Identification of low-energy kaons in the ProtoDUNE-SP detector
Physical Review D American Physical Society (APS) 113:5 (2026) 052004
Authors:
S Abbaslu, F Abd Alrahman, A Abed Abud, R Acciarri, LP Accorsi, MA Acero, MR Adames, G Adamov, M Adamowski, C Adriano, F Akbar, F Alemanno, NS Alex, K Allison, M Alrashed, A Alton, R Alvarez, T Alves, A Aman, H Amar, P Amedo, J Anderson, DA Andrade, C Andreopoulos, M Andreotti, MP Andrews, F Andrianala, S Andringa, F Anjarazafy, S Ansarifard, D Antic, M Antoniassi, A Aranda-Fernandez, T Araya-Santander, L Arellano, E Arrieta Diaz, MA Arroyave, M Artero Pons, J Asaadi, M Ascencio, A Ashkenazi, D Asner, L Asquith, E Atkin, D Auguste, A Aurisano, V Aushev, D Autiero, D Ăvila GĂłmez, MB Azam, F Azfar, A Back, JJ Back, Y Bae, I Bagaturia, L Bagby, D Baigarashev, S Balasubramanian, A Balboni, P Baldi, W Baldini, J Baldonedo, B Baller, B Bambah, F Barao, D Barbu, G Barenboim, P Barham AlzĂĄs, GJ Barker, W Barkhouse, G Barr, A Barros, N Barros, D Barrow, JL Barrow, A Basharina-Freshville, A Bashyal, V Basque, M Bassani, D Basu, C Batchelor, L Bathe-Peters, JBR Battat, F Battisti, J Bautista, F Bay, JLL Bazo Alba, JF Beacom, E Bechetoille, B Behera, E Belchior, B Bell, G Bell, L Bellantoni, G Bellettini, V Bellini, O Beltramello, A Belyaev, C Benitez Montiel, D Benjamin, F Bento Neves, J Berger, S Berkman, J Bermudez, J Bernal, P Bernardini, A Bersani, E Bertholet, E Bertolini, S Bertolucci, M Betancourt, A Betancur RodrĂguez, Y Bezawada, AT Bezerra, A Bhat, V Bhatnagar, M Bhattacharjee, S Bhattacharjee, M Bhattacharya, S Bhuller, B Bhuyan, S Biagi, J Bian, K Biery, B Bilki, M Bishai, P Bishop, A Blake, FD Blaszczyk, GC Blazey, E Blucher, A Bodek, B Bogart, J Boissevain, S Bolognesi, T Bolton, L Bomben, M Bonesini, C Bonilla-Diaz, A Booth, F Boran, C Borden, R Borges Merlo, N Bostan, G Botogoske, B Bottino, R Bouet, J Boza, J Bracinik, B Brahma, D Brailsford, F Bramati, A Branca, A Brandt, J Bremer, SJ Brice, V Brio, C Brizzolari, C Bromberg, J Brooke, A Bross, G Brunetti, MB Brunetti, N Buchanan, H Budd, J Buergi, A Bundock, D Burgardt, S Butchart, G Caceres V., R Calabrese, R Calabrese, J Calcutt, L Calivers, E Calvo, A Caminata, AF Camino, W Campanelli, A Campani, A Campos Benitez, N Canci, J CapĂł, I Caracas, D Caratelli, D Carber, JM Carceller, G Carini, B Carlus, MF Carneiro, P Carniti, I Caro Terrazas, H Carranza, N Carrara, L Carroll, T Carroll, A Carter, E Casarejos, D Casazza, JF Castaño Forero, FA Castaño, C Castromonte, E Catano-Mur, C Cattadori, F Cavalier, F Cavanna, EF Ceceña-Avendaño, S Centro, G Cerati, C Cerna, A Cervelli, A Cervera Villanueva, J Chakrani, M Chalifour, A Chappell, A Chatterjee, B Chauhan, C Chavez Barajas, H Chen, M Chen, WC Chen, Y Chen, Z Chen, D Cherdack, SS Chhibra, C Chi, F Chiapponi, R Chirco, N Chitirasreemadam, K Cho, S Choate, G Choi, D Chokheli, PS Chong, B Chowdhury, D Christian, M Chung, E Church, MF Cicala, M Cicerchia, V Cicero, R Ciolini, P Clarke, G Cline, AG