Evidence for $\nu_\mu \to \nu_\tau$ appearance in the CNGS neutrino beam with the OPERA experiment
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N. Agafonova
- Function : Author
Alexander Aleksandrov
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 795454
- ORCID : 0000-0001-7186-7996
A. Anokhina
- Function : Author
S. Aoki
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 755297
- ORCID : 0000-0001-6727-125X
A. Ariga
- Function : Author
T. Ariga
- Function : Author
T. Asada
- Function : Author
A. Ben Dhahbi
- Function : Author
A. Badertscher
- Function : Author
D. Bender
- Function : Author
A. Bertolin
- Function : Author
C. Bozza
- Function : Author
R. Brugnera
- Function : Author
G. Brunetti
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 759851
- ORCID : 0000-0003-4195-8613
A. Buonaura
- Function : Author
S. Buontempo
- Function : Author
B. Buettner
- Function : Author
M. Chernyavsky
- Function : Author
V. Chiarella
- Function : Author
A. Chukanov
- Function : Author
L. Consiglio
- Function : Author
N. d'Ambrosio
- Function : Author
G. de Lellis
- Function : Author
M. de Serio
- Function : Author
A. Di Crescenzo
- Function : Author
D. Di Ferdinando
- Function : Author
N. Di Marco
- Function : Author
S. Dmitrievski
- Function : Author
M. Dracos
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 741688
- IdHAL : marcos-dracos
- ORCID : 0000-0003-0514-193X
- IdRef : 032370806
S. Dusini
- Function : Author
T. Dzhatdoev
- Function : Author
J. Ebert
- Function : Author
A. Ereditato
- Function : Author
T. Ferber
- Function : Author
G. Ferone
- Function : Author
R. A. Fini
- Function : Author
T. Fukuda
- Function : Author
G. Galati
- Function : Author
A. Garfagnini
- Function : Author
G. Giacomelli
- Function : Author
C. Goellnitz
- Function : Author
J. Goldberg
- Function : Author
Y. Gornushkin
- Function : Author
G. Grella
- Function : Author
F. Grianti
- Function : Author
M. Guler
- Function : Author
C. Gustavino
- Function : Author
C. Hagner
- Function : Author
K. Hakamata
- Function : Author
T. Hara
- Function : Author
T. Hayakawa
- Function : Author
M. Hierholzer
- Function : Author
A. Hollnagel
- Function : Author
B. Hosseini
- Function : Author
H. Ishida
- Function : Author
K. Ishiguro
- Function : Author
M. Ishikawa
- Function : Author
K. Jakovcic
- Function : Author
C. Kamiscioglu
- Function : Author
M. Kamiscioglu
- Function : Author
T. Katsuragawa
- Function : Author
J. Kawada
- Function : Author
H. Kawahara
- Function : Author
J. H. Kim
- Function : Author
S. H. Kim
- Function : Author
M. Kimura
- Function : Author
N. Kitagawa
- Function : Author
B. Klicek
- Function : Author
K. Kodama
- Function : Author
M. Komatsu
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 755309
- ORCID : 0000-0003-4659-8418
U. Kose
- Function : Author
I. Kreslo
- Function : Author
A. Lauria
- Function : Author
J. Lenkeit
- Function : Author
A. Ljubicic
- Function : Author
A. Longhin
- Function : Author
P. Loverre
- Function : Author
A. Malgin
- Function : Author
G. Mandrioli
- Function : Author
T. Matsuo
- Function : Author
V. Matveev
- Function : Author
N. Mauri
- Function : Author
E. Medinaceli
- Function : Author
P. Migliozzi
- Function : Author
S. Mikado
- Function : Author
M. Miyanishi
- Function : Author
E. Miyashita
- Function : Author
P. Monacelli
- Function : Author
M. C. Montesi
- Function : Author
K. Morishima
- Function : Author
M. T. Muciaccia
- Function : Author
N. Naganawa
- Function : Author
T. Naka
- Function : Author
M. Nakamura
- Function : Author
T. Nakano
- Function : Author
Y. Nakatsuka
- Function : Author
K. Niwa
- Function : Author
S. Ogawa
- Function : Author
N. Okateva
- Function : Author
A. Olshevsky
- Function : Author
T. Omura
- Function : Author
K. Ozaki
- Function : Author
A. Paoloni
- Function : Author
B. D. Park
- Function : Author
I. G. Park
- Function : Author
A. Pastore
- Function : Author
L. Patrizii
- Function : Author
C. Pistillo
- Function : Author
D. Podgrudkov
- Function : Author
N. Polukhina
- Function : Author
M. Pozzato
- Function : Author
K. Pretzl
- Function : Author
F. Pupilli
- Function : Author
R. Rescigno
- Function : Author
M. Roda
- Function : Author
H. Rokujo
- Function : Author
T. Roganova
- Function : Author
G. Rosa
- Function : Author
I. Rostovtseva
- Function : Author
A. Rubbia
- Function : Author
O. Ryazhskaya
- Function : Author
O. Sato
- Function : Author
Y. Sato
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 755299
- ORCID : 0000-0002-6857-3783
A. Schembri
- Function : Author
W. Schmidt-Parzefal
- Function : Author
I. Shakiryanova
- Function : Author
T. Shchedrina
- Function : Author
A. Sheshukov
- Function : Author
H. Shibuya
- Function : Author
T. Shiraishi
- Function : Author
G. Shoziyoev
- Function : Author
S. Simone
- Function : Author
M. Sioli
- Function : Author
C. Sirignano
- Function : Author
G. Sirri
- Function : Author
M. Spinetti
- Function : Author
L. Stanco
- Function : Author
N. Starkov
- Function : Author
S. M. Stellacci
- Function : Author
M. Stipcevic
- Function : Author
T. Strauss
- Function : Author
P. Strolin
- Function : Author
K. Suzuki
- Function : Author
S. Takahashi
- Function : Author
M. Tenti
- Function : Author
F. Terranova
- Function : Author
V. Tioukov
- Function : Author
S. Tufanli
- Function : Author
P. Vilain
- Function : Author
M. Vladimirov
- Function : Author
L. Votano
- Function : Author
J. L. Vuilleumier
- Function : Author
G. Wilquet
- Function : Author
B. Wonsak
- Function : Author
C. S. Yoon
- Function : Author
J. Yoshida
- Function : Author
M. Yoshimoto
- Function : Author
Y. Zaitsev
- Function : Author
S. Zemskova
- Function : Author
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.