Phys. Rev. D
79,
072002
(2009)
[38 pages]
Neutrino flux prediction at MiniBooNE
A. A. Aguilar-Arevalo et al. MiniBooNE Collaboration
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A. A. Aguilar-Arevalo5, C. E. Anderson16, A. O. Bazarko13, S. J. Brice7, B. C. Brown7, L. Bugel5, J. Cao12,*, L. Coney5,†, J. M. Conrad5, D. C. Cox9, A. Curioni16, Z. Djurcic5, D. A. Finley7, B. T. Fleming7,16, R. Ford7, F. G. Garcia7, G. T. Garvey10, C. Green7,10, J. A. Green9,10, T. L. Hart4,‡, E. Hawker3,10,§, R. Imlay11, R. A. Johnson3, G. Karagiorgi5, P. Kasper7, T. Katori9, T. Kobilarcik7, I. Kourbanis7, S. Koutsoliotas2, E. M. Laird13, S. K. Linden16, J. M. Link5,15, Y. Liu12, Y. Liu1, W. C. Louis10, K. B. M. Mahn5, W. Marsh7, P. S. Martin7, G. McGregor10, W. Metcalf11, P. D. Meyers13, F. Mills7, G. B. Mills10, J. Monroe5,**, C. D. Moore7, R. H. Nelson4, V. T. Nguyen5, P. Nienaber14, J. A. Nowak11, S. Ouedraogo11, R. B. Patterson13,††, D. Perevalov1, C. C. Polly9, E. Prebys7, J. L. Raaf3,‡‡, H. Ray8,10, B. P. Roe12, A. D. Russell7, V. Sandberg10, R. Schirato10, D. Schmitz5, M. H. Shaevitz5, F. C. Shoemaker13, D. Smith6, M. Soderberg16, M. Sorel5,a, P. Spentzouris7, I. Stancu1, R. J. Stefanski7, M. Sung11, H. A. Tanaka13,b, R. Tayloe9, M. Tzanov4, R. Van de Water10, M. O. Wascko11,c, D. H. White10, M. J. Wilking4, H. J. Yang12, G. P. Zeller5,10, and E. D. Zimmerman4 (MiniBooNE Collaboration)
1University of Alabama; Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487, USA
2Bucknell University; Lewisburg, Pennsylvania 17837, USA
3University of Cincinnati; Cincinnati, Ohio 45221, USA
4University of Colorado; Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA
5Columbia University; New York, New York 10027, USA
6Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University; Prescott, Arizona 86301, USA
7Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory; Batavia, Illinois 60510, USA
8University of Florida; Gainesville, Florida 32611, USA
9Indiana University; Bloomington, Indiana 47405, USA
10Los Alamos National Laboratory; Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA
11Louisiana State University; Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803, USA
12University of Michigan; Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA
13Princeton University; Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA
14Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota; Winona, Minnesota 55987, USA
15Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University; Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, USA
16Yale University; New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA
Received 21 June 2008; published 15 April 2009
The booster neutrino experiment (MiniBooNE) searches for νμ→νe oscillations using the O(1 GeV) neutrino beam produced by the booster synchrotron at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory). The booster delivers protons with 8 GeV kinetic energy (8.89 GeV/c momentum) to a beryllium target, producing neutrinos from the decay of secondary particles in the beam line. We describe the Monte Carlo simulation methods used to estimate the flux of neutrinos from the beam line incident on the MiniBooNE detector for both polarities of the focusing horn. The simulation uses the Geant4 framework for propagating particles, accounting for electromagnetic processes and hadronic interactions in the beam line materials, as well as the decay of particles. The absolute double differential cross sections of pion and kaon production in the simulation have been tuned to match external measurements, as have the hadronic cross sections for nucleons and pions. The statistical precision of the flux predictions is enhanced through reweighting and resampling techniques. Systematic errors in the flux estimation have been determined by varying parameters within their uncertainties, accounting for correlations where appropriate.
© 2009 The American Physical Society
URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevD.79.072002
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevD.79.072002
*Present Address: Institute of High-Energy Physics; Beijing 100049, China †Present Address: Hope College; Holland, MI 49423, USA ‡Present Address: Illinois Institute of Technology; Chicago, IL 60616, USA §Present Address: Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy; Aurora IL 60506, USA **Present Address: Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Cambridge, MA 02139, USA ††Present Address: California Institute of Technology; Pasadena, CA 91125, USA ‡‡Present Address: Boston University; Boston, MA 02215, USA aPresent Address: IFIC, Universidad de Valencia and CSIC; 46071 Valencia, Spain bPresent Address: University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada cPresent Address: Imperial College; London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom, USA
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