Cocco, JAB Coelho, A Cohen, J Collazo, J Collot, H Combs, JM Conrad, L Conti, T Contreras, M Convery, K Conway, S Copello, P Cova, C Cox, L Cremonesi, JI Crespo-AnadĂłn, M Crisler, E Cristaldo, J Crnkovic, G Crone, R Cross, A Cudd, C Cuesta, Y Cui, F Curciarello, D Cussans, J Dai, O Dalager, W Dallaway, R DâAmico, H da Motta, ZA Dar, R Darby, L Da Silva Peres, Q David, GS Davies, S Davini, J Dawson, R De Aguiar, P Debbins, MP Decowski, A de GouvĂȘa, PC De Holanda, P De Jong, P Del Amo Sanchez, G De Lauretis, A Delbart, M Delgado, A DellâAcqua, G Delle Monache, N Delmonte, P De Lurgio, G De Matteis, JRT de Mello Neto, APA De Mendonca, DM DeMuth, S Dennis, C Densham, P Denton, GW Deptuch, A De Roeck, V De Romeri, JP Detje, J Devine, K Dhanmeher, R Dharmapalan, M Dias, A Diaz, JS DĂaz, F DĂaz, F Di Capua, A Di Domenico, S Di Domizio, S Di Falco, L Di Giulio, P Ding, L Di Noto, E Diociaiuti, G Di Sciascio, V Di Silvestre, C Distefano, R Di Stefano, R Diurba, M Diwan, Z Djurcic, S Dolan, M Dolce, MJ Dolinski, D Domenici, S Dominguez, S Donati, S Doran, D Douglas, TA Doyle, F Drielsma, D Duchesneau, K Duffy, K Dugas, P Dunne, B Dutta, DA Dwyer, AS Dyshkant, S Dytman, M Eads, A Earle, S Edayath, D Edmunds, J Eisch, W Emark, P Englezos, A Ereditato, T Erjavec, CO Escobar, JJ Evans, E Ewart, AC Ezeribe, K Fahey, A Falcone, M Faniâ, D Faragher, C Farnese, Y Farzan, J Felix, Y Feng, M Ferreira da Silva, G Ferry, E Fialova, L Fields, P Filip, A Filkins, F Filthaut, G Fiorillo, M Fiorini, S Fogarty, W Foreman, J Fowler, J Franc, K Francis, D Franco, J Franklin, J Freeman, J Fried, A Friedland, M Fucci, S Fuess, IK Furic, K Furman, AP Furmanski, R Gaba, A Gabrielli, AM Gago, F Galizzi, H Gallagher, M Galli, N Gallice, V Galymov, E Gamberini, T Gamble, R Gandhi, S Ganguly, F Gao, S Gao, D Garcia-Gamez, MĂ GarcĂa-Peris, F Gardim, S Gardiner, A Gartman, A Gauch, P Gauzzi, S Gazzana, G Ge, N Geffroy, B Gelli, S Gent, L Gerlach, A Ghosh, T Giammaria, D Gibin, I Gil-Botella, A Gioiosa, S Giovannella, AK Giri, V Giusti, D Gnani, O Gogota, S Gollapinni, K Gollwitzer, RA Gomes, LS Gomez Fajardo, D Gonzalez-Diaz, J Gonzalez-Santome, MC Goodman, S Goswami, C Gotti, J Goudeau, C Grace, E Gramellini, R Gran, P Granger, C Grant, DR Gratieri, G Grauso, P Green, S Greenberg, WC Griffith, A Gruber, K Grzelak, L Gu, W Gu, V Guarino, M Guarise, R Guenette, M Guerzoni, D Guffanti, A Guglielmi, FY Guo, A Gupta, V Gupta, G Gurung, D Gutierrez, P Guzowski, MM Guzzo, S Gwon, A Habig, L Haegel, R Hafeji, L Hagaman, A Hahn, J HakenmĂŒller, T Hamernik, P Hamilton, J Hancock, M Handley, F Happacher, B Harris, DA Harris, L Harris, AL Hart, J Hartnell, T Hartnett, J Harton, T Hasegawa, CM Hasnip, K Hassinin, R Hatcher, S Hawkins, J Hays, M He, A Heavey, KM Heeger, A Heindel, J Heise, P Hellmuth, L Henderson, J HernĂĄndez, MA Hernandez Morquecho, K Herner, V Hewes, A Higuera, A Himmel, E Hinkle, LR Hirsch, J Ho, J Hoefken Zink, J Hoff, A Holin, T Holvey, C Hong, S Horiuchi, GA