- Physical Review Journals
All JournalsPhysics Magazine

Physical Review D

Reuse & Permissions

It is not necessary to obtain permission to reuse this article or its components as it is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI are maintained. Please note that some figures may have been included with permission from other third parties. It is your responsibility to obtain the proper permission from the rights holder directly for these figures.

Export citation

Export citation

Choose format for download:

Download Citation
  • Open Access

Measurement of neutron production in atmospheric neutrino interactions at Super-Kamiokande

S. Han28, K. Abe1,49, S. Abe1,49, Y. Asaoka1,49, C. Bronner1, M. Harada1, Y. Hayato1,49, K. Hiraide1,49, K. Hosokawa1 et al. (Super-Kamiokande Collaboration)

K. Hosokawa1, K. Ieki1,49, M. Ikeda1,49, J. Kameda1,49, Y. Kanemura1, R. Kaneshima1, Y. Kashiwagi1, Y. Kataoka1,49, S. Miki1, S. Mine1,7, M. Miura1,49, S. Moriyama1,49, M. Nakahata1,49, S. Nakayama1,49, Y. Noguchi1, G. Pronost1, K. Sato1, K. Okamoto1, H. Sekiya1,49, H. Shiba1, K. Shimizu1, R. Shinoda1, M. Shiozawa1,49, Y. Sonoda1, Y. Suzuki1, A. Takeda1,49, Y. Takemoto1,49, A. Takenaka1, H. Tanaka1,49, T. Yano1, T. Kajita2,49,23, K. Okumura2,49, R. Nishijima2, T. Tashiro2, T. Tomiya2, X. Wang2, S. Yoshida2, P. Fernandez3, L. Labarga3, N. Ospina3, D. Samudio3, B. Zaldivar3, B. W. Pointon6,53, C. Yanagisawa4,35, E. Kearns5,49, J. L. Raaf5, L. Wan5, T. Wester5, J. Bian7, B. Cortez7, N. J. Griskevich7, M. B. Smy7,49, H. W. Sobel7,49, V. Takhistov7,25, A. Yankelevich7, J. Hill8, M. C. Jang9, S. H. Lee9, D. H. Moon9, R. G. Park9, B. S. Yang9, B. Bodur10, K. Scholberg10,49, C. W. Walter10,49, A. Beauchêne11, O. Drapier11, A. Giampaolo11, A. Ershova11, Th. A. Mueller11, A. D. Santos11, P. Paganini11, C. Quach11, R. Rogly11, T. Nakamura12, J. S. Jang13, L. N. Machado14, F. P. Soler14, J. G. Learned15, K. Choi16, N. Iovine16, S. Cao17, L. H. V. Anthony18, D. Martin18, N. W. Prouse18, M. Scott18, Y. Uchida18, A. A. Sztuc18, V. Berardi19, N. F. Calabria19, M. G. Catanesi19, E. Radicioni19, A. Langella20, G. De Rosa20, G. Collazuol21, M. Feltre21, F. Iacob21, M. Mattiazzi21, L. Ludovici22, M. Gonin23, L. Périssé23, B. Quilain23, C. Fujisawa24, S. Horiuchi24, A. Kawabata24, M. Kobayashi24, Y. M. Liu24, Y. Maekawa24, Y. Nishimura24, R. Okazaki24, R. Akutsu25, M. Friend25, T. Hasegawa25, T. Ishida25, T. Kobayashi25, M. Jakkapu25, T. Matsubara25, T. Nakadaira25, K. Nakamura25,49, Y. Oyama25, A. Portocarrero