Calibration of the Super-Kamiokande detector Abe, K.; Iyogi, K.; Kameda, J. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
02/2014, Volume:
737
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Procedures and results on hardware-level detector calibration in Super-Kamiokande (SK) are presented in this paper. In particular, we report improvements made in our calibration methods for the ...experimental phase IV in which new readout electronics have been operating since 2008.
The topics are separated into two parts. The first part describes the determination of constants needed to interpret the digitized output of our electronics so that we can obtain physical numbers such as photon counts and their arrival times for each photomultiplier tube (PMT). In this context, we developed an in situ procedure to determine high-voltage settings for PMTs in large detectors like SK, as well as a new method for measuring PMT quantum efficiency and gain in such a detector.
The second part describes modeling of the detector in Monte Carlo simulations, including, in particular, the optical properties of the water target and their variability over time. Detailed studies on water quality are also presented.
As a result of this work, we have achieved a precision sufficient for physics analyses over a wide energy range (from a few MeV to above 1TeV). For example, charge determination was at the level of 1%, and the timing resolution was 2.1ns at the one-photoelectron charge level and 0.5ns at the 100-photoelectron charge level.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
A search for Supernova Relic Neutrinos ν¯e’s is first conducted via inverse-beta-decay by tagging neutron capture on hydrogen at Super-Kamiokande-IV. The neutron tagging efficiency is determined to ...be (17.74±0.04stat.±1.05sys.)%, while the corresponding accidental background probability is (1.06±0.01stat.±0.18sys.)%. Using 960days of data, we obtain 13 inverse-beta-decay candidates in the range of Eν¯e between 13.3MeV and 31.3MeV. All of the observed candidates are attributed to background. Upper limits at 90% C.L. are calculated in the absence of a signal.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
We present a real-time supernova neutrino burst monitor at Super-Kamiokande (SK). Detecting supernova explosions by neutrinos in real time is crucial for giving a clear picture of the explosion ...mechanism. Since the neutrinos are expected to come earlier than light, a fast broadcasting of the detection may give astronomers a chance to make electromagnetic radiation observations of the explosions right at the onset. The role of the monitor includes a fast announcement of the neutrino burst detection to the world and a determination of the supernova direction. We present the online neutrino burst detection system and studies of the direction determination accuracy based on simulations at SK.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
Upgraded electronics, improved water system dynamics, better calibration and analysis techniques allowed Super-Kamiokande-IV to clearly observe very low-energy B8 solar neutrino interactions, with ...recoil electron kinetic energies as low as ∼3.5 MeV. Super-Kamiokande-IV data-taking began in September of 2008; this paper includes data until February 2014, a total livetime of 1664 days. The measured solar neutrino flux is (2.308±0.020(stat)−0.040+0.039(syst))×106/(cm2 sec) assuming no oscillations. The observed recoil electron energy spectrum is consistent with no distortions due to neutrino oscillations. An extended maximum likelihood fit to the amplitude of the expected solar zenith angle variation of the neutrino-electron elastic scattering rate in SK-IV results in a day/night asymmetry of (−3.6±1.6(stat)±0.6(syst))%. The SK-IV solar neutrino data determine the solar mixing angle as sin2θ12=0.327−0.031+0.026, all SK solar data (SK-I, SK-II, SK III and SK-IV) measures this angle to be sin2θ12=0.334−0.023+0.027, the determined mass-squared splitting is Δm212=4.8−0.8+1.5×10−5 eV2.
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We present a search for an excess of neutrino interactions due to dark matter in the form of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) annihilating in the Galactic center or halo based on the data ...set of Super-Kamiokande-I, -II, -III and -IV taken from 1996 to 2016. We model the neutrino flux, energy, and flavor distributions assuming WIMP self-annihilation is dominant to νν¯, μ+μ−, bb¯, or W+W−. The excess is in comparison to atmospheric neutrino interactions which are modeled in detail and fit to data. Limits on the self-annihilation cross section 〈σAV〉 are derived for WIMP masses in the range 1 GeV to 10 TeV, reaching as low as 9.6 × 10−23 cm3 s−1 for 5 GeV WIMPs in bb¯ mode and 1.2 × 10−24 cm3 s−1 for 1 GeV WIMPs in νν¯ mode. The obtained sensitivity of the Super-Kamiokande detector to WIMP masses below several tens of GeV is the best among similar indirect searches to date.
