Procedure for short-lived particle detection in the OPERA experiment and its application to charm decays

N. Agafonova; A. Aleksandrov; A. Anokhina; S. Aoki; A. Ariga; T. Ariga; D. Bender; A. Bertolin; C. Bozza; R. Brugnera; A. Buonaura; S. Buontempo; B. Büttner; M. Chernyavsky; A. Chukanov; L. Consiglio; N. D’Ambrosio; G. De Lellis; M. De Serio; P. Del Amo Sanchez; A. Di Crescenzo; D. Di Ferdinando; N. Di Marco; S. Dmitrievski; M. Dracos; D. Duchesneau; S. Dusini; T. Dzhatdoev; J. Ebert; A. Ereditato; R. A. Fini; T. Fukuda; G. Galati; A. Garfagnini; G. Giacomelli; C. Göllnitz; J. Goldberg; Y. Gornushkin; G. Grella; M. Guler; C. Gustavino; C. Hagner; T. Hara; A. Hollnagel; B. Hosseini; H. Ishida; K. Ishiguro; K. Jakovcic; C. Jollet; C. Kamiscioglu; M. Kamiscioglu; J. Kawada; J. H. Kim; S. H. Kim; N. Kitagawa; B. Klicek; K. Kodama; M. Komatsu; U. Kose; I. Kreslo; A. Lauria; J. Lenkeit; A. Ljubicic; A. Longhin; P. Loverre; A. Malgin; M. Malenica; G. Mandrioli; T. Matsuo; V. Matveev; N. Mauri; E. Medinaceli; A. Meregaglia; S. Mikado; P. Monacelli; M. C. Montesi; K. Morishima; M. T. Muciaccia; N. Naganawa; T. Naka; M. Nakamura; T. Nakano; Y. Nakatsuka; K. Niwa; S. Ogawa; N. Okateva; A. Olshevsky; T. Omura; K. Ozaki; A. Paoloni; B. D. Park; I. G. Park; L. Pasqualini; A. Pastore; L. Patrizii; H. Pessard; C. Pistillo; D. Podgrudkov; N. Polukhina; M. Pozzato; F. Pupilli; M. Roda; H. Rokujo; T. Roganova; G. Rosa; O. Ryazhskaya; O. Sato; A. Schembri; I. Shakiryanova; T. Shchedrina; A. Sheshukov; H. Shibuya; T. Shiraishi; G. Shoziyoev; S. Simone; M. Sioli; C. Sirignano; G. Sirri; M. Spinetti; L. Stanco; N. Starkov; S. M. Stellacci; M. Stipcevic; T. Strauss; P. Strolin; S. Takahashi; M. Tenti; F. Terranova; V. Tioukov; S. Tufanli; P. Vilain; M. Vladimirov; L. Votano; J. L. Vuilleumier; G. Wilquet; B. Wonsak; C. S. Yoon; S. Zemskova; A. Zghiche

doi:10.1140/epjc/s10052-014-2986-0

2021 Impact factor 4.991

Particles and Fields

Open Access

Eur. Phys. J. C (2014) 74: 2986
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-014-2986-0

Regular Article - Experimental Physics

Procedure for short-lived particle detection in the OPERA experiment and its application to charm decays

N. Agafonova¹, A. Aleksandrov¹⁰, A. Anokhina², S. Aoki³, A. Ariga⁴, T. Ariga⁴, D. Bender⁵, A. Bertolin⁶, C. Bozza⁷, R. Brugnera⁶^,8, A. Buonaura⁹^,10, S. Buontempo¹⁰, B. Büttner¹¹, M. Chernyavsky¹², A. Chukanov¹³, L. Consiglio¹⁰, N. D’Ambrosio¹⁴, G. De Lellis⁹^,10, M. De Serio¹⁵^,16^*, P. Del Amo Sanchez¹⁷, A. Di Crescenzo¹⁰, D. Di Ferdinando¹⁸, N. Di Marco¹⁴, S. Dmitrievski¹³, M. Dracos¹⁹, D. Duchesneau¹⁷, S. Dusini⁶, T. Dzhatdoev², J. Ebert¹¹, A. Ereditato⁴, R. A. Fini¹⁶, T. Fukuda²⁰, G. Galati⁹^,10, A. Garfagnini⁶^,8, G. Giacomelli¹⁸^,21, C. Göllnitz¹¹, J. Goldberg²², Y. Gornushkin¹³, G. Grella⁷, M. Guler⁵, C. Gustavino²³, C. Hagner¹¹, T. Hara³, A. Hollnagel¹¹, B. Hosseini⁹^,10, H. Ishida²⁰, K. Ishiguro²⁴, K. Jakovcic²⁵, C. Jollet¹⁹, C. Kamiscioglu⁵, M. Kamiscioglu⁵, J. Kawada⁴, J. H. Kim²⁶, S. H. Kim²⁶, N. Kitagawa²⁴, B. Klicek²⁵, K. Kodama²⁷, M. Komatsu²⁴, U. Kose⁶, I. Kreslo⁴, A. Lauria⁹^,10, J. Lenkeit¹¹, A. Ljubicic²⁵, A. Longhin²⁸, P. Loverre²³^,29, A. Malgin¹, M. Malenica²⁵, G. Mandrioli¹⁸, T. Matsuo²⁰, V. Matveev¹, N. Mauri¹⁸^,21, E. Medinaceli⁶^,8, A. Meregaglia¹⁹, S. Mikado³⁰, P. Monacelli²³, M. C. Montesi⁹^,10, K. Morishima²⁴, M. T. Muciaccia¹⁵^,16, N. Naganawa²⁴, T. Naka²⁴, M. Nakamura²⁴, T. Nakano²⁴, Y. Nakatsuka²⁴, K. Niwa²⁴, S. Ogawa²⁰, N. Okateva¹², A. Olshevsky¹³, T. Omura²⁴, K. Ozaki³, A. Paoloni²⁸, B. D. Park²⁶, I. G. Park²⁶, L. Pasqualini¹⁸^,21, A. Pastore¹⁶^**, L. Patrizii¹⁸, H. Pessard¹⁷, C. Pistillo⁴, D. Podgrudkov², N. Polukhina¹², M. Pozzato¹⁸^,21, F. Pupilli¹⁴, M. Roda⁶^,8, H. Rokujo²⁴, T. Roganova², G. Rosa²³^,29, O. Ryazhskaya¹, O. Sato²⁴, A. Schembri¹⁴, I. Shakiryanova¹, T. Shchedrina¹⁰, A. Sheshukov¹³, H. Shibuya²⁰, T. Shiraishi²⁴, G. Shoziyoev², S. Simone¹⁵^,16, M. Sioli¹⁸^,21, C. Sirignano⁶^,8, G. Sirri¹⁸, M. Spinetti²⁸, L. Stanco⁶, N. Starkov¹², S. M. Stellacci⁷, M. Stipcevic²⁵, T. Strauss⁴, P. Strolin⁹^,10, S. Takahashi³, M. Tenti¹⁸, F. Terranova²⁸^,31, V. Tioukov¹⁰, S. Tufanli⁴, P. Vilain³², M. Vladimirov¹², L. Votano²⁸, J. L. Vuilleumier⁴, G. Wilquet³², B. Wonsak¹¹, C. S. Yoon²⁶, S. Zemskova¹³ and A. Zghiche¹⁷