Yrey25, K. Sakashita25, T. Sekiguchi25, T. Tsukamoto25, N. Bhuiyan26, G. T. Burton26, F. Di Lodovico26, J. Gao26, A. Goldsack26, T. Katori26, J. Migenda26, R. M. Ramsden26, Z. Xie26, S. Zsoldos26,49, T. Sone27, A. T. Suzuki27, Y. Takagi27, Y. Takeuchi27,49, S. Wada27, H. Zhong27, J. Feng28, L. Feng28, J. Hikida28, J. R. Hu28, Z. Hu28, M. Kawaue28, T. Kikawa28, M. Mori28, T. Nakaya28,49, T. V. Ngoc28, R. A. Wendell28,49, K. Yasutome28, S. J. Jenkins29, N. McCauley29, A. Tarrant29, P. Mehta29, M. Fanì30, M. J. Wilking30, Y. Fukuda31, Y. Itow32,33, H. Menjo32, Y. Yoshioka32, K. Ninomiya32, J. Lagoda34, S. M. Lakshmi34, M. Mandal34, P. Mijakowski34, Y. S. Prabhu34, J. Zalipska34, M. Jia35, J. Jiang35, C. K. Jung35, W. Shi35, K. Hamaguchi36, Y. Hino36, H. Ishino36, Y. Koshio36,49, F. Nakanishi36, S. Sakai36, T. Tada36, T. Tano36, T. Ishizuka37, G. Barr38, D. Barrow38, L. Cook38,49, S. Samani38, D. Wark38,44, A. Holin39, F. Nova39, S. Jung40, J. Y. Yang40, J. Yoo40, J. E. P. Fannon41, L. Kneale41, M. Malek41, J. M. McElwee41, T. Peacock41, P. Stowell41, M. D. Thiesse41, L. F. Thompson41, S. T. Wilson41, H. Okazawa42, S. M. Lakshmi43, S. B. Kim45, E. Kwon45, M. W. Lee45, J. W. Seo45, I. Yu45, A. K. Ichikawa46, K. D. Nakamura46, S. Tairafune46, K. Nishijima47, A. Eguchi48, S. Goto48, S. Kodama48, Y. Mizuno48, T. Muro48, K. Nakagiri48, Y. Nakajima48,49, S. Shima48, N. Taniuchi48, E. Watanabe48, M. Yokoyama48,49, P. de Perio49, S. Fujita49, C. Jesús-Valls49, K. Martens49, Ll. Marti49, K. M. Tsui49, M. R. Vagins49,7, J. Xia49, M. Kuze50, S. Izumiyama50, R. Matsumoto50, K. Terada50, R. Asaka51, M. Ishitsuka51, H. Ito51, Y. Ommura51, N. Shigeta51, M. Shinoki51, M. Sugo51, M. Wako51, K. Yamauchi51, T. Yoshida51, Y. Nakano52, F. Cormier28, R. Gaur53, V. Gousy-Leblanc53,*, M. Hartz53, A. Konaka53, X. Li53, B. R. Smithers53, S. Chen54, Y. Wu54, B. D. Xu54, A. Q. Zhang54, B. Zhang54, M. Girgus54, P. Govindaraj54, M. Posiadala-Zezula55, S. B. Boyd56, R. Edwards56, D. Hadley56, M. Nicholson56, M. O’Flaherty56, B. Richards56, A. Ali57,53, B. Jamieson57, S. Amanai58, D. Hamaguchi58, A. Minamino58, Y. Sasaki58, R. Shibayama58, R. Shimamura58, and S. Suzuki58 (Super-Kamiokande Collaboration)

