Neutrino-induced upward stopping muons in Super-Kamiokande

Y. Fukuda*, K. Ishihara, Y. Itow, T. Kajita, J. Kameda, S. Kasuga, K. Kobayashi, Y. Kobayashi, Y. Koshio, M. Miura, M. Nakahata, S. Nakayama, Y. Obayashi, A. Okada, K. Okumura, N. Sakurai, M. Shiozawa, Y. Suzuki, H. Takeuchi, Y. TakeuchiY. Totsuka, S. Yamada, M. Earl, A. Habig, E. Kearns, M. D. Messier, K. Scholberg, J. L. Stone, L. R. Sulak, C. W. Walter, M. Goldhaber, T. Barszczak, D. Casper, W. Gajewski, W. R. Kropp, S. Mine, L. R. Price, M. Smy, H. W. Sobel, M. R. Vagins, K. S. Ganezer, W. E. Keig, R. W. Ellsworth, S. Tasaka, A. Kibayashi, J. G. Learned, S. Matsuno, V. J. Stenger, D. Takemori, T. Ishii, H. Ishino, T. Kobayashi, K. Nakamura, Y. Oyama, A. Sakai, M. Sakuda, O. Sasaki, S. Echigo, M. Kohama, A. T. Suzuki, T. Inagaki, K. Nishikawa, T. J. Haines, E. Blaufuss, B. K. Kim, R. Sanford, R. Svoboda, M. L. Chen, J. A. Goodman, G. W. Sullivan, J. Hill, C. K. Jung, K. Martens, C. Mauger, C. McGrew, E. Sharkey, B. Viren, C. Yanagisawa, W. Doki, M. Kirisawa, S. Inaba, K. Miyano, H. Okazawa, C. Saji, M. Takahashi, M. Takahata, K. Higuchi, Y. Nagashima, M. Takita, T. Yamaguchi, M. Yoshida, S. B. Kim, M. Etoh, A. Hasegawa, T. Hasegawa, S. Hatakeyama, K. Inoue, T. Iwamoto, M. Koga, T. Maruyama, H. Ogawa, J. Shirai, A. Suzuki, F. Tsushima, M. Koshiba, Y. Hatakeyama, M. Koike, M. Nemoto, K. Nishijima, H. Fujiyasu, T. Futagami, Y. Hayato, Y. Kanaya, K. Kaneyuki, Y. Watanabe, D. Kielczewska, J. S. George, A. L. Stachyra, R. J. Wilkes, K. K. Young

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

218 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A total of 137 upward stopping muons of minimum energy 1.6 GeV are observed by Super-Kamiokande during 516 detector live days. The measured muon flux is 0.39 ± 0.04(stat.) ± 0.02(syst.) × 10-13 cm-2s-1sr-1 compared to an expected flux of 0.73 ± 0.16(theo.) × 10-13 cm-2s-1sr-1. Using our previously-published measurement of the upward through-going muon flux, we calculate the stopping/through-going flux ratio ℛ, which has less theoretical uncertainty. The measured value of ℛ = 0.22 ± 0.02(stat.) ± 0.01(syst.) is significantly smaller than the value 0.37-0.04+0.05(theo.) expected using the best theoretical information (the probability that the measured ℛ is a statistical fluctuation below the expected value is 0.39%). A simultaneous fitting to zenith angle distributions of upward stopping and through-going muons gives a result which is consistent with the hypothesis of neutrino oscillations with the parameters sin22θ > 0.7 and 1.5 × 10-3 < Δm2 < 1.5 × 10-2 eV2 at 90% confidence level, providing a confirmation of the observation of neutrino oscillations by Super-Kamiokande using the contained atmospheric neutrino events.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)185-193
Number of pages9
JournalPhysics Letters, Section B: Nuclear, Elementary Particle and High-Energy Physics
Volume467
Issue number3-4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1999
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Atmospheric muon neutrinos
  • Cosmic rays
  • Neutrino oscillations
  • Super-Kamiokande
  • Upward stopping muons
  • Upward throughgoing muons

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Nuclear and High Energy Physics

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