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At least 145 records · Page 8

Physics of Neutrino Oscillations and Neutrino Cross Sections using the NOvA Experiment

NOvA is a long-baseline accelerator-based neutrino experiment based in the US. NOvA uses an intense neutrino beam produced at Fermilab’s accelerator complex to make physics measurements of neutrino oscillations, neutrino cross sections, and much more. For its physics goals, NOvA uses two functionally-identical detectors. The Near Detector (ND) is situated at Fermilab, 1 km from the neutrino target and the Far Detector (FD) is located at Ash River, MN, a distance of 810 km from the neutrino source. The ND receives a high statistics neutrino flux which gives a unique opportunity for high-precision neutrino cross-section measurements and is used as a control for the oscillation analyses. The FD is used to analyze the appearance and disappearance of the neutrinos arriving from the Fermilab. The purpose of the oscillation analysis is to understand the dominance of matter over antimatter in the universe, to resolve the ordering of neutrino masses, and to resolve the octant of the neutrino mixing angle theta23. In this talk, I will give an overview of the NOvA experiment. I will also talk about the status of the NOvA’s cross-section physics program and the latest results from the oscillation analyses. I will also talk about the future prospects of the experiment.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Latest Results from the NOvA Experiment

NOvA is a long-baseline neutrino experiment placed in the muon neutrino-dominated NuMI beam based at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, USA. Utilizing two functionally-identical tracking calorimeters, NOvA observes the appearance of electron neutrinos and the disappearance of muon neutrinos. By observing these neutrino oscillations along with their antineutrino counterparts, NOvA is probing outstanding questions in neutrino physics including the neutrino mass ordering, leptonic CP violation parameterized by the phase $\delta_{CP}$, the larger neutrino mass splitting $\Delta m^2_{32}$, and the mixing angle $\theta_{23}$. Alongside standard 3-flavor oscillations, NOvA is also investigating sterile neutrinos, nonstandard oscillations, and performing neutrino cross-section measurements. This talk will present the most recent results from NOvA encompassing the latest analyses.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

NOvA Current Status and Future Prospects

NOvA is a two detector, long baseline, neutrino oscillation experiment utilizing the NuMI beamline at Fermilab to study neutrino oscillations through muon (anti)neutrino disappearance and electron (anti)neutrino appearance. NOvA's primary goals are to make determinations of the neutrino mass hierarchy and the octant of ${\theta}_{23}$, and to measure possible CP violation. Along with standard three flavor neutrino oscillations, NOvA data is used to study cross sections in the near detector, neutrino oscillations beyond the three flavor framework such as sterile neutrinos and non-standard interactions, along with other exotic neutrino interactions from astrophysical sources including supernovae. I will provide an overview of the NOvA detectors, share some current results from the experiment, and discuss the future of NOvA operations and analyses.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Latest Three-Flavor Neutrino Oscillation Results from NOvA

NOvA, is a two-detector, long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment located at Fermilab, Batavia, IL, USA. It aims to constrain neutrino oscillation parameters by analyzing $\nu_\mu (\bar{\nu}_\mu)$ disappearance and $\nu_e (\bar{\nu}_e)$ appearance data. The experiment uses the Neutrinos at Main Injector (NuMI) beamline at Fermilab, which delivers a high-purity 900 KW beam of neutrinos and anti-neutrinos. The detectors are functionally identical finely granulated liquid tracking calorimeters, both situated 14.6 mrad off-axis to the beam direction. The NOvA Near Detector (ND), situated 100 meters underground and 1 kilometer from the beam source, detects the un-oscillated $\nu_\mu (\bar{\nu}_\mu)$ and beam $\nu_e (\bar{\nu}_e)$ events. The Far Detector (FD), located in Ash River, MN, USA, 809 kilometers from the ND, records the oscillated $\nu_e (\bar{\nu}_e)$ and the un-oscillated $\nu_\mu (\bar{\nu}_\mu)$ events. NOvA employs an extrapolation technique to predict the expected events at the Far Detector based on the Near Detector data, thereby providing a significant constraint on systematic uncertainties in the oscillation analyses. As NOvA accumulates more data, controlling these systematic uncertainties becomes increasingly important. This talk will detail the NOvA neutrino oscillation analysis framework and its approach to minimizing dominant systematic uncertainties using Near Detector data. The latest three flavor neutrino oscillation results based on a neutrino-beam exposure of $26.60 \times 10^{20}$ POT and an anti-neutrino beam exposure of $12.50\times 10^{20}$ POT and a novel low energy $\nu_e$ sample, will also be presented.

