Search for neutral-current induced single photon production at the ND280 near detector in T2K

Authors: K Abe1, R Akutsu2, A Ali3, C Andreopoulos4,5, L Anthony4, M Antonova6, S Aoki7, A Ariga8, Y Ashida9, Y Awataguchi10, Y Azuma11, S Ban9, M Barbi12, G J Barker13, G Barr14, C Barry4, M Batkiewicz-Kwasniak15, F Bench4, V Berardi16, S Berkman17,18, R M Berner8, L Berns19, S Bhadra20, S Bienstock21, A Blondel22,66, S Bolognesi23, B Bourguille24, S B Boyd13, D Brailsford25, A Bravar22, C Bronner1, M Buizza Avanzini26, J Calcutt27, T Campbell28, S Cao29, S L Cartwright30, M G Catanesi16, A Cervera6, A Chappell13, C Checchia3, D Cherdack31, N Chikuma32, G Christodoulou4,66, J Coleman4, G Collazuol3, D Coplowe14, A Cudd27, A Dabrowska15, G De Rosa33, T Dealtry25, P F Denner13, S R Dennis4, C Densham5, F Di Lodovico34, N Dokania35, S Dolan23,26, O Drapier26, K E Duffy14, J Dumarchez21, P Dunne36, S Emery-Schrenk23, A Ereditato8, P Fernandez6, T Feusels17,18, A J Finch25, G A Fiorentini20, G Fiorillo33, C Francois8, M Friend29,67, Y Fujii29,67, R Fujita32, D Fukuda37, Y Fukuda38, K Gameil17,18, C Giganti21, F Gizzarelli23, T Golan39, M Gonin26, D R Hadley13, J T Haigh13, P Hamacher-Baumann40, M Hartz18,41, T Hasegawa29,67, N C Hastings12, T Hayashino9, Y Hayato1,41, A Hiramoto9, M Hogan42, J Holeczek43, N T Hong Van44,45, F Hosomi32, A K Ichikawa9, M Ikeda1, T Inoue11, R A Intonti16, T Ishida29,67, T Ishii29,67, M Ishitsuka46, K Iwamoto32, A Izmaylov6,47, B Jamieson48, C Jesus24, M Jiang9, S Johnson28, P Jonsson36, C K Jung35,68, M Kabirnezhad14, A C Kaboth5,49, T Kajita2,68, H Kakuno10, J Kameda1, D Karlen18,50, T Katori34 , Y Kato1, E Kearns41,51,68, M Khabibullin47, A Khotjantsev47, H Kim11, J Kim17,18, S King34, J Kisiel43, A Knight13, A Knox25, T Kobayashi29,67, L Koch5, T Koga32, A Konaka18, L L Kormos25, Y Koshio37,68, K Kowalik52, H Kubo9, Y Kudenko47,69, R Kurjata53, T Kutter54, M Kuze19, L Labarga55, J Lagoda52, M Lamoureux23, P Lasorak34 , M Laveder3, M Lawe25, M Licciardi26, T Lindner18, R P Litchfield36, X Li35, A Longhin3, J P Lopez28, T Lou32, L Ludovici56, X Lu14, T Lux24, L Magaletti16, K Mahn27, M Malek30, S Manly57, L Maret22, A D Marino28, J F Martin58, P Martins34, T Maruyama29,67, T Matsubara29, V Matveev47, K Mavrokoridis4, W Y Ma36, E Mazzucato23, M McCarthy20, N McCauley4, K S McFarland57, C McGrew35, A Mefodiev47, C Metelko4, M Mezzetto3, A Minamino59, O Mineev47, S Mine60, M Miura1,68, S Moriyama1,68, J Morrison27, Th A Mueller26, S Murphy61, Y Nagai28, T Nakadaira29,67, M Nakahata1,41, Y Nakajima1, A Nakamura37, K G Nakamura9, K Nakamura29,41,67, K D Nakamura9, Y Nakanishi9, S Nakayama1,68, T Nakaya9,41, K Nakayoshi29,67, C Nantais58, K Niewczas39, K Nishikawa29,70, Y Nishimura2, T S Nonnenmacher36, P Novella6, J Nowak25, H M O’Keeffe25, L O’Sullivan30, K Okumura2,41, T Okusawa11, S M Oser17,18, R A Owen34, Y Oyama29,67, V Palladino33, J L Palomino35, V Paolone62, W C Parker49, P Paudyal4, M Pavin18, D Payne4, L Pickering27, C Pidcott30, E S Pinzon Guerra20, C Pistillo8, B Popov21,71, K Porwit43, M Posiadala-Zezula63, A Pritchard4, B Quilain41, T Radermacher40, E Radicioni16, P N Ratoff25, E Reinherz-Aronis42, C Riccio33, E Rondio52, B Rossi33, S Roth40, A Rubbia61, A C Ruggeri33, A Rychter53, K Sakashita29,67, F Sánchez22, S Sasaki10, K Scholberg64,68, J Schwehr42, M Scott36, Y Seiya11, T Sekiguchi29,67, H Sekiya1,41,68, D Sgalaberna22, R Shah5,14, A Shaikhiev47, F Shaker48, D Shaw25, A Shaykina47, M Shiozawa1,41, A Smirnov47, M Smy60, J T Sobczyk39, H Sobel41,60, Y Sonoda1, J Steinmann40, T Stewart5, P Stowell30, S Suvorov23,47, A Suzuki7, S Y Suzuki29,67, Y Suzuki41, A A Sztuc36, R Tacik12,18, M Tada29,67, A Takeda1, Y Takeuchi7,41, R Tamura32, H K Tanaka1,68, H A Tanaka58,65, L F Thompson30, W Toki42, C