Thesis (Ph.D.) - Indiana University, Physics, 2008
The Mini-Booster neutrino experiment (MiniBooNE)
at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab)
is designed to search for
νμ–νe
appearance neutrino oscillations.
Muon neutrino charged-current quasi-elastic (CCQE) interactions
(νμ+n→μ+p)
make up roughly 40% of our data sample,
and it is used to constrain the
background and cross sections for the oscillation analysis.
Using high–statistics MiniBooNE CCQE data,
the muon-neutrino CCQE cross section is measured.
The nuclear model is tuned precisely using the MiniBooNE data.
The measured total cross section is
σ=(1.058±0.003(stat)±0.111(syst))
×10<super>-38</super> cm<super>2</super>
at the MiniBooNE muon neutrino beam energy (700–800 MeV).
νe appearance candidate data is also used to search for Lorentz violation.
Lorentz symmetry is one of the most fundamental
symmetries in modern physics. Neutrino oscillations offer a new method to test it.
We found that the MiniBooNE result is not well-described using Lorentz violation,
however further investigation is required for a more conclusive result.