Choudhary, Brajesh↗

Latest Results from the NOvA Experiment

NOvA, is a two-detector, long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment located at Fermilab, Batavia, IL, USA. The NOvA experiment was designed primarily to constrain neutrino oscillation parameters by analyzing $\nu_\mu (\bar{\nu}_\mu)$ disappearance and $\nu_e (\bar{\nu}_e)$ appearance data observed at the far detector. The Neutrinos at Main Injector (NuMI) beamline at Fermilab provides a high purity beam of neutrinos and anti-neutrinos to the experiment. The NOvA experiment consists of two functionally identical, finely granulated liquid tracking calorimeters, both situated 14.6 mrad off-axis to the beam direction. The NOvA near detector, situated 100 meters underground and 1 kilometer from the beam source, detects the non-oscillated $\nu_\mu (\bar{\nu}_\mu)$ and beam $\nu_e (\bar{\nu}_e)$ events. The far detector, located in Ash River, MN, USA, 810 kilometers from the beam source, records the non-oscillated $\nu_\mu (\bar{\nu}_\mu)$ and the oscillated $\nu_\mu (\bar{\nu}_\mu) \to \nu_e (\bar{\nu}_e)$ events. The latest results on standard 3-flavor neutrino oscillations, joint NOvA-T2K analysis, active-to-sterile neutrino mixing, and non-standard interactions will be presented in this talk.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

PISCES two-detector covariance matrix fit for the NOvA Experiment

NOvA is a long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment with two functionally identical detectors: a Near Detector (ND) at Fermilab, placed 1 km from the neutrino source, and a Far Detector (FD) located 810 km away from the ND in Minnesota. NOvA's primary physics goals are the precise measurements of neutrino oscillation parameters $\theta_{23}$ and $\Delta m^2_{32}$ , determine the neutrino mass ordering, and constrain the value of $\delta_{CP}$, via the study of muon neutrino to electron neutrino oscillation. In the standard NOvA three-flavor analysis, oscillation parameters are extracted using an extrapolation technique in which the ND data constrain the FD prediction through a ratio method. While this allows for systematic uncertainties sharing the same effects in both detectors to cancel, it remains an FD-only fit and does not fully leverage the constraining power of the high-statistics ND. This analysis proposes a simultaneous ND+FD fit using the PISCES method. PISCES (Parameter Inference with Systematic Covariance and Exact Statistics) is a framework designed to support complex configurations such as a joint ND+FD fit. This allows PISCES to take full advantage of the ND data to directly constrain systematic uncertainties across all samples. In PISCES, systematic uncertainties are encoded in a fractional covariance matrix, and statistical uncertainties are handled with a Poisson likelihood, making the approach well suited for low-statistics samples. For interpretability, we further use a Newton–Raphson + PCA method to recover per-systematic pulls from the covariance formulation. This poster presents the full PISCES joint ND+FD fit for the NOvA three-flavor analysis, describes its implementation and evaluates its performance through extensive robustness tests and fake data studies. It also provides a comparison between the PISCES joint ND+FD results and the standard NOvA extrapolation method.

Rajaoalisoa, Miriama [Cincinnati U.] (ORCID:000000↗

The NOvA Test Beam Program

NOvA is a long-baseline off-axis beam neutrino experiment at Fermilab and Ash River, Minnesota. By measuring νμ \nu_\mu disappearance and νe \nu_e appearance at the 14 kiloton NOvA Far Detector, the experiment is addressing outstanding questions in neutrino physics, including the neutrino mass hierarchy and existence of leptonic CP violation. The NOvA Test Beam program, under deployment at the Fermilab Test Beam Facility, will use a scaled-down NOvA detector to sample beams of tagged electrons, muons, pions, and protons in the momentum range of 0.3 to 2 GeV/c. It will further the NOvA physics reach by precisely measuring the detector's muon energy scale and electromagnetic and hadronic response, and provide real data for detailed studies of particle identification techniques. Ongoing efforts on beamline instrumentation, data acquisition, simulation, momentum reconstruction and particle identification are presented. Implications for the neutrino oscillation measurements are discussed.

