Miao, T. [Fermilab] | Engineering Papers

DOE OSTI2026

NOvA Dual-Baseline Search for Active-to-Sterile Neutrino Oscillations using Neutrino- and Antineutrino-Enriched Samples

We report a search for neutrino oscillations to sterile neutrinos in the NOvA detectors under a model with three active and one sterile neutrinos. This search simultaneously fits data in the two NOvA detectors and is the first from NOvA to use both neutrino- and antineutrino-mode beams, with exposures of $26.61\times10^{20}$ and $12.50\times10^{20}$ protons on target, respectively. There is no evidence for sterile neutrinos in the data and we are able to exclude regions of parameter space that were allowed by previous experiments, including most of the allowed region reported by IceCube.

Abubakar, S. [Erciyes U.]↗

DOE OSTI2026

Measurement of the $\bar ν_μ-$Hydrogen Charged-Current Quasi-Elastic Cross Section using the NOvA Near Detector

We report a measurement of the total cross section for muon antineutrino charged-current quasi-elastic scattering on hydrogen, $\bar ν_μ{\rm H} \to μ^+ n$, in the NOvA near detector using a $1.2\times10^{21}$ proton-on-target exposure in the NuMI beam. A selection based on topological and kinematic constraints yields 35,509 signal events in the hydrogen-rich ($10.8\%$) detector, providing the highest statistics of (anti)neutrino--hydrogen interactions measured to date. Backgrounds from (anti)neutrino interactions on heavier nuclei are constrained using dedicated data control samples, significantly reducing the related systematic uncertainties. We obtain a value $σ(\bar ν_μ{\rm H} \to μ^+ n) = 0.538 \pm 0.009 ({\rm stat}) \pm 0.010 ({\rm syst}) \pm0.055 ({\rm flux}) \times 10^{-38}$ cm$^2$ for the total cross section at an average energy of 1.9 GeV, the most precise total cross-section measurement of this process to date. The combined statistical and non-flux systematic uncertainty is more than four times smaller than the flux uncertainty, allowing a future use of this measurement to constrain the absolute $\bar ν_μ$ flux.

Abubakar, S. [Erciyes U.]↗

DOE OSTI2026

Measurement of the $\bar ν_μ-$Hydrogen Charged-Current Quasi-Elastic Cross Section using the NOvA Near Detector

We report a measurement of the total cross section for muon antineutrino charged-current quasi-elastic scattering on hydrogen, $\bar ν_μ{\rm H} \to μ^+ n$, in the NOvA near detector using a $1.2\times10^{21}$ proton-on-target exposure in the NuMI beam. A selection based on topological and kinematic constraints yields 35,509 signal events in the hydrogen-rich ($10.8\%$) detector, providing the highest statistics of (anti)neutrino--hydrogen interactions measured to date. Backgrounds from (anti)neutrino interactions on heavier nuclei are constrained using dedicated data control samples, significantly reducing the related systematic uncertainties. We obtain a value $σ(\bar ν_μ{\rm H} \to μ^+ n) = 0.538 \pm 0.009 ({\rm stat}) \pm 0.010 ({\rm syst}) \pm0.055 ({\rm flux}) \times 10^{-38}$ cm$^2$ for the total cross section at an average energy of 1.9 GeV, the most precise total cross-section measurement of this process to date. The combined statistical and non-flux systematic uncertainty is more than four times smaller than the flux uncertainty, allowing a future use of this measurement to constrain the absolute $\bar ν_μ$ flux.

Abubakar, S. [Erciyes U.]↗

DOE OSTI2026

Timing-Based Search for Magnetic Monopoles with the NOvA Detector on the Surface

We report a search for a magnetic monopole component of the cosmic-ray flux in a 2743-live-day exposure of the NOvA experiment's Far Detector, a 14 kt segmented liquid scintillator detector designed primarily to observe GeV-scale electron neutrinos. No events consistent with monopoles were observed, setting an upper limit on the flux of $8\times 10^{-16}~\mathrm{cm^{-2}s^{-1}sr^{-1}}$ at 90% C.L. for monopole speed $6\times 10^{-4} < β< 5\times 10^{-3}$ and mass greater than $10^{9}$ GeV. Because of NOvA's small overburden of 3 meters-water equivalent, this constraint covers a previously unexplored low-mass region.

Abubakar, S. [Erciyes U.]↗

DOE OSTI2025

Search for Accelerator-Produced Sub-GeV Dark Matter with the NOvA Near Detector

The NuMI facility at Fermilab produces a high-intensity beam of muon neutrinos and antineutrinos, designed to study neutrino oscillations. This beam may also be a source of dark matter particles produced through a light mediator. We search for dark matter particles with masses between 1 and 200 MeV that interact with Standard Model particles via a vector portal, producing forward-scattered single-electron events in the NOvA near detector. We set limits on the dark-visible coupling based on an exposure of 2.55x10^21 protons of 120 GeV energy on the NuMI target. For the dark matter mass range 10-20 MeV, this analysis sets the tightest constraints on the coupling to date.

Abubakar, S. [Erciyes U.] (ORCID:0000000315112219)↗