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GUT monopoles captured by the Sun’s gravitation are expected to catalyze proton decays via the Callan–Rubakov process. In this scenario, protons, which initially decay into pions, will ultimately ...produce νe,νμ and ν¯μ. After undergoing neutrino oscillation, all neutrino species appear when they arrive at the Earth, and can be detected by a 50,000 metric ton Water Cherenkov detector, Super–Kamiokande (SK). A search for low energy neutrinos in the electron total energy range from 19 to 55MeV was carried out with SK and gives a monopole flux limit of FM(σ0/1mb)<6.3×10-24(βM/10-3)2cm-2s-1sr-1 at 90% C.L., where βM is the monopole velocity in units of the speed of light and σ0 is the catalysis cross section at βM=1. The obtained limit is several orders of magnitude more stringent than the current best cosmic-ray supermassive monopole flux limit for βM<10-2 and also two orders of magnitude lower than the result of the Kamiokande experiment, which used a similar detection method.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
We present the results of searches for nucleon decay via n→νover ¯π0 and p→νover ¯π+ using data from a combined 172.8 kt·yr exposure of Super-Kamiokande-I,-II, and-III. We set lower limits on the ...partial lifetime for each of these modes: τn→νover ¯π0>1.1×10(33) years and τp→νover ¯π+>3.9×10(32) years at a 90% confidence level.
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We report an indication that the elastic scattering rate of solar B8 neutrinos with electrons in the Super-Kamiokande detector is larger when the neutrinos pass through Earth during nighttime. We ...determine the day-night asymmetry, defined as the difference of the average day rate and average night rate divided by the average of those two rates, to be -3.2 ± 1.1(stat) ± 0.5(syst)%, which deviates from zero by 2.7 σ. Since the elastic scattering process is mostly sensitive to electron-flavored solar neutrinos, a nonzero day-night asymmetry implies that the flavor oscillations of solar neutrinos are affected by the presence of matter within the neutrinos' flight path. Super-Kamiokande's day-night asymmetry is consistent with neutrino oscillations for 4 × 10(-5) eV(2) ≤ Δm 2(21) ≤ 7 × 10(-5) eV(2) and large mixing values of θ12, at the 68% C.L.
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Super-Kamiokande atmospheric neutrino data were fit with an unbinned maximum likelihood method to search for the appearance of tau leptons resulting from the interactions of oscillation-generated tau ...neutrinos in the detector. Relative to the expectation of unity, the tau normalization is found to be 1.42 ± 0.35(stat)(-0.12)(+0.14)(syst) excluding the no-tau-appearance hypothesis, for which the normalization would be zero, at the 3.8σ level. We estimate that 180.1 ± 44.3(stat)(-15.2)(+17.8) (syst) tau leptons were produced in the 22.5 kton fiducial volume of the detector by tau neutrinos during the 2806 day running period. In future analyses, this large sample of selected tau events will allow the study of charged current tau neutrino interaction physics with oscillation produced tau neutrinos.
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A search for a nonzero neutrino magnetic moment has been conducted using 1496 live days of solar neutrino data from Super-Kamiokande-I. Specifically, we searched for distortions to the energy ...spectrum of recoil electrons arising from magnetic scattering due to a nonzero neutrino magnetic moment. In the absence of a clear signal, we found micro(nu)</=(3.6x10(-10))micro(B) at 90% C.L. by fitting to the Super-Kamiokande day-night spectra. The fitting took into account the effect of neutrino oscillation on the shapes of energy spectra. With additional information from other solar neutrino and KamLAND experiments constraining the oscillation region, a limit of micro(nu)</=(1.1x10(-10))micro(B) at 90% C.L. was obtained.
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