The Booster Neutrino Experiment (MiniBooNE) searches for ν µ → ν e oscillations using the O(1 GeV) neutrino beam produced by the Booster synchrotron at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL). The Booster delivers protons with 8 GeV kinetic energy (8.89 GeV/c momentum) to a beryllium target, producing neutrinos from the decay of secondary particles in the beam line. We describe the Monte Carlo simulation methods used to estimate the flux of neutrinos from the beamline incident on the MiniBooNE detector for both polarities of the focusing horn. The simulation uses the Geant4 framework for propagating particles, accounting for electromagnetic processes and hadronic interactions in the beamline materials, as well as the decay of particles.The absolute double differential cross sections of pion and kaon production in the simulation have been tuned to match external measurements, as have the hadronic cross sections for nucleons and pions. The statistical precision of the flux predictions is enhanced through reweighting and resampling techniques. Systematic errors in the flux estimation have been determined by varying parameters within their uncertainties, accounting for correlations where appropriate.

A high-statistics sample of charged-current muon neutrino scattering events collected with the MiniBooNE experiment is analyzed to extract the first measurement of the double differential cross section ( d 2 σ dTµd cos θµ ) for charged-current quasielastic (CCQE) scattering on carbon. This result features minimal model dependence and provides the most complete information on this process to date. With the assumption of CCQE scattering, the absolute cross section as a function of neutrino energy (σ[Eν]) and the single differential cross section ( dσ dQ 2 ) are extracted to facilitate comparison with previous measurements. These quantities may be used to characterize an effective axial-vector form factor of the nucleon and to improve the modeling of low-energy neutrino interactions on nuclear targets. The results are relevant for experiments searching for neutrino oscillations.

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corresponding to 98% live time for collection. We set a limit on the core-collapse supernova rate out to a distance of 13.4 kpc to be less than 0.69 supernovae per year at 90% C.L.

Determination of the neutrino mass hierarchy in a reactor neutrino experiment at the medium baseline is discussed. Observation of the interference effects between the Ám 2 31 and Ám 2 32 oscillations enables a relative measurement independent of the knowledge of the absolute mass-squared difference. With a 20 kton liquid scintillator detector of the 3%= ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi E ðMeVÞ p energy resolution, the Daya Bay II experiment at a baseline of $50 km from reactors of total thermal power 36 GW can determine the mass hierarchy at a confidence level of Á 2 MH $ ð10 Ä 12Þ (3 Ä 3:5) in six years after taking into account the real spatial distribution of reactor cores. We show that the unknown residual energy nonlinearity of the liquid scintillator detector has limited impact on the sensitivity due to the self-calibration of small oscillation peaks. Furthermore, an extra increase of Á 2 MH ' 4ð9Þ can be obtained, by including the precise measurement of the effective mass-squared difference Ám 2 of expected relative error 1.5% (1%) from ongoing long-baseline muon neutrino disappearance experiments. The sensitivities from the interference and from absolute measurements can be cross-checked. When combining these two, the mass hierarchy can be determined at a confidence level of Á 2 MH $ ð15 Ä 20Þ (4) in six years.