INR-Institute for Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences, RUS-117312 Moscow, Russia.
INFN Sezione di Napoli, I-80126 Napoli, Italy.
Phys Rev Lett. 2018 May 25;120(21):211801. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.120.211801.
The OPERA experiment was designed to study ν_{μ}→ν_{τ} oscillations in the appearance mode in the CERN to Gran Sasso Neutrino beam (CNGS). In this Letter, we report the final analysis of the full data sample collected between 2008 and 2012, corresponding to 17.97×10^{19} protons on target. Selection criteria looser than in previous analyses have produced ten ν_{τ} candidate events, thus reducing the statistical uncertainty in the measurement of the oscillation parameters and of ν_{τ} properties. A multivariate approach for event identification has been applied to the candidate events and the discovery of ν_{τ} appearance is confirmed with an improved significance level of 6.1σ. |Δm_{32}^{2}| has been measured, in appearance mode, with an accuracy of 20%. The measurement of the ν_{τ} charged-current cross section, for the first time with a negligible contamination from ν[over ¯]{τ}, and the first direct evidence for the ν{τ} lepton number are also reported.
OPERA 实验旨在研究在 CERN 到 Gran Sasso 中微子束(CNGS)中 ν_{μ}→ν_{τ}振荡的外观模式。在这封信中,我们报告了在 2008 年至 2012 年间收集的完整数据样本的最终分析,对应于 17.97×10^{19}个质子靶。比以前的分析更宽松的选择标准产生了十个 ν_{τ}候选事件,从而降低了振荡参数和 ν_{τ}性质测量的统计不确定性。已经将多元分析方法应用于候选事件,并且 ν_{τ}外观的发现得到了 6.1σ 的显著水平的改进确认。已经以 20%的精度在外观模式下测量了 |Δm_{32}^{2}|。还报告了 ν_{τ}带电电流截面的首次测量,其首次测量结果具有可忽略的 ν[over ¯]{τ}污染,并且首次提供了 ν{τ}轻子数的直接证据。