A High Statistics Search for muon-neutrino(anti-muon-neutrino) ---> electron-neutrino(anti-electron-neutrino) Oscillations in the Small Mixing Angle Regime

Abstract

Limits on $\nu_\mu (\overline{\nu}_\mu) \to \nu_e (\overline{\nu}_e)$ oscillations based on a statistical separation of $\nu_e N$ charged current interactions in the CCFR detector at Fermilab are presented. $\nu_e$ interactions are identified by the difference in the longitudinal shower energy deposition pattern of $\nu_e N \rightarrow eX$ versus $\nu_\mu N \to \nu_\mu X$ interactions. Neutrino energies range from 30 to 600 GeV with a mean of 140 GeV, and $\nu_\mu$ flight lengths vary from 0.9 km to 1.4 km. The lowest 90% confidence upper limit in $sin^2 2\alpha$ of $1.1 \times 10^{-3}$ is obtained at $\Delta m^2 \sim 300 eV^2$. For $sin^2 2\alpha = 1$, $\Delta m^2 > 1.6 eV^2$ is excluded, and for $\Delta m^2 \gg 1000 eV^2$, $sin^2 2\alpha > 1.8 \times 10^{-3}$ is excluded. This result is the most stringent limit to date for $\Delta m^2 > 25 eV^2$ and it excludes the high $\Delta m^2$ oscillation region favoured by the LSND experiment. The $\nu_\mu$-to-$\nu_e$ cross-section ratio was measured as a test of $\nu_\mu (\bar\nu_\mu) \leftrightarrow \nu_e (\bar\nu_e)$ universality to be $1.026 \pm 0.055$.