Huang, Junting [Texas U.]↗

NOvA 2024 official data release (26.61E20 neutrino + 12.5E20 antineutrino)

This data release corresponds to the Bayesian 2024 analysis of NOvA $\nu_e$ appearance and $\nu_{\mu}$ disappearance data, corresponding to analysis described in https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.04361. File `NOvA_2024_data_histograms.root` contains data histograms for all the NOvA data samples. Exposure: * neutrino-enhanced beam: 26.61E20 protons on target * antineutrino-enhanced beam: 12.5E20 protons on target External constraints: * ss2th12=0.851, dm21=7.53e-5 are fixed at 2019 PDG values, with negligible effect on NOvA predictions. * ss2th13 & dm32: * RCDB1D: 1D constraint from Daya Bay for ss2th13, 0.0851+/-0.0024 * RCDB2D: Correlated 2D constraint from Daya Bay on ss2th13 & dm32, available in their official 2023 data release: https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.130.161802#supplemental An additional file containing the predictions (`NOvA_2024_prediction_with_systs_histograms.root`) for all channels’ signal and background components computed at the NOvA best-fit oscillation parameters and systematic pull terms. Numu samples include the no-oscillation case as well. Please note that any fits performed with these histograms are not expected to exactly reproduce the official NOvA results as parameterizations of the numerous systematic uncertainties considered in the official fits are not included in this release. The zip file also contains the 2D credible interval contours, with details in a README.md

Sztuc, Artur [University Coll. London] (ORCID:0000↗

On the total energy output of the nova outburst

It is shown that the postmaximum decline in optical light during the outburst of a normal classical nova is caused by a shift in the wavelength of maximum energy to the ultraviolet. The constant-luminosity phase which was directly observed in Nova FH Ser 1970 may, therefore, be common to all novae, regardless of speed class. This implies that all speed classes of novae have similar energy budgets and that it is the total energy involved in the outburst which produces the variation in the observed characteristics of the novae. Recent thermonuclear runaway models for the outburst also show an extended period of high luminosity and high effective temperature following the initial outburst.

Gallagher, J. S.↗

Nova-driven winds in globular clusters

Recent sensitive searches for H-alpha emission from ionized intracluster gas in globular clusters have set upper limits that conflict with theoretical predictions. It is suggested that nova outbursts heat the gas, producing winds that resolve this discrepancy. The incidence of novae in globular clusters, the conversion of kinetic energy of the nova shell to thermal energy of the intracluster gas, and the characteristics of the resultant winds are discussed. Calculated emission from the nova-driven models does not conflict with any observations to date. Some suggestions are made concerning the most promising approaches for future detection of intracluster gas on the basis of these models. The possible relationship of nova-driven winds to globular cluster X-ray sources is also considered.

Scott, E. H.↗

CNO isotope production in nova outbursts

A current model of novae is presented which explains their outbursts assuming that the progenitor of a common nova is a carbon-oxygen dwarf. This white dwarf accretes H-rich material from its companion which produces strong shock waves at its surface; as the amount of accreted material increases later, its bottom ignites. The nova outburst is then triggered by CNO-Ne reactions which favor the formation of rare isotopes with proton-rich radioactive parents such as C-13, N-15, O-17, and Ne-21. The production of such nuclear species is examined in different nova models, and conclusions are drawn concerning the importance of novae in models of chemical evolution of the galaxy.

Audouze, J.↗

The optically thin dust shell of Nova Cygni 1978

Nova Cygni 1978 was monitored photometrically from V to 19.5 microns for 120 days after the eruption. Following the initial expansion of the hot gas shell, an optically thin dust shell formed and reached a maximum visual optical depth of about 0.1 by day 60. No visible transition phase of the type observed in the very dusty DQ Herculis novae occurred in Nova Cygni 1978. It is argued that dust grain growth was inhibited because of the low mass of condensable atoms in the shell. Although the dust shell in Nova Cygni 1978 was optically thin at visual and infrared wavelengths, the grains grew to a radius of 0.3 micron which is comparable to the radius of the grains which grow in the optically thick shells of the DQ Herculis type novae.

