Final Results of the OPERA Experiment on ντ Appearance in the CNGS Neutrino Beam

Abstract

The OPERA experiment was designed to study νμ→ντ oscillations in the appearance mode in the CERN to Gran Sasso Neutrino beam (CNGS). In this Letter, we report the final analysis of the full data sample collected between 2008 and 2012, corresponding to 17.97×1019 protons on target. Selection criteria looser than in previous analyses have produced ten ντ candidate events, thus reducing the statistical uncertainty in the measurement of the oscillation parameters and of ντ properties. A multivariate approach for event identification has been applied to the candidate events and the discovery of ντ appearance is confirmed with an improved significance level of 6.1σ. |Δm322| has been measured, in appearance mode, with an accuracy of 20%. The measurement of the ντ charged-current cross section, for the first time with a negligible contamination from ντ, and the first direct evidence for the ντ lepton number are also reported.