Touramanis4, K M Tsui4, T Tsukamoto29,67, M Tzanov54, Y Uchida36, W Uno9, M Vagins41,60, Z Vallari35, D Vargas24, G Vasseur23, C Vilela35, T Vladisavljevic14,41, V V Volkov47, T Wachala15, J Walker48, Y Wang35, D Wark5,14, M O Wascko36, A Weber5,14, R Wendell9,68, M J Wilking35, C Wilkinson8, J R Wilson34, R J Wilson42, C Wret57, Y Yamada29,70, K Yamamoto11, S Yamasu37, C Yanagisawa35,72, G Yang35, T Yano1, K Yasutome9, S Yen18, N Yershov47, M Yokoyama32,68, T Yoshida19, M Yu20, A Zalewska15, J Zalipska52, K Zaremba53, G Zarnecki52, M Ziembicki53, E D Zimmerman28, M Zito23, S Zsoldos34 and A Zykova47 (The T2K Collaboration). 1 University of Tokyo, Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, Kamioka Observatory, Kamioka, Japan 2 University of Tokyo, Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, Research Center for Cosmic Neutrinos, Kashiwa, Japan 3 INFN Sezione di Padova and Università di Padova, Dipartimento di Fisica, Padova, Italy 4 University of Liverpool, Department of Physics, Liverpool, United Kingdom 5 STFC, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell Oxford, and Daresbury Laboratory, Warrington, United Kingdom 6 IFIC (CSIC & University of Valencia), Valencia, Spain 7 Kobe University, Kobe, Japan 8 University of Bern, Albert Einstein Center for Fundamental Physics, Laboratory for High Energy Physics (LHEP), Bern, Switzerland 9 Kyoto University, Department of Physics, Kyoto, Japan 10 Tokyo Metropolitan University, Department of Physics, Tokyo, Japan 11 Osaka City University, Department of Physics, Osaka, Japan 12 University of Regina, Department of Physics, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada 13 University of Warwick, Department of Physics, Coventry, United Kingdom 14 Oxford University, Department of Physics, Oxford, United Kingdom 15 H. Niewodniczanski Institute of Nuclear Physics PAN, Cracow, Poland 16 INFN Sezione di Bari and Università e Politecnico di Bari, Dipartimento Interuniversitario di Fisica, Bari, Italy 17 University of British Columbia, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 18 TRIUMF, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 19 Tokyo Institute of Technology, Department of Physics, Tokyo, Japan 20 York University, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 21 Sorbonne Université, Université Paris Diderot, CNRS/IN2P3, Laboratoire de Physique Nucléaire et de Hautes Energies (LPNHE), Paris, France 22 University of Geneva, Section de Physique, DPNC, Geneva, Switzerland 23 IRFU, CEA Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France 24 Institut de Fisica d’Altes Energies (IFAE), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Campus UAB, Bellaterra (Barcelona) Spain 25 Lancaster University, Physics Department, Lancaster, United Kingdom 26 Ecole Polytechnique, IN2P3-CNRS, Laboratoire Leprince-Ringuet, Palaiseau, France 27 Michigan State University, Department of Physics and Astronomy, East Lansing, MI, United States of America 28 University of Colorado at Boulder, Department of Physics, Boulder, CO, United States of America 29 High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK), Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan 30 University of Sheffield, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Sheffield, United Kingdom 31 University of Houston, Department of Physics, Houston, TX, United States of America 32 University of Tokyo, Department of Physics, Tokyo, Japan 33 INFN Sezione di Napoli and Università di Napoli, Dipartimento di Fisica, Napoli, Italy 34 Queen Mary University of London, School of Physics and Astronomy, London, United Kingdom 35 State University of New York at Stony Brook, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Stony Brook, NY, United States of America 36 Imperial