optically isolated volumes of liquid scintillator viewed by PMTs, and an Outer Veto above these made of crossed scintillator strips. Muons are reconstructed by their Outer Veto hit positions along with timing information from the other two detector volumes. All muons are fit under the hypothesis that they are through-going and ultrarelativistic. If the energy depositions suggest that the muon may have stopped, the reconstruction fits also for this hypothesis and chooses between the two via the relative goodness-of-fit. In the ideal case of a through-going muon intersecting the center of the detector, the resolution is ~40 mm in each transverse dimension. High quality muon reconstruction is an important tool for reducing the impact of the cosmogenic isotope background in Double Chooz.
The oscillation results published by the Double Chooz collaboration in 2011 and 2012 rely on background models substantiated by reactor-on data. In this analysis, we present a background-model-independent measurement of the mixing angle $θ_{13}$ by including 7.53 days of reactor-off data. A global fit of the observed neutrino rates for different reactor power conditions is performed, yielding a measurement of both $θ_{13}$ and the total background rate. The results on the mixing angle are improved significantly by including the reactor-off data in the fit, as it provides a direct measurement of the total background rate. This reactor rate modulation analysis considers antineutrino candidates with neutron captures on both Gd and H, whose combination yields $\sin^2(2θ_{13})=$ 0.102 $\pm$ 0.028(stat.) $\pm$ 0.033(syst.). The results presented in this study are fully consistent with the ones already published by Double Chooz, achieving a competitive precision. They provide, for the first time, a determination of $θ_{13}$ that does not depend on a background model.
We present measurements of the masses and decay widths of the baryonic states $Σ_{c}(2455)^{0/++}$ and $Σ_{c}(2520)^{0/++}$ using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 711 fb$^{-1}$ collected with the Belle detector at the KEKB $e^{+}e^{-}$ asymmetric-energy collider operating at the $Υ(4S)$ resonance. We report the mass differences with respect to the $Λ_{c}^{+}$ baryon $M(Σ_{c}(2455)^{0})-M(Λ_{c}^{+}) = 167.29\pm0.01\pm0.02$ MeV/$c^{2}$, $M(Σ_{c}(2455)^{++})-M(Λ_{c}^{+}) = 167.51\pm0.01\pm0.02$ MeV/$c^{2}$, $M(Σ_{c}(2520)^{0})-M(Λ_{c}^{+}) = 231.98\pm0.11\pm0.04$ MeV/$c^{2}$, $M(Σ_{c}(2520)^{++})-M(Λ_{c}^{+}) = 231.99\pm0.10\pm0.02$ MeV/$c^{2}$, and the decay widths $Γ(Σ_{c}(2455)^{0}) = 1.76\pm0.04^{+0.09}_{-0.21}$ MeV/$c^{2}$, $Γ(Σ_{c}(2455)^{++}) = 1.84\pm0.04^{+0.07}_{-0.20}$ MeV/$c^{2}$, $Γ(Σ_{c}(2520)^{0}) = 15.41\pm0.41^{+0.20}_{-0.32}$ MeV/$c^{2}$, $Γ(Σ_{c}(2520)^{++}) = 14.77\pm0.25^{+0.18}_{-0.30}$ MeV/$c^{2}$, where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second are systematic. The isospin mass splittings are measured to be $M(Σ_{c}(2455)^{++})-M(Σ_{c}(2455)^{0})=0.22\pm0.01\pm0.01$ MeV/$c^{2}$ and $M(Σ_{c}(2520)^{++})-M(Σ_{c}(2520)^{0})=0.01\pm0.15\pm0.03$ MeV/$c^{2}$. These results are the most precise to date.
We observe $D^0-\bar{D}^0$ mixing in the decay $D^0\rightarrow K^+π^-$ using a data sample of integrated luminosity 976 fb$^{-1}$ collected with the Belle detector at the KEKB $e^+e^-$ asymmetric-energy collider. We measure the mixing parameters ${x'}^2 = (0.09\pm0.22)\times 10^{-3}$ and $y' = (4.6\pm3.4)\times 10^{-3}$ and the ratio of doubly Cabibbo-suppressed to Cabibbo-favored decay rates $R_D = (3.53\pm0.13)\times 10^{-3}$, where the uncertainties are statistical and systematic combined. Our measurement excludes the no-mixing hypothesis at the 5.1 standard deviation level.
We report an observation of the $B^{\pm} \to J/ψηK^{\pm}$ and $B^0 \to J/ψηK^0_S$ decays using 772$\times 10^{6}$ $B\bar{B}$ pairs collected at the $Υ(4S)$ resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy $e^+e^-$ collider. We obtain the branching fractions ${\cal B}(B^{\pm}\rightarrow J/ψηK^{\pm})=(1.27\pm 0.11{\rm (stat.)\pm 0.11{\rm (syst.)})}\times10^{-4}$ and ${\cal B}(B^0\to J/ψηK^0_S)=(5.22 \pm 0.78 {\rm(stat.)} \pm 0.49{\rm(syst.)})\times10^{-5}$. We search for a new narrow charmonium(-like) state $X$ in the $J/ψη$ mass spectrum and find no significant excess. We set upper limits on the product of branching fractions, ${\cal B}(B^\pm \to XK^\pm){\cal B}(X \to J/ψη)$, at 3872 MeV$/c^2$ where a $C$-odd partner of X(3872) may exist, at $ψ(4040)$ and $ψ(4160)$ assuming their known mass and width, and over a range from 3.8 to 4.8 GeV$/c^2$. % at a 5 MeV$/c^2$ step. The obtained upper limits at 90% confidence level for $X^{C{\rm -odd}}(3872)$, $ψ(4040)$ and $ψ(4160)$ are 3.8$\times 10^{-6}$, 15.5$\times 10^{-6}$ and 7.4$\times 10^{-6}$, respectively.
