Demonstration of new MeV-scale capabilities in large neutrino LArTPCs using ambient radiogenic and cosmogenic activity in MicroBooNE

Abstract

Large neutrino liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) experiments can broaden their physics reach by reconstructing and interpreting MeV-scale energy depositions, or blips, present in their data. We demonstrate new calorimetric and particle discrimination capabilities at the MeV energy scale using reconstructed blips in data from the MicroBooNE LArTPC at Fermilab. We observe a concentration of low energy ($<$3~MeV) blips around fiberglass mechanical support struts along the TPC edges with energy spectrum features consistent with the Compton edge of 2.614 MeV ${}^{208}$Tl decay $\gamma$~rays. These features are used to verify proper calibration of electron energy scales in MicroBooNE's data to few percent precision and to measure the specific activity of ${}^{208}$Tl in the fiberglass composing these struts, $(11.7\pm 0.2\text{(stat)}\pm 3.1\text{(syst)})$~Bq/kg. Cosmogenically-produced blips above 3~MeV in reconstructed energy are used to showcase the ability of large LArTPCs to distinguish between low-energy proton and electron energy depositions. An enriched sample of low-energy protons selected using this new particle discrimination technique is found to be smaller in data than in dedicated CORSIKA cosmic ray simulations, suggesting either incorrect CORSIKA modeling of incident cosmic fluxes or particle transport modeling issues in Geant4.

arXiv commentAccepted by Phys. Rev. D. Main paper 17 pages,14 figures and 1 table. Supplementary material 2 pages, 1 figure and 8 provided .dat files

References in corpus (44)

• Search for Majorana neutrinos with the first two years of EXO-200 data
• Design and Construction of the MicroBooNE Detector
• Search for Neutrinoless Double-Beta Decay in ${}^{136}$Xe with EXO-200
• Updated MiniBooNE Neutrino Oscillation Results with Increased Data and New Background Studies
• The Short-Baseline Neutrino Program at Fermilab
• The ArgoNeuT Detector in the NuMI Low-Energy beam line at Fermilab
• Measurements of extremely low radioactivity levels in BOREXINO
• DUNE as the Next-Generation Solar Neutrino Experiment
• Measurement of the specific activity of Ar-39 in natural argon
• Supernova Neutrino Burst Detection with the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment
• Improved Short-Baseline Neutrino Oscillation Search and Energy Spectrum Measurement with the PROSPECT Experiment at HFIR
• Ionization Electron Signal Processing in Single Phase LArTPCs II. Data/Simulation Comparison and Performance in MicroBooNE
• A study of electron recombination using highly ionizing particles in the ArgoNeuT Liquid Argon TPC
• Improved Limits on Millicharged Particles Using the ArgoNeuT Experiment at Fermilab
• Noise Characterization and Filtering in the MicroBooNE Liquid Argon TPC
• Ionization Electron Signal Processing in Single Phase LArTPCs I. Algorithm Description and Quantitative Evaluation with MicroBooNE Simulation
• Demonstration of MeV-Scale Physics in Liquid Argon Time Projection Chambers Using ArgoNeuT
• Understanding the energy resolution of liquid argon neutrino detectors
• Calibration of the charge and energy loss per unit length of the MicroBooNE liquid argon time projection chamber using muons and protons
• New experimental limits on the Pauli forbidden transitions in ${}^{12}$C nuclei obtained with 485 days Borexino data
• Measurement of the muon decay spectrum with the ICARUS liquid Argon TPC
• Michel Electron Reconstruction Using Cosmic-Ray Data from the MicroBooNE LArTPC
• Measurement of Space Charge Effects in the MicroBooNE LArTPC Using Cosmic Muons
• Novel Approach for Evaluating Detector-Related Uncertainties in a LArTPC Using MicroBooNE Data
• Search for Neutrino-Induced Neutral Current $\Delta$ Radiative Decay in MicroBooNE and a First Test of the MiniBooNE Low Energy Excess Under a Single-Photon Hypothesis
• Multi-site event discrimination for the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR
• Calorimetry for low-energy electrons using charge and light in liquid argon
• Missing energy and the measurement of the CP-violating phase in neutrino oscillations
• Benefits of MeV-scale reconstruction capabilities in large liquid argon time projection chambers
• Liquid Argon TPC Signal Formation, Signal Processing and Hit Reconstruction
• The Liquid Argon In A Testbeam (LArIAT) Experiment
• First Measurement of the Total Neutron Cross Section on Argon Between 100 and 800 MeV
• Enhanced low-energy supernova burst detection in large liquid argon time projection chambers enabled by Q-Pix
• Inclusive cross section measurements in final states with and without protons for charged-current ${\nu }_{\mu }$-Ar scattering in MicroBooNE
• Precision Measurement of the Specific Activity of ${}^{39}$Ar in Atmospheric Argon with the DEAP-3600 Detector
• Multi-site Event Discrimination in Large Liquid Scintillation Detectors
• First simultaneous measurement of differential muon-neutrino charged-current cross sections on argon for final states with and without protons using MicroBooNE data
• Measurement of the neutron capture cross-section on argon
• Measurement of ambient radon progeny decay rates and energy spectra in liquid argon using the MicroBooNE detector
• Measurement of the Atmospheric Muon Rate with the MicroBooNE Liquid Argon TPC
• Prospects of Measuring Oscillated Decay-at-Rest Neutrinos at Long Baselines
• Observation of Radon Mitigation in MicroBooNE by a Liquid Argon Filtration System
• Demonstration of neutron identification in neutrino interactions in the MicroBooNE liquid argon time projection chamber
• Measurement of the Neutron Cross Section on Argon Between 95 and 720 MeV

Cited by in corpus (2)

• Inclusive Search for Anomalous Single-Photon Production in MicroBooNE
• Physics Prospects with MeV Neutrino-Argon Charged Current Interactions using Enhanced Photon Detection in Future LArTPCs