Horton-Smith, R Hosokawa, T Houdy, B Howard, R Howell, I Hristova, MS Hronek, H Hua, J Huang, RG Huang, X Huang, Z Hulcher, A Hussain, G Iles, N Ilic, AM Iliescu, R Illingworth, G Ingratta, A Ioannisian, M Ismerio Oliveira, CM Jackson, A Jacobi, V Jain, E James, W Jang, B Jargowsky, D Jena, I Jentz, C Jiang, J Jiang, A Jipa, JH Jo, FR Joaquim, W Johnson, C Jollet, R Jones, M Joshi, N Jovancevic, M Judah, CK Jung, KY Jung, T Junk, Y Jwa, M Kabirnezhad, AC Kaboth, I Kadenko, O Kalikulov, D Kalra, M Kandemir, S Kar, G Karagiorgi, G Karaman, A Karcher, Y Karyotakis, SP Kasetti, L Kashur, A Kauther, N Kazaryan, L Ke, E Kearns, PT Keener, KJ Kelly, R Keloth, E Kemp, O Kemularia, Y Kermaidic, W Ketchum, SH Kettell, N Khan, A Khvedelidze, D Kim, J Kim, MJ Kim, S Kim, B King, M King, M Kirby, A Kish, J Klein, J Kleykamp, A Klustova, T Kobilarcik, L Koch, K Koehler, LW Koerner, DH Koh, M Kordosky, T Kosc, VA KosteleckĂœ, I Kotler, W Krah, R Kralik, M Kramer, F Krennrich, T Kroupova, S Kubota, M Kubu, VA Kudryavtsev, G Kufatty, S Kuhlmann, A Kumar, J Kumar, M Kumar, P Kumar, P Kumar, R Kumar, S Kumaran, J Kunzmann, V Kus, T Kutter, J Kvasnicka, T Labree, M Lachat, T Lackey, I LalÄu, A Lambert, BJ Land, CE Lane, N Lane, K Lang, T Langford, M Langstaff, F Lanni, J Larkin, P Lasorak, D Last, A Laundrie, G Laurenti, E Lavaut, H Lay, I Lazanu, R LaZur, M Lazzaroni, S Leardini, J Learned, T LeCompte, G Lehmann Miotto, R Lehnert, M Leitner, H Lemoine, D Leon Silverio, LM Lepin, J-Y Li, SW Li, Y Li, R Lima, CS Lin, D Lindebaum, S Linden, RA Lineros, A Lister, BR Littlejohn, J Liu, Y Liu, S Lockwitz, I Lomidze, K Long, J Lopez, I LĂłpez de Rego, N LĂłpez-March, JM LoSecco, A Lozano Sanchez, X-G Lu, KB Luk, X Luo, E Luppi, AA Machado, P Machado, CT Macias, JR Macier, M MacMahon, S Magill, C Magueur, K Mahn, A Maio, N Majeed, A Major, K Majumdar, A Malige, S Mameli, M Man, RC Mandujano, J Maneira, S Manly, K Manolopoulos, M Manrique Plata, S Manthey Corchado, L Manzanillas-Velez, E Mao, M Marchan, A Marchionni, D Marfatia, C Mariani, J Maricic, F Marinho, AD Marino, T Markiewicz, F Das Chagas Marques, M Marshak, CM Marshall, J Marshall, L Martina, J MartĂn-Albo, DA Martinez Caicedo, M Martinez-Casales, F MartĂnez LĂłpez, S Martynenko, V Mascagna, A Mastbaum, M Masud, F Matichard, G Matteucci, J Matthews, C Mauger, N Mauri, K Mavrokoridis, I Mawby, F Mayhew, T McAskill, N McConkey, B McConnell, KS McFarland, C McGivern, C McGrew, A McNab, C McNulty, J Mead, L Meazza, VCN Meddage, A Medhi, M Mehmood, B Mehta, P Mehta, F Mei, P Melas, L Mellet, TCD Melo, O Mena, H Mendez, DP MĂ©ndez, A Menegolli, G Meng, ACEA Mercuri, A Meregaglia, MD Messier, S Metallo, W Metcalf, M Mewes, H Meyer, T Miao, J Micallef, A Miccoli, G Michna, R Milincic, F Miller, G Miller, W Miller, A Minotti, L Miralles Verge, C Mironov, S Miscetti, CS Mishra, P Mishra, SR Mishra, D Mladenov, I Mocioiu, A Mogan, R Mohanta, TA Mohayai, N Mokhov, J Molina, L Molina Bueno, E Montagna, A Montanari, C