College London, Department of Physics, London, United Kingdom 37 Okayama University, Department of Physics, Okayama, Japan 38 Miyagi University of Education, Department of Physics, Sendai, Japan 39 Wroclaw University, Faculty of Physics and Astronomy, Wroclaw, Poland 40RWTH Aachen University, III. Physikalisches Institut, Aachen, Germany 41 Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (WPI), The University of Tokyo Institutes for Advanced Study, University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba, Japan 42 Colorado State University, Department of Physics, Fort Collins, CO, United States of America 43 University of Silesia, Institute of Physics, Katowice, Poland 44 Institute For Interdisciplinary Research in Science and Education (IFIRSE), ICISE, Quy Nhon, Vietnam 45 Institute of Physics (IOP), Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST), Hanoi, Vietnam 46 Tokyo University of Science, Faculty of Science and Technology, Department of Physics, Noda, Chiba, Japan 47 Institute for Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia 48 University of Winnipeg, Department of Physics, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada 49 Royal Holloway University of London, Department of Physics, Egham, Surrey, United Kingdom 50 University of Victoria, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada 51 Boston University, Department of Physics, Boston, MA, United States of America 52 National Centre for Nuclear Research, Warsaw, Poland 53 Warsaw University of Technology, Institute of Radioelectronics, Warsaw, Poland 54 Louisiana State University, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Baton Rouge, LA, United States of America 55 University Autonoma Madrid, Department of Theoretical Physics, E-28049Madrid, Spain 56 INFN Sezione di Roma and Università di Roma ‘La Sapienza’, Roma, Italy 57 University of Rochester, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rochester, NY, United States of America 58 University of Toronto, Department of Physics, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 59 Yokohama National University, Faculty of Engineering, Yokohama, Japan 60 University of California, Irvine, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Irvine, CA, United States of America 61 ETH Zurich, Institute for Particle Physics, Zurich, Switzerland 62 University of Pittsburgh, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Pittsburgh, PA, United States of America 63 University of Warsaw, Faculty of Physics, Warsaw, Poland 64 Duke University, Department of Physics, Durham, NC, United States of America 65 SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University, Menlo Park, CA, United States of America
Neutrino neutral-current (NC) induced single photon production is a subleading order process for accelerator-based neutrino beam experiments including T2K. It is, however, an important process to understand because it is a background for electron (anti)neutrino appearance oscillation experiments. Here, we performed the first search of this process below 1 GeV using the finegrained detector at the T2K ND280 off-axis near detector. By reconstructing single photon kinematics from electron–positron pairs, we achieved 95% pure gamma ray sample from 5.738 ´ 1020 protons-on-targets neutrino mode data. We do not find positive evidence of NC induced single photon production in this sample. We set the model-dependent upper limit on the cross-section for this process, at 0.114 ´ 10-38 cm2 (90% C.L.) per nucleon, using the J-PARC off-axis neutrino beam with an average energy of ⟨En⟩ ~ 0.6 GeV. This is the first limit on this process below 1GeV which is important for current and future oscillation experiments looking for electron neutrino appearance oscillation signals.