Search for Neutrino Oscillations in Appearance Mode with the OPERA Experiment

Abstract

The present paper highlights the data analysis status of the OPERA experiment. The experiment was designed to perform the neutrino interactions analysis on event-by-event basis, and optimized to search for $\nu_{\mu} \rightarrow \nu_{\tau}$ oscillation in appearance mode, also allowing to perform a $\nu_{e}$ appearance search. We review the data simulation and the analysis chains implemented to search for $\nu_{\tau}$ interactions. The main kinematical parameters sensitive to the neutrino flavor are discussed, the uncertainties of the event parameter estimation are reviewed, and the main sources of background for the $\nu_{\mu} \rightarrow \nu_{\tau}$ oscillation search are examined. The topologies of the two first $\nu_{\tau}$ candidate events are presented. Finally, we review the status of the $\nu_{e}$ appearance search and present the constraints set by the OPERA experiment on the mixing angle $\theta_{13}$ and on the LSND/MiniBooNE anomaly.