Abstract The MicroBooNE liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) maintains a high level of liquid argon purity through the use of a filtration system that removes electronegative contaminants in continuously-circulated liquid, recondensed boil off, and externally supplied argon gas. We use the MicroBooNE LArTPC to reconstruct MeV-scale radiological decays. Using this technique we measure the liquid argon filtration system's efficacy at removing radon. This is studied by placing a 500 kBq 222 Rn source upstream of the filters and searching for a time-dependent increase in the number of radiological decays in the LArTPC. In the context of two models for radon mitigation via a liquid argon filtration system, a slowing mechanism and a trapping mechanism, MicroBooNE data supports a radon reduction factor of greater than 97% or 99.999%, respectively. Furthermore, a radiological survey of the filters found that the copper-based filter material was the primary medium that removed the 222 Rn. This is the first observation of radon mitigation in liquid argon with a large-scale copper-based filter and could offer a radon mitigation solution for future large LArTPCs.
Abstract This paper reports on a measurement of electron-ion recombination in liquid argon in the ICARUS liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC). A clear dependence of recombination on the angle of the ionizing particle track relative to the drift electric field is observed. An ellipsoid modified box (EMB) model of recombination describes the data across all measured angles. These measurements are used for the calorimetric energy scale calibration of the ICARUS TPC, which is also presented. The impact of the EMB model is studied on calorimetric particle identification, as well as muon and proton energy measurements. Accounting for the angular dependence in EMB recombination improves the accuracy and precision of these measurements.
MicroBooNE samples are provided for collaborative development in two different formats: HDF5, targeting the broadest audience, and artroot, targeting users that are familiar with the software infrastructure of Fermilab neutrino experiments and more in general of HEP experiments. The HDF5 files are stored on Zenodo, together with a list of artroot files accessible with xrootd. This sample includes simulated interactions of neutrinos from the Booster Neutrino Beam (BNB), overlaid on top of cosmic ray data. The sample is inclusive, i.e. it includes all types of neutrinos and interactions, with relative abundance matching our nominal flux and cross section models. Interactions are simulated in in the whole cryostat volume. The HDF5 files in this sample do not include the information at the wire waveform level ("NoWire" label), allowing for larger number of events to be included in the data set. More documentation, including detailed description of content, recipes, and example usage, at https://github.com/uboone/OpenSamples. Suggested text for acknowledgment is the following: We acknowledge the MicroBooNE Collaboration for making publicly available the data sets [data set DOIs] employed in this work. These data sets consist of simulated neutrino interactions from the Booster Neutrino Beamline overlaid on top of cosmic data collected with the MicroBooNE detector [2017 JINST 12 P02017]. In addition, we request that software products resulting from the usage of the datasets are also made publicly available.
MicroBooNE is a neutrino experiment located in the Booster Neutrino Beamline (BNB) at Fermilab, which collected data from 2015 to 2021. MicroBooNE's liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) is accompanied by a photon detection system consisting of 32 photomultiplier tubes used to measure the argon scintillation light and determine the timing of neutrino interactions. Analysis techniques combining light signals and reconstructed tracks are applied to achieve a neutrino interaction time resolution of $\mathcal{O}(1\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{ns})$. The result obtained allows MicroBooNE to access the nanosecond beam structure of the BNB for the first time. The timing resolution achieved will enable significant enhancement of cosmic background rejection for all neutrino analyses. Furthermore, the ns timing resolution opens new avenues to search for long-lived-particles such as heavy neutral leptons in MicroBooNE, as well as in future large LArTPC experiments, namely the SBN program and DUNE.
Abstract We measure a large set of observables in inclusive charged current muon neutrino scattering on argon with the MicroBooNE liquid argon time projection chamber operating at Fermilab. We evaluate three neutrino interaction models based on the widely used GENIE event generator using these observables. The measurement uses a data set consisting of neutrino interactions with a final state muon candidate fully contained within the MicroBooNE detector. These data were collected in 2016 with the Fermilab Booster Neutrino Beam, which has an average neutrino energy of $$800~\hbox {MeV}$$ 800MeV , using an exposure corresponding to $$ 5.0\times 10^{19}$$ 5.0×1019 protons-on-target. The analysis employs fully automatic event selection and charged particle track reconstruction and uses a data-driven technique to separate neutrino interactions from cosmic ray background events. We find that GENIE models consistently describe the shapes of a large number of kinematic distributions for fixed observed multiplicity.
We present the first measurement of the cross section of Cabibbo-suppressed Λ baryon production, using data collected with the MicroBooNE detector when exposed to the neutrinos from the main injector beam at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. The data analyzed correspond to 2.2×10^{20} protons on target running in neutrino mode, and 4.9×10^{20} protons on target running in anti-neutrino mode. An automated selection is combined with hand scanning, with the former identifying five candidate Λ production events when the signal was unblinded, consistent with the GENIE prediction of 5.3±1.1 events. Several scanners were employed, selecting between three and five events, compared with a prediction from a blinded Monte Carlo simulation study of 3.7±1.0 events. Restricting the phase space to only include Λ baryons that decay above MicroBooNE's detection thresholds, we obtain a flux averaged cross section of 2.0_{-1.7}^{+2.2}×10^{-40} cm^{2}/Ar, where statistical and systematic uncertainties are combined.
MicroBooNE samples are provided for collaborative development in two different formats: HDF5, targeting the broadest audience, and artroot, targeting users that are familiar with the software infrastructure of Fermilab neutrino experiments and more in general of HEP experiments. The HDF5 files are stored on Zenodo, together with a list of artroot files accessible with xrootd. This sample includes simulated interactions of neutrinos from the Booster Neutrino Beam (BNB), overlaid on top of cosmic ray data. The sample is inclusive, i.e. it includes all types of neutrinos and interactions, with relative abundance matching our nominal flux and cross section models. Interactions are simulated in in the whole cryostat volume. The HDF5 files in this sample include the information at the wire waveform level (after deconvolution and finding of regions of interest). As this information significantly increases the file size, this sample contains about 17% of the events of the corresponding sample without wire information. More documentation, including detailed description of content, recipes, and example usage, at https://github.com/uboone/OpenSamples. Suggested text for acknowledgment is the following: We acknowledge the MicroBooNE Collaboration for making publicly available the data sets [data set DOIs] employed in this work. These data sets consist of simulated neutrino interactions from the Booster Neutrino Beamline overlaid on top of cosmic data collected with the MicroBooNE detector [2017 JINST 12 P02017]. In addition, we request that software products resulting from the usage of the datasets are also made publicly available.
Abstract Primary challenges for current and future precision neutrino experiments using liquid argon time projection chambers (LArTPCs) include understanding detector effects and quantifying the associated systematic uncertainties. This paper presents a novel technique for assessing and propagating LArTPC detector-related systematic uncertainties. The technique makes modifications to simulation waveforms based on a parameterization of observed differences in ionization signals from the TPC between data and simulation, while remaining insensitive to the details of the detector model. The modifications are then used to quantify the systematic differences in low- and high-level reconstructed quantities. This approach could be applied to future LArTPC detectors, such as those used in SBN and DUNE.