Montanari, D Montanari, D Montanino, LM Montaño Zetina, M Mooney, AF Moor, M Moore, Z Moore, D Moreno, G Moreno-Granados, O Moreno-Palacios, L Morescalchi, C Morris, E Motuk, CA Moura, G Mouster, W Mu, L Mualem, J Mueller, M Muether, F Muheim, A Muir, Y Mukhamejanov, A Mukhamejanova, M Mulhearn, D Munford, LJ Munteanu, H Muramatsu, J Muraz, M Murphy, T Murphy, A Mytilinaki, J Nachtman, Y Nagai, S Nagu, H Nam, D Naples, S Narita, J Nava, A Navrer-Agasson, N Nayak, M Nebot-Guinot, A Nehm, JK Nelson, O Neogi, J Nesbit, M Nessi, D Newbold, M Newcomer, D Newmark, R Nichol, F Nicolas-Arnaldos, A Nielsen, A Nikolica, J Nikolov, E Niner, X Ning, K Nishimura, A Norman, A Norrick, F Noto, P Novella, A Nowak, JA Nowak, M Oberling, JP Ochoa-Ricoux, S Oh, SB Oh, A Olivier, T Olson, Y Onel, Y Onishchuk, A Oranday, M Osbiston, JA Osorio VĂ©lez, L OâSullivan, L Otiniano Ormachea, L Pagani, G Palacio, O Palamara, S Palestini, JM Paley, M Pallavicini, C Palomares, S Pan, M Panareo, P Panda, V Pandey, W Panduro Vazquez, E Pantic, V Paolone, A Papadopoulou, R Papaleo, D Papoulias, S Paramesvaran, J Park, J Park, S Parke, S Parsa, S Parveen, M Parvu, D Pasciuto, S Pascoli, L Pasqualini, J Pasternak, G Patel, JL Paton, C Patrick, L Patrizii, RB Patterson, T Patzak, A Paudel, J Paul, L Paulucci, Z Pavlovic, G Pawloski, D Payne, A Peake, V Pec, E Pedreschi, SJM Peeters, W Pellico, E Pennacchio, A Penzo, OLG Peres, YF Perez Gonzalez, L PĂ©rez-Molina, C Pernas, J Perry, D Pershey, G Pessina, G Petrillo, C Petta, R Petti, M Pfaff, V Pia, GM Piacentino, L Pickering, L Pierini, F Pietropaolo, VL Pimentel, G Pinaroli, S Pincha, J Pinchault, K Pitts, P Plesniak, K Pletcher, K Plows, C Pollack, T Pollmann, F Pompa, X Pons, N Poonthottathil, V Popov, F Poppi, J Porter, LG Porto PaixĂŁo, M Potekhin, M Pozzato, R Pradhan, T Prakash, M Prest, F Psihas, D Pugnere, D Pullia, X Qian, J Queen, JL Raaf, M Rabelhofer, V Radeka, J Rademacker, F Raffaelli, A Rafique, U Rahaman, A Rahe, S Rajagopalan, M Rajaoalisoa, I Rakhno, L Rakotondravohitra, MA Ralaikoto, L Ralte, MA Ramirez Delgado, B Ramson, SS Randriamanampisoa, A Rappoldi, G Raselli, T Rath, P Ratoff, R Ray, H Razafinime, RF Razakamiandra, EM Rea, JS Real, B Rebel, R Rechenmacher, J Reichenbacher, SD Reitzner, E Renner, S Repetto, S Rescia, F Resnati, C Reynolds, M Ribas, S Riboldi, C Riccio, G Riccobene, JS Ricol, M Rigan, A Rikalo, EV RincĂłn, A Ritchie-Yates, D Rivera, A Robert, A Roberts, E Robles, A Roche, M Roda, D Rodas RodrĂguez, MJO Rodrigues, J Rodriguez Rondon, S Rosauro-Alcaraz, P Rosier, D Ross, M Rossella, M Ross-Lonergan, T Rotsy, N Roy, P Roy, P Roy, C Rubbia, D Rudik, A Ruggeri, G Ruiz Ferreira, K Rushiya, B Russell, S Sacerdoti, N Saduyev, S Saha, SK Sahoo, N Sahu, S Sakhiyev, P Sala, G Salmoria, S Samanta, MC Sanchez, A SĂĄnchez-Castillo, P Sanchez-Lucas, DA Sanders, S Sanfilippo, D Santoro, N Saoulidou, P Sapienza, I Sarcevic, I Sarra, G Savage, V Savinov, G Scanavini, A Scanu, A Scaramelli, T Schefke, H Schellman, S Schifano, P Schlabach, D Schmitz, AW Schneider, K Scholberg, A Schroeder, A Schukraft, B Schuld, S Schwartz, A Segade, H Segal, E Segreto, A Selyunin, D Senadheera, CR Senise, J Sensenig, SH Seo, D Seppela, MH Shaevitz, P Shanahan, P Sharma, S Sharma Poudel, K Shaw, T Shaw, K Shchablo, J Shen, C Shepherd-Themistocleous, J Shi, W Shi, S Shin, S Shivakoti, A Shmakov, I Shoemaker, D Shooltz, R Shrock, M Siden, J Silber, L Simard, J Sinclair, G Sinev, Jaydip Singh, J Singh, L Singh, P Singh, V Singh, S Singh Chauhan, R Sipos, C Sironneau, G Sirri, K Siyeon, K Skarpaas, J Smedley, J Smith, P Smith, J Smolik, M Smy, M Snape, EL Snider, P Snopok, M Soares Nunes, H Sobel, M Soderberg, H Sogarwal, CJ Solano Salinas, S Söldner-Rembold, N Solomey, V Solovov, WE Sondheim, M Sorbara, M Sorel, J Soto-Oton, A Sousa, K Soustruznik, D Souza Correia, F Spinella, J Spitz, NJC Spooner, D Stalder, M Stancari, L Stanco, J Steenis, R Stein, HM Steiner, AF Steklain LisbĂŽa, J Stewart, B Stillwell, J Stock, T Stokes, T Strauss, L Strigari, A Stuart, JG Suarez, J Subash, A Surdo, L Suter, A Sutton, K Sutton, Y Suvorov, R Svoboda, SK Swain, C Sweeney, B Szczerbinska, AM Szelc, A Sztuc, A Taffara, N Talukdar, J Tamara, HA Tanaka, S Tang, N Taniuchi, AM Tapia Casanova, A Tapper, S Tariq, E Tatar, R Tayloe, AM Teklu, K Tellez Giron Flores, J Tena Vidal, P Tennessen, M Tenti, K Terao, F Terranova, G Testera, T Thakore, A Thea, S Thomas, A Thompson, C Thorpe, SC Timm, E Tiras, V Tishchenko, S Tiwari, N TodoroviÄ, L Tomassetti, A Tonazzo, D Torbunov, D Torres Muñoz, M Torti, M Tortola, Y Torun, N Tosi, D Totani, M Toups, C Touramanis, V Trabattoni, D Tran, J Trevor, E Triller, S Trilov, D Trotta, J Truchon, D Truncali, WH Trzaska, Y Tsai, Y-T Tsai, Z Tsamalaidze, KV Tsang, N Tsverava, SZ Tu, S Tufanli, C Tunnell, S Turnberg, J Turner, M Tuzi, M Tzanov, MA Uchida, J Ureña GonzĂĄlez, J Urheim, T Usher, H Utaegbulam, S Uzunyan, MR Vagins, P Vahle, GA Valdiviesso, E Valencia, R Valentim, Z Vallari, E Vallazza, JWF Valle, R Van Berg, DV Forero, P Van Gemmeren, A Vannozzi, M Van Nuland-Troost, F Varanini, D Vargas Oliva, N Vaughan, K Vaziri, A VĂĄzquez-Ramos, J Vega, J Vences, S Ventura, A Verdugo, M Verzocchi, K Vetter, M Vicenzi, H Vieira de Souza, C Vignoli, C Vilela, E Villa, S Viola, B Viren, GV Stenico, R Vizarreta, AP Vizcaya Hernandez, S Vlachos, G Vorobyev, Q Vuong, AV Waldron, L Walker, H Wallace, M Wallach, J Walsh, T Walton, L Wan, B Wang, H Wang, J Wang, MHLS Wang, X Wang, Y Wang, D Warner, L Warsame, MO Wascko, D Waters, A Watson, K Wawrowska, A Weber, CM Weber, M Weber, H Wei, A Weinstein, S Westerdale, M Wetstein, K Whalen, AJ White, LH Whitehead, D Whittington, F Wieler, J Wilhelmi, MJ Wilking, A Wilkinson, C Wilkinson, F Wilson, RJ Wilson, P Winter, J Wolcott, J Wolfs, T Wongjirad, A Wood, K Wood, D Wooley, E Worcester, M Worcester, K Wresilo, M Wright, M Wrobel, S Wu, W Wu, Z Wu, M Wurm, J Wyenberg, BM Wynne, Y Xiao, I Xiotidis, B Yaeggy, N Yahlali