# Evidence for $\nu_\mu \to \nu_\tau$ appearance in the CNGS neutrino beam with the OPERA experiment

Abstract : The OPERA experiment is designed to search for $\nu_{\mu} \rightarrow \nu_{\tau}$ oscillations in appearance mode i.e. through the direct observation of the $\tau$ lepton in $\nu_{\tau}$ charged current interactions. The experiment has taken data for five years, since 2008, with the CERN Neutrino to Gran Sasso beam. Previously, two $\nu_{\tau}$ candidates with a $\tau$ decaying into hadrons were observed in a sub-sample of data of the 2008-2011 runs. Here we report the observation of a third $\nu_\tau$ candidate in the $\tau^-\to\mu^-$ decay channel coming from the analysis of a sub-sample of the 2012 run. Taking into account the estimated background, the absence of $\nu_{\mu} \rightarrow \nu_{\tau}$ oscillations is excluded at the 3.4 $\sigma$ level.
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Journal articles
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http://hal.in2p3.fr/in2p3-00926650
Contributor : Sylvie Flores <>
Submitted on : Friday, January 10, 2014 - 7:06:01 AM
Last modification on : Tuesday, November 19, 2019 - 2:37:40 AM

### Citation

N. Agafonova, A. Aleksandrov, A. Anokhina, S. Aoki, A. Ariga, et al.. Evidence for $\nu_\mu \to \nu_\tau$ appearance in the CNGS neutrino beam with the OPERA experiment. Physical Review D, American Physical Society, 2014, 89, pp.051102(R). ⟨10.1103/PhysRevD.89.051102⟩. ⟨in2p3-00926650⟩

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