Gehrz, R. D.↗

A prediction of the gamma-ray flux from Nova Herculis 1991

UV observations made with the IUE satellite of Nova Her 1991 are presented and discussed. A distance of 3.4 kpc and reddening of 0.6 E(B-V) to Nova Her 1991 are determined by comparing its UV and optical outburst behavior with those of the extragalactic ONeMg nova LMC 1990 No. 1. Her 1991 was also detected by Rosat five days into its outburst, and it is argued that a small fraction of the X-rays may be the product of Comptonized 1.2 and 0.5 MeV emission from the decay of Na-22. If the mass of ejected shell is indeed as high as was estimated by Woodward et al. (1992), namely 0.0001 solar mass, then the present results predicted that Na-22 gamma-ray emission from the ejecta of Nova Her 1991 would still be detectable by GRO in the spring of 1992. The detection level was expected to be about 5 sigma in a two-week observation. Such a detection would strongly guide and constrain the hydrodynamic and nucleosynthesis simulations of nova outbursts on massive white dwarfs.

Starrfield, Sumner↗

Photometry and spectroscopy of Nova Herculis 1991

Observations of Nova Herculis 1991 obtained during the months of 1991 May-September are presented. Spectral observations a few weeks after outburst constrain the distance to Nova Her to between 6 and 12 kpc and show evidence of dust formation in the expanding shell and line profiles with five components having large expansion velocities. Initial photometric observations of the nova in June showed the nova had declined approximately ten magnitudes in the V band from its maximum, and by September, the nova had dimmed by approximately two additional magnitudes. The period derived from these observations agrees with that reported by Leibowitz et al. (1992). Periodic eclipses with a depth of about 0.7 V mag are observed, and the depths of the eclipses are constant over a 2-month period while the overall brightness diminished by one magnitude. The long duration of the eclipses indicates an eclipse of an extended source, likely the accretion disk.

Ingram, Doug↗

Classical novae - Contributions to the interstellar medium

Theoretical results predicting yields of various isotopes in nova outbursts are reviewed. Emphasis is placed on the stardust and gas-phase chemical anomalies that may be contributed to the Galactic ISM by classic novae. It is concluded that most of the heavy isotope anomalies are produced by about 25 percent of novae that occur in systems containing massive O-Ne-Mg white dwarfs. The dust-production scenario for novae is summarized, and it is argued that explosions on O-Ne-Mg white dwarfs may lead to the formation of dust grains that carry the Ne-E and Mg-26 anomalies. Quantitative constraints are placed on the degree to which classical novae participate in the production of chemical anomalies, both in the primitive solar system and on a Galactic scale.

Gehrz, Robert D.↗

Na-22 decay gamma rays from classical novae

NASA Grant NAG 5-1565 has provided support for a program of theoretical research in nuclear astrophysics and related areas, focusing upon the possibility of detecting gamma rays from nearby novae. Particular attention has been given to the evaluation of the theoretical expectations for gamma ray emission from four possible sources: (1) the positron decays of the unstable CNO and fluorine isotopes that are transported to the surface regions of the envelope in the earliest stages of the outbursts; (2) Be-7 decay gamma rays, (3) Na-22 decay gamma rays released in the later stages of the outbursts; and (4) Al-26 decay gamma rays from novae and their possible contribution to Galactic emission. The critical questions of (1) the frequency of occurrence of ONeMg-enriched novae; (2) the expected Galactic distribution of the novae that produce 26Al; and (3) the nature of the observed soft X-ray emission from classical novae, have also been addressed. Considerable progress in research has been achieved on many of these fronts. Brief summaries of the results of several research projects are presented.

Truran, James W.↗

BVRJK observations of Northern Hemisphere old novae

BVR photometry has been accomplished for 65 objects in the Duerbeck atlas along with J photometry of 52 and K of 30 objects. The (B - V), (V - R), and (V - J) colors are compiled with those available in the literature to assess the color change of novae as a function of time since outburst. Using available reddening values results in a list of 42 (B - V), 28 (V - R), and 38 (V - J) dereddened colors for novae that are from 1 to 319 years past outburst. The results indicate all the colors cluster about zero, with no obvious transition to red values as would be expected for novae undergoing a hibernation scenario. This indicates the accretion disk is sustained for at least 200 years after outburst. It is also apparent that red novae with giant secondaries and/or unusual properties readily stand out from the normal novae in color.

Szkody, Paula↗

Ultraviolet studies of Novae in the Large Magellanic Cloud

We report on the ultraviolet observations of five novae in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). They are LMC 1988 #1, which was a CO nove similar to OS And; LMC 1988 #2, which was an ONeMg nova similar to Nova Her 1991; LNC 1990 #1, which was a very fast ONeMG nova similar to V693 CrA 1981; LMC 1990 #2, which was a recurrent nova similar to U Sco; and LMC 1991 which reached V approximately 9.

Starrfield, Sumner↗