¹ INR-Institute for Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 117312 , Moscow, Russia
² SINP MSU-Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119991 , Moscow, Russia
³ Kobe University, Kobe, 657-8501, Japan
⁴ Albert Einstein Center for Fundamental Physics, Laboratory for High Energy Physics (LHEP), University of Bern, 3012 , Bern, Switzerland
⁵ METU-Middle East Technical University, 06531 , Ankara, Turkey
⁶ INFN Sezione di Padova, 35131 , Padua, Italy
⁷ Dipartimento di Fisica dell’Università di Salerno and “Gruppo Collegato” INFN, 84084 , Fisciano, Salerno, Italy
⁸ Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia dell’Università di Padova, 35131 , Padua, Italy
⁹ Dipartimento di Fisica dell’Università Federico II di Napoli, 80125 , Naples, Italy
¹⁰ INFN Sezione di Napoli, 80125 , Naples, Italy
¹¹ Hamburg University, 22761 , Hamburg, Germany
¹² LPI-Lebedev Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 119991 , Moscow, Russia
¹³ JINR-Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, 141980 , Dubna, Russia
¹⁴ INFN-Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, 67010 , Assergi, L’Aquila, Italy
¹⁵ Dipartimento di Fisica dell’Università di Bari, 70126 , Bari, Italy
¹⁶ INFN Sezione di Bari, 70126 , Bari, Italy
¹⁷ LAPP, Université de Savoie, CNRS/IN2P3, 74941 , Annecy-le-Vieux, France
¹⁸ INFN Sezione di Bologna, 40127 , Bologna, Italy
¹⁹ IPHC, Université de Strasbourg, CNRS/IN2P3, 67037 , Strasbourg, France
²⁰ Toho University, Funabashi, 274-8510, Japan
²¹ Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia dell’Università di Bologna, 40127 , Bologna, Italy
²² Department of Physics, Technion, 32000 , Haifa, Israel
²³ INFN Sezione di Roma, 00185 , Rome, Italy
²⁴ Nagoya University, Nagoya, 464-8602, Japan
²⁵ IRB-Rudjer Boskovic Institute, 10002 , Zagreb, Croatia
²⁶ Gyeongsang National University, 900 Gazwa-dong, Jinju, 660-701, Korea
²⁷ Aichi University of Education, Kariya, Aichi-Ken, 448-8542, Japan
²⁸ INFN-Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati dell’INFN, 00044 , Frascati, Rome, Italy
²⁹ Dipartimento di Fisica dell’Università di Roma “La Sapienza”, 00185 , Rome, Italy
³⁰ Nihon University, Narashino, Chiba, 275-8576, Japan
³¹ Dipartimento di Fisica dell’Università di Milano-Bicocca, 20126 , Milan, Italy
³² IIHE, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 1050 , Brussels, Belgium
³³ Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Korea
³⁴ Samsung Changwon Hospital, SKKU, Changwon, Korea

^* e-mail: Marilisa.Deserio@ba.infn.it
^** e-mail: alessandra.pastore@ba.infn.it

Received: 16 April 2014
Accepted: 15 July 2014
Published online: 7 August 2014

Abstract

The OPERA experiment, designed to perform the first observation of oscillations in appearance mode through the detection of the leptons produced in charged current interactions, has collected data from 2008 to 2012. In the present paper, the procedure developed to detect particle decays, occurring over distances of the order of from the neutrino interaction point, is described in detail and applied to the search for charmed hadrons, showing similar decay topologies as the lepton. In the analysed sample, 50 charm decay candidate events are observed while are expected, proving that the detector performance and the analysis chain applied to neutrino events are well reproduced by the OPERA simulation and thus validating the methods for appearance detection.