Phys. Rev. Lett.
85,
3999–4003
(2000)
Tau Neutrinos Favored over Sterile Neutrinos in Atmospheric Muon Neutrino Oscillations
S. Fukuda et al. (Super-Kamiokande Collaboration)
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S. Fukuda1, Y. Fukuda1, M. Ishitsuka1, Y. Itow1, T. Kajita1, J. Kameda1, K. Kaneyuki1, K. Kobayashi1, Y. Koshio1, M. Miura1, S. Moriyama1, M. Nakahata1, S. Nakayama1, Y. Obayashi1, A. Okada1, K. Okumura1, N. Sakurai1, M. Shiozawa1, Y. Suzuki1, H. Takeuchi1, Y. Takeuchi1, T. Toshito1, Y. Totsuka1, S. Yamada1, M. Earl2, A. Habig2,*, E. Kearns2, M. D. Messier2, K. Scholberg2, J. L. Stone2, L. R. Sulak2, C. W. Walter2, M. Goldhaber3, T. Barszczak4, D. Casper4, W. Gajewski4, W. R. Kropp4, S. Mine4, L. R. Price4, M. Smy4, H. W. Sobel4, M. R. Vagins4, K. S. Ganezer5, W. E. Keig5, R. W. Ellsworth6, S. Tasaka7, A. Kibayashi8, J. G. Learned8, S. Matsuno8, D. Takemori8, Y. Hayato9, T. Ishii9, T. Kobayashi9, K. Nakamura9, Y. Oyama9, A. Sakai9, M. Sakuda9, O. Sasaki9, M. Kohama10, A. T. Suzuki10, T. Inagaki11, K. Nishikawa11, T. J. Haines12,4, E. Blaufuss13, B. K. Kim13, R. Sanford13, R. Svoboda13, M. L. Chen14, J. A. Goodman14, G. Guillian14, G. W. Sullivan14, J. Hill15, C. K. Jung15, K. Martens15, M. Malek15, C. Mauger15, C. McGrew15, E. Sharkey15, B. Viren15, C. Yanagisawa15, M. Kirisawa16, S. Inaba16, C. Mitsuda16, K. Miyano16, H. Okazawa16, C. Saji16, M. Takahashi16, M. Takahata16, Y. Nagashima17, K. Nitta17, M. Takita17, M. Yoshida17, S. B. Kim18, T. Ishizuka19, M. Etoh20, Y. Gando20, T. Hasegawa20, K. Inoue20, K. Ishihara20, T. Maruyama20, J. Shirai20, A. Suzuki20, M. Koshiba21, Y. Hatakeyama22, Y. Ichikawa22, M. Koike22, K. Nishijima22, H. Fujiyasu23, H. Ishino23, M. Morii23, Y. Watanabe23, U. Golebiewska24, D. Kielczewska24,4, S. C. Boyd25, A. L. Stachyra25, R. J. Wilkes25, and K. K. Young25,† (Super-Kamiokande Collaboration)
1Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8582, Japan
2Department of Physics, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215
3Physics Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973
4Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California at Irvine, Irvine, California 92697-4575
5Department of Physics, California State University, Dominguez Hills, Carson, California 90747
6Department of Physics, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia 22030
7Department of Physics, Gifu University, Gifu, Gifu 501-1193, Japan
8Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822
9Institute of Particle and Nuclear Studies, High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK), Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0801, Japan
10Department of Physics, Kobe University, Kobe, Hyogo 657-8501, Japan
11Department of Physics, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
12Physics Division, P-23, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87544
13Department of Physics and Astronomy, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803
14Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742
15Department of Physics and Astronomy, State University of New York, Stony Brook, New York 11794-3800
16Department of Physics, Niigata University, Niigata, Niigata 950-2181, Japan
17Department of Physics, Osaka University, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-0043, Japan
18Department of Physics, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Korea
19Department of Systems Engineering, Shizuoka University, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka 432-8561, Japan
20Research Center for Neutrino Science, Tohoku University, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8578, Japan
21The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
22Department of Physics, Tokai University, Hiratsuka, Kanagawa 259-1292, Japan
23Department of Physics, Tokyo Institute for Technology, Meguro, Tokyo 152-8551, Japan
24Institute of Experimental Physics, Warsaw University, 00-681 Warsaw, Poland
25Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195-1560
Received 21 August 2000; published in the issue dated 6 November 2000
The previously published atmospheric neutrino data did not distinguish whether muon neutrinos were oscillating into tau neutrinos or sterile neutrinos, as both hypotheses fit the data. Using data recorded in 1100 live days of the Super-Kamiokande detector, we use three complementary data samples to study the difference in zenith angle distribution due to neutral currents and matter effects. We find no evidence favoring sterile neutrinos, and reject the hypothesis at the 99% confidence level. On the other hand, we find that oscillation between muon and tau neutrinos suffices to explain all the results in hand.
© 2000 The American Physical Society
URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.85.3999
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.85.3999
*Present address: Department of Physics, University of Minnesota, Duluth, MN 55812-2496. †Deceased.
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