Study of scintillation, fluorescence and scattering in mineral oil for the MiniBooNE neutrino detector

The MiniBooNE neutrino detector at Fermilab (FNAL) is filled with 250,000 gallons of pure mineral oil. The principal signal for MiniBooNE is light observed in a prompt Cherenkov cone. Scattering and fluorescence modify our detection of this light. Scintillation is also created by ionization in the oil. Studies of fluorescence of this oil have been carried out over a wide spectrum of excited light and time resolved fluorescence with a narrower range of excitation. Polarized scattering measurements have been carried out at longer wavelengths. Time resolved and spectrally resolved scintillation has been studied with a 200 MeV proton beam at the Indiana University Cyclotron Facility. Results of these studies will be reported.