Measurement of Inclusive Charged-Current Neutrino Interactions on Oxygen

这名学生将从事基于费米实验室的加速器中微子-核相互作用实验(Annie)，该实验作为T2K-II和超神冈德新型近距离探测器的1%比例原型。对于这样的探测器，已经提出了两种可能的设计：NuPrISM和TUTUS。ANNIE是费米实验室中微子部新的短基线计划的一部分，它将位于助推器中微子束(BNB)的轴上。该实验现在(2015年10月)开始建设，第一阶段将于2016年春季开始。安妮是一个小型(约30吨)水切伦科夫探测器，上游有一个闪烁体否决权，下游有一个Muon射程探测器(MRD)。水中将装载0.1%浓度的Gd，用于中子标记。在为NUPRISM和/或TUTUS做准备的过程中，安妮将开创一些技术前沿，包括成为第一个在中微子束中运行的Gd加载水切伦科夫探测器，以及第一个使用大面积皮秒光电探测器(LAPPD)实现高精度定时和空间分辨率的粒子物理实验。除了这些技术目标，安妮还有两个主要的物理目标：一个是测量中微子相互作用中中子产额与能量的函数。另一种是测量中微子相互作用本身。考虑到距离BNB很近(距离目标100米)，安妮将看到大量的中微子(每年10,000次事件)，应该能够在短时间内(2-3年)实现这些目标。考虑到这样短的时间范围，Annie为学生提供了一个难得的机会，可以同时参与实验的构建阶段和开发阶段。在他的博士学位课程中，学生将获得硬件(特别是PMTS、LAPPD和MRD)、软件和数据分析。这项工作将以一篇论文结束，在这篇论文中，学生将测量在~0.8GeV的能量范围内中微子与氧相互作用的包含电荷流率。类似的测量以前也曾用SciBooNE实验和T2K近探测器对碳进行过测量。然而，到目前为止还没有关于氧的这样的测量。关于T2K的经验表明，从碳到氧的推断不是微不足道的；即使涉及的核很简单，核模型也可能相当复杂，将大型系统学引入T2K的远探测器预测中。因此，T2K(以及后来的超神冈)在限制中微子相互作用模型产生的不确定性方面，对安妮的氧气测量将立即有用。

The student will work on the Fermilab-based Accelerator Neutrino-Nucleus Interaction Experiment (ANNIE), which serves as a 1% scale prototype for a new near detector for T2K-II and Hyper-Kamiokande. Two possible designs have been proposed for such a detector: nuPRISM and TITUS. Experience on ANNIE will be directly applicable to either design.ANNIE is a part of the new short-baseline programme within Fermilab's Neutrino Division; it will be situated on-axis in the Booster Neutrino Beam (BNB). The experiment is starting construction now (Oct 2015), with Phase I to begin in Spring 2016. ANNIE is a small (~30 tonne) water Cherenkov detector with an upstream scintillator veto and a downstream muon range detector (MRD). The water will be loaded with a 0.1% concentration of gadolinium for neutron tagging. In preparation for nuPRISM and/or TITUS, ANNIE will pioneer a number of technical frontiers, including being the first Gd-loaded water Cherenkov detector to operate in a neutrino beam, and being the first particle physics experiment to use Large Area Picosecond Photo-Detectors (LAPPDs) for high-precision timing and spatial resolution. In addition to these technical goals, ANNIE has two main physics goals: One is to measure the neutron yield as a function of energy in neutrino interactions. The other is to make measurements of the neutrino interactions themselves. Given the proximity to the BNB (100 meters from the target), ANNIE will see a large number of neutrinos (> 10,000 events per year) and should be able to accomplish these goals in a short period of time (2 - 3 years). Given this short timescale, ANNIE offers the student an unusual opportunity to participate in both the construction phase and the exploitation phase of the experiment. Over the course of his PhD, the student will gain experience with hardware (esp. PMTs, LAPPDs, and a MRD), software, and data analysis.This work will culminate with a thesis, in which the student will measure the inclusive charged-current rates for neutrino interactions on oxygen in the energy range of ~0.8 GeV. Similar measurements have been made previously on carbon with the SciBooNE experiment and with the T2K near detector. However, no such measurement on oxygen exists as yet. Experience on T2K has shown that extrapolations from carbon to oxygen are non-trivial; even though the nuclei involved are simple, the nuclear models can be quite complicated, introducing large systematics into the far detector predictions for T2K. Thus, this measurement on oxygen at ANNIE will be immediately useful by T2K (and later by Hyper-Kamiokande) in constraining the uncertainty originating from neutrino interaction models.