Item – Theses Canada

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OCLC number
759668252
Link(s) to full text
LAC copy
LAC copy
Author
Simard, Olivier,1979-
Title
Measurement of the survival probability and determination of the three-flavor neutrino oscillation parameters at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory.
Degree
Ph. D. -- Carleton University, 2009
Publisher
Ottawa : Library and Archives Canada = Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, [2010]
Description
3 microfiches
Notes
Includes bibliographical references.
Abstract
<?Pub Inc> The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) has the ability to measure the total and electronic components of the solar neutrino flux, simultaneously, employing independent and complementary techniques. This thesis first introduces the physics of solar neutrinos as well as the mechanism of neutrino oscillation via mixing in the leptonic sector, and possible extensions to the standard model of particle physics. Then the SNO detector is described with a detailed summary of the optical calibration methods. In particular, the extraction of the relative efficiencies of SNO's photomultiplier tubes is relevant towards improvements of the last phase of the SNO experiment, and in the new low energy threshold analysis of the SNO data. The optical calibration in the last phase of the SNO experiment has shown that the detector optics had not been altered compared to previous phases, despite the major changes introduced by the insertion of an array of proportional counters to detect neutrons in SNO. The low energy threshold analysis, that is built on numerous improvements of calibration, simulation, and analysis methods, is then introduced. It leads to the extraction of solar neutrino fluxes, but more importantly, to the measurement of the survival probability and the determination of the oscillation parameters relevant to solar neutrinos. The interpretation of the flux and spectrum results into survival probabilities are obtained from the combined low energy threshold analysis of the data of the pure heavy water and salt phases of the experiment. Especially relevant to our understanding of the neutrinos and the Sun, the survival probability is extracted with two independent parameterizations as a function of neutrino energy. Finally, a novel three-flavor analysis of matter-enhanced oscillation is performed leading to additional information on the neutrino mixing angle [theta]13 that has never been directly investigated with solar neutrino data.
ISBN
9780494601228
0494601221