The cross sections of the processes $e^+ e^- \to K^+ K^- J/ψ$ and $K_S^0K_S^0J/ψ$ are measured via initial state radiation at center-of-mass energies between the threshold and 6.0~GeV using a data sample of 980~fb$^{-1}$ collected with the Belle detector on or near the $Υ(nS)$ resonances, where $n=$1, 2, ..., 5. The cross sections for $e^+ e^- \to K^+ K^- J/ψ$ are at a few pb level and the average cross section for $e^+ e^- \to K_S^0K_S^0J/ψ$ is $1.8\pm 0.6 (\rm stat.)\pm 0.3 (\rm syst.)$~pb between 4.4 and 5.2~GeV. All of them are consistent with previously published results with improved precision. A search for resonant structures and associated intermediate states in the cross section of the process $e^+ e^- \to K^+ K^- J/ψ$ is performed.
We report results of a study of doubly charmed baryons and charmed strange baryons. The analysis is performed using a 980 fb^-1 data sample collected with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e^+e^- collider. We search for doubly charmed baryons Xi_cc^+(+) with the Lambda_c^+K^-pi^+(pi^+) and Xi_c^0pi^+(pi^+) final states. No significant signal is observed. We also search for two excited charmed strange baryons, Xi_c(3055)^+ and Xi_c(3123)^+ with the Sigma_c^++(2455)K^- and Sigma_c^++(2520)K^- final states. The Xi_c(3055)^+ signal is observed with a significance of 6.6 standard deviations including systematic uncertainty, while no signature of the Xi_c(3123)^+ is seen. We also study properties of the Xi_c(2645)^+ and measure a width of 2.6 +- 0.2 (stat) +- 0.4 (syst) MeV/c^2, which is the first significant determination.
We report a high-statistics measurement of the differential cross section of the process gamma gamma --> K^0_S K^0_S in the range 1.05 GeV <= W <= 4.00 GeV, where W is the center-of-mass energy of the colliding photons, using 972 fb^{-1} of data collected with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e^+ e^- collider operated at and near the Upsilon-resonance region. The differential cross section is fitted by parameterized S-, D_0-, D_2-, G_0- and G_2-wave amplitudes. In the D_2 wave, the f_2(1270), a_2(1320) and f_2'(1525) are dominant and a resonance, the f_2(2200), is also present. The f_0(1710) and possibly the f_0(2500) are seen in the S wave. The mass, total width and product of the two-photon partial decay width and decay branching fraction to the K bar{K} state Gamma_{gamma gamma}B(K bar{K}) are extracted for the f_2'(1525), f_0(1710), f_2(2200) and f_0(2500). The destructive interference between the f_2(1270) and a_2(1320) is confirmed by measuring their relative phase. The parameters of the charmonium states chi_{c0} and chi_{c2} are updated. Possible contributions from the chi_{c0}(2P) and chi_{c2}(2P) states are discussed. A new upper limit for the branching fraction of the P- and CP-violating decay channel eta_c --> K^0_S K^0_S is reported. The detailed behavior of the cross section is updated and compared with QCD-based calculations.
We report a measurement of the branching fraction of the decay $B^0_s\to J/ψ\,ϕ(1020)$, evidence and a branching fraction measurement for $B^0_s\to J/ψ\,f'_2(1525)$, and the determination of the total $B^0_s\to J/ψ\,K^+K^-$ branching fraction, including the resonant and non-resonant contributions to the $K^+K^-$ channel. We also determine the $S$-wave contribution within the $ϕ(1020)$ mass region. The absolute branching fractions are $\mathcal{B}[B^0_s\to J/ψ\,ϕ(1020)]=(1.25 \pm 0.07\left(\mathrm{stat}\right)\pm 0.08\left(\mathrm{syst}\right)\pm 0.22\left(f_s\right))\times 10^{-3}$, $\mathcal{B}[B^0_s\to J/ψ\,f'_2(1525)]=(0.26\pm 0.06\left(\mathrm{stat}\right)\pm 0.02\left(\mathrm{syst}\right) \pm 0.05\left(f_s\right))\times 10^{-3}$ and $\mathcal{B}[B^0_s\to J/ψ\,K^+K^-] = (1.01\pm 0.09\left(\mathrm{stat}\right) \pm 0.10\left(\mathrm{syst}\right)\pm 0.18\left(f_s\right))\times 10^{-3}$, where the last systematic error is due to the branching fraction of $b\bar{b}\to B^{(*)}_s B^{(*)}_s$. The branching fraction ratio is found to be $\mathcal{B}[B^0_s\to J/ψ\,f'_2(1525)]/\mathcal{B}[B^0_s\to J/ψ\,ϕ(1020)]=(21.5\pm 4.9\left(\mathrm{stat}\right) \pm2.6\left(\mathrm{syst}\right))%$. All results are based on a 121.4 fb$^{-1}$ data sample collected at the $Υ(5S)$ resonance by the Belle experiment at the KEKB asymmetric-energy $e^+e^-$ collider.