Discriminating between nu_mu <-> nu_tau and nu_mu <-> nu_sterile in atmospheric nu_mu oscillations with the Super-Kamiokande detector

Abstract

A strong body of evidence now exists for atmospheric nu_mu disappearance oscillations. Such disappearance could be explained by oscillations to either nu_tau or a ``sterile'' neutrino (nu_s). Super-Kamiokande uses three different methods to distinguish between these two scenarios. First, matter effects would suppress the nu_mu <-> nu_s oscillation amplitude at high energy. Second, oscillation to nu_s would reduce the overall neutral-current neutrino interaction rate. Third, the smoking gun of nu_mu <-> nu_tau oscillations would be the observation of tau appearance resulting from charged-current nu_tau interactions. The results of these three techniques are presented, which strongly favor nu_mu <-> nu_tau oscillations over nu_mu <-> nu_s.

Contribution to the 27th ICRC (Hamburg, August 7-15, 2001), 4 pages, 1 figure

Cited by in corpus (3)

• Limits on the Non-Standard Interactions of Neutrinos from $e^{+}{e}^{-}$ Colliders
• The hidden sterile neutrino and the (2+2) sum rule
• An Empirical Look at Neutrino Oscillations