  • 1Kamioka Observatory, Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, University of Tokyo, Kamioka, Gifu 506-1205, Japan
  • 2Research Center for Cosmic Neutrinos, Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8582, Japan
  • 3Department of Theoretical Physics, University Autonoma Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain
  • 4Science Department, Borough of Manhattan Community College / City University of New York, New York, New York, 1007, USA
  • 5Department of Physics, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA
  • 6Department of Physics, British Columbia Institute of Technology, Burnaby, British Columbia V5G 3H2, Canada
  • 7Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California 92697-4575, USA
  • 8Department of Physics, California State University, Dominguez Hills, Carson, California 90747, USA
  • 9Institute for Universe and Elementary Particles, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 61186, Korea
  • 10Department of Physics, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA
  • 11Ecole Polytechnique, IN2P3-CNRS, Laboratoire Leprince-Ringuet, F-91120 Palaiseau, France
  • 12Department of Physics, Gifu University, Gifu, Gifu 501-1193, Japan
  • 13GIST College, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Gwangju 500-712, Korea
  • 14School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland, G12 8QQ, United Kingdom
  • 15Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA
  • 16Center for Underground Physics, Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Daejeon, 34126, Korea
  • 17Institute For Interdisciplinary Research in Science and Education, ICISE, Quy Nhon, 55121, Vietnam
  • 18Department of Physics, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom
  • 19Dipartimento Interuniversitario di Fisica, INFN Sezione di Bari and Università e Politecnico di Bari, I-70125, Bari, Italy
  • 20Dipartimento di Fisica, INFN Sezione di Napoli and Università di Napoli, I-80126, Napoli, Italy
  • 21Dipartimento di Fisica, INFN Sezione di Padova and Università di Padova, I-35131, Padova, Italy
  • 22INFN Sezione di Roma and Università di Roma “La Sapienza,” I-00185, Roma, Italy
  • 23ILANCE, CNRS-University of Tokyo International Research Laboratory, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8582, Japan
  • 24Department of Physics, Keio University, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 223-8522, Japan
  • 25High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK), Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0801, Japan
  • 26Department of Physics, King’s College London, London, WC2R 2LS, United Kingdom
  • 27Department of Physics, Kobe University, Kobe, Hyogo 657-8501, Japan
  • 28Department of Physics, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
  • 29Department of Physics, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7ZE, United Kingdom
  • 30School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA
  • 31Department of Physics, Miyagi University of Education, Sendai, Miyagi 980-0845, Japan
  • 32Institute for Space-Earth Environmental Research, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi 464-8602, Japan
  • 33Kobayashi-Maskawa Institute for the Origin of Particles and the Universe, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi 464-8602, Japan
  • 34National Centre For Nuclear Research, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
  • 35Department of Physics and Astronomy, State University of New York at Stony Brook, New York 11794-3800, USA
  • 36Department of Physics, Okayama University, Okayama, Okayama 700-8530, Japan
  • 37Media Communication Center, Osaka Electro-Communication University, Neyagawa, Osaka, 572-8530, Japan
  • 38Department of Physics, Oxford University, Oxford, OX1 3PU, United Kingdom
  • 39Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell, Oxford, OX11 0QX, United Kingdom
  • 40Department of Physics and Astronomy, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Korea
  • 41Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield, S3 7RH, Sheffield, United Kingdom
  • 42Department of Informatics in Social Welfare, Shizuoka University of Welfare, Yaizu, Shizuoka, 425-8611, Japan
  • 43August Chełkowski Institute of Physics, University of Silesia in Katowice, 75 Pułku Piechoty 1, 41-500 Chorzów, Poland
  • 44STFC, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell Oxford, and Daresbury Laboratory, Warrington, OX11 0QX, United Kingdom
  • 45Department of Physics, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 440-746, Korea
  • 46Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Tohoku University, Sendai, Miyagi, 980-8578, Japan
  • 47Department of Physics, Tokai University, Hiratsuka, Kanagawa 259-1292, Japan
  • 48Department of Physics, University of Tokyo, Bunkyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
  • 49Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (WPI), The University of Tokyo Institutes for Advanced Study, University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8583, Japan
  • 50Department of Physics, Institute of Science Tokyo, Meguro, Tokyo 152-8551, Japan
  • 51Department of Physics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Tokyo University of Science, Noda, Chiba 278-8510, Japan
  • 52Faculty of Science, University of Toyama, Toyama City, Toyama 930-8555, Japan
  • 53TRIUMF, 4004 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T2A3, Canada
  • 54Department of Engineering Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China
  • 55Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, 02-093, Poland
  • 56Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, United Kingdom
  • 57Department of Physics, University of Winnipeg, MB R3J 3L8, Canada
  • 58Department of Physics, Yokohama National University, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 240-8501, Japan

  • *Also at University of Victoria, Department of Physics and Astronomy, PO Box 1700 STN CSC, Victoria, British Columbia V8W 2Y2, Canada.
PDF

Phys. Rev. D 112, 012004 – Published 7 July, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/4d71-d69k

Abstract

We present measurements of total neutron production from atmospheric neutrino interactions in water, analyzed as a function of electron-equivalent visible energy over a range of 30 MeV to 10 GeV. These results are based on 4,270 days of data collected by Super-Kamiokande, including 564 days with 0.011 wt% gadolinium added to enhance neutron detection. Neutron signal selection is based on a neural network trained on simulation, with its performance validated using an Am/Be neutron point source. The measurements are compared to predictions from neutrino event generators combined with various hadron-nucleus interaction models, which include an intranuclear cascade model and a nuclear deexcitation model. We observe significant variations in the predictions depending on the choice of hadron-nucleus interaction model. We discuss key factors that contribute to describing our data, such as in-medium effects in the intranuclear cascade and the accuracy of statistical evaporation modeling.

View figure in article

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Article Text

References (77)

  1. P. Abratenko et al. (MicroBooNE Collaboration), Phys. Rev. D 110, 013006 (2024).
  2. M. Elkins et al. (MINERvA Collaboration), Phys. Rev. D 100, 052002 (2019).
  3. P. Abratenko et al. (MicroBooNE Collaboration), Eur. Phys. J. C 84, 1052 (2024).
  4. A. M. Ankowski, P. Coloma, P. Huber, C. Mariani, and E. Vagnoni, Phys. Rev. D 92, 091301 (2015).
  5. C. L. Cowan, F. Reines, F. B. Harrison, H. W. Kruse, and A. D. McGuire, Science 124, 103 (1956).
  6. T. Wester et al. (Super-Kamiokande Collaboration), Phys. Rev. D 109, 072014 (2024).
  7. A. Takenaka et al. (Super-Kamiokande Collaboration), Phys. Rev. D 102, 112011 (2020).
  8. S. Agostinelli et al. (Geant4 Collaboration), Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res., Sect. A 506, 250 (2003).
  9. J. Allison et al., IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci. 53, 270 (2006).
  10. J. Allison et al., Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res., Sect. A 835, 186 (2016).
  11. J. Cugnon, Nucl. Phys. A387, 191 (1982).
  12. J.-C. David et al., Prog. Nucl. Sci. Technol. 2, 942 (2011).
  13. R. Akutsu, Ph.D. thesis, The University of Tokyo, 2019.
  14. B. Aharmim et al. (SNO Collaboration), Phys. Rev. D 99, 112007 (2019).
  15. A. Olivier et al. (MINERvA Collaboration), Phys. Rev. D 108, 112010 (2023).
  16. S. Abe et al. (KamLAND Collaboration), Phys. Rev. D 107, 072006 (2023).
  17. S. Sakai et al. (Super-Kamiokande Collaboration), Phys. Rev. D 109, L011101 (2024).
  18. S. Fukuda et al. (Super-Kamiokande Collaboration), Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res., Sect. A 501, 418 (2003).
  19. K. Abe et al., Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res., Sect. A 737, 253 (2014).
  20. S. Yamada et al., IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci. 57, 428 (2010).
  21. K. Abe et al. (Super-Kamiokande Collaboration), Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res., Sect. A 1027, 166248 (2022).
  22. K. Abe et al., Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res., Sect. A 1065, 169480 (2024).
  23. M. B. Chadwick et al., Nucl. Data Sheets 112, 2887 (2011).
  24. M. Shiozawa, Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res., Sect. A 433, 240 (1999).
  25. C. Andreopoulos et al., Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res., Sect. A 614, 87 (2010).
  26. C. Andreopoulos et al., arXiv:1510.05494.
  27. J. Tena-Vidal et al. (GENIE Collaboration), Phys. Rev. D 104, 072009 (2021).
  28. M. Honda, T. Kajita, K. Kasahara, and S. Midorikawa, Phys. Rev. D 83, 123001 (2011).
  29. R. L. Workman et al. (Particle Data Group), Prog. Theor. Exp. Phys. 083C01, 729 (2022).
  30. Y. Hayato and L. Pickering, Eur. Phys. J. Special Topics 230, 4469 (2021).
  31. L. L. Salcedo, E. Oset, M. J. Vicente-Vacas, and C. Garcia-Recio, Nucl. Phys. A484, 557 (1988).
  32. E. S. P. Guerra et al., Phys. Rev. D 99, 052007 (2019).
  33. H. W. Bertini, Phys. Rev. 131, 1801 (1963).
  34. P. de Perio, NEUT pion FSI, in AIP Conf. Proc., edited by S. K. Singh, J. G. Morfin, M. Sakuda, and K. D. Purohit (AIP, Melville, NY, 2011).
  35. A. M. Ankowski, O. Benhar, T. Mori, R. Yamaguchi, and M. Sakuda, Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 052505 (2012).
  36. H. Ejiri, Phys. Rev. C 48, 1442 (1993).
  37. C. Zeitnitz and T. A. Gabriel, Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res., Sect. A 349, 106 (1994).
  38. R. Brun, F. Bruyant, M. Maire, A. C. McPherson, and P. Zanarini, geant3, CERN Technical Report No. CERN-DD-EE-84-1, 1987).
  39. H. W. Bertini, Phys. Rev. 188, 1711 (1969).
  40. P. F. Rose, ENDF-201: ENDF/B-VI Summary Documentation, BNL Technical Report No. BNL-NCS-17541, 1991.
  41. E. Mendoza and D. Cano-Ott, Update of the evaluated neutron cross section libraries for the Geant4 code, IAEA Technical Report No. INDC(NDS)-0758, 2018.
  42. K. Hagiwara et al., Prog. Theor. Exp. Phys. 2019, 023D01 (2019).
  43. T. Tanaka et al., Prog. Theor. Exp. Phys. 2020, 043D02 (2020).
  44. V. Barger, K. Whisnant, S. Pakvasa, and R. J. N. Phillips, Phys. Rev. D 22, 2718 (1980).
  45. M. Jiang et al. (Super-Kamiokande Collaboration), Prog. Theor. Exp. Phys. 2019, 053F01 (2019).
  46. A. M. Dziewonski and D. L. Anderson, Phys. Earth Planet. Inter. 25, 297 (1981).
  47. K. Abe et al. (Super-Kamiokande Collaboration), J. Instrum. 17, P10029 (2022).
  48. S. Han, Master’s thesis, The University of Tokyo, 2021.
  49. F. Chollet et al., Keras, https://keras.io (2015).
  50. K. He, X. Zhang, S. Ren, and J. Sun, 2015 IEEE International Conference on Computer Vision (ICCV), Santiago, Chile (IEEE, New York, 2015).
  51. D. P. Kingma and J. Ba, arXiv:1412.6980.
  52. H. Ito, K. Wada, T. Yano, Y. Hino, Y. Ommura, M. Harada, A. Minamino, and M. Ishitsuka, Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res., Sect. A 1057, 168701 (2023).
  53. S. Han, Ph.D. thesis, The University of Tokyo, 2024.
  54. Y. Hino et al., Prog. Theor. Exp. Phys. 2025, 013C01 (2024).
  55. B. Pritychenko and S. F. Mughabghab, Nucl. Data Sheets 113, 3120 (2012).
  56. T. J. Hastie and R. J. Tibshirani, Stat. Sci. 1, 297 (1986).
  57. D. Servén, C. Brummitt, and H. Abedi, dswah/pyGAM: v0.8.0 (2018).
  58. D. Wright and M. Kelsey, Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res., Sect. A 804, 175 (2015).
  59. D. Mancusi, A. Boudard, J. Cugnon, J.-C. David, P. Kaitaniemi, and S. Leray, Phys. Rev. C 90, 054602 (2014).
  60. A. Kelic, M. V. Ricciardi, and K.-H. Schmidt, arXiv:0906.4193.
  61. J. Quesada Molina, V. Ivanchenko, A. Ivanchenko, M. Cortés-Giraldo, G. Folger, A. Howard, and D. Wright, Prog. Nucl. Sci. Technol. 2, 936 (2011).
  62. V. M. Grichine, Eur. Phys. J. C 62, 399 (2009).
  63. V. Weisskopf, Phys. Rev. 52, 295 (1937).
  64. I. Dostrovsky, Z. Fraenkel, and G. Friedlander, Phys. Rev. 116, 683 (1959).
  65. A. Chatterjee, K. H. N. Murthy, and S. K. Gupta, Pramana 16, 391 (1981).
  66. C. Kalbach, PRECO-2000, Exciton model Preequilibrium code system with direct reactions, NEA Technical Report No. PSR-0226, 2002.
  67. A. Boudard and J. Cugnon, INCL4—The Liège INC Model for high-energy hadron-nucleus reactions: A short description of the INCL4.2 and INCL4.4 versions, IAEA Technical Report, INDC(NDS)-0530, 2008.
  68. A. Boudard, J. Cugnon, J.-C. David, S. Leray, and D. Mancusi, Phys. Rev. C 87, 014606 (2013).
  69. A. Ershova et al., Phys. Rev. D 106, 032009 (2022).
  70. D. Mancusi et al., Eur. Phys. J. A 53, 80 (2017).
  71. T. Aoust and J. Cugnon, Phys. Rev. C 74, 064607 (2006).
  72. S. Dytman, Y. Hayato, R. Raboanary, J. T. Sobczyk, J. Tena-Vidal, and N. Vololoniaina, Phys. Rev. D 104, 053006 (2021).
  73. Y. Ashida et al., Phys. Rev. C 109, 014620 (2024).
  74. T. Tano et al., Prog. Theor. Exp. Phys. 2024, 113D01 (2024).
  75. Y. Hino, Y. Ashida, T. Tano, and Y. Koshio, arXiv:2506.14388.
  76. Super-Kamiokande Collaboration, 10.5281/zenodo.15392411 (2025).
  77. M. Smy, Low energy event reconstruction and selection in Super-Kamiokande-III, in Proceeding of the 30th Int. Cosmic Ray Conf., edited by R. Caballero, J. C. D’Olivo, G. Medina-Tanco, L. Nellen, F. A. Sánchez, and J. F. Valdés-Galicia (UNAM, Mexico City, Mexico, 2008).

Outline

Information

Phys. Rev. D 112, 012004– Published 7 July, 2025
  • Received 15 May 2025
  • Accepted 23 June 2025
Crossmark - Check for updates button
Creative Commons Logo

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI. Funded by SCOAP3.

Published by the American Physical Society

Sign In to Your Journals Account

Filter

Filter

Article Lookup

Enter a citation