A Data-Driven Method of Background Prediction at NOvA
Abstract
NOvA is a long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment that will use the NuMI beam originating at Fermilab. NOvA enables the study of two oscillation channels: disappearance and appearance. It consists of two functionally identical detectors, the near detector (ND) at Fermilab and the far detector (FD) near International Falls in Northern Minnesota. The ND will be used to study the neutrino beam spectrum and composition before oscillation, and measure background rate to the appearance search. In this paper, I describe a data-driven technique to estimate the neutral current (NC) component of the ND spectrum. Using the CC interactions where the reconstructed muon is removed from the event, we produce a well understood sample of hadronic showers that resemble NC interactions.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1310.0119,
title = {A Data-Driven Method of Background Prediction at NOvA},
author = {Kanika Sachdev},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1310.0119},
year = {2013}
}
Comments
Presentation at the DPF 2013 Meeting of the American Physical Society Division of Particles and Fields, Santa Cruz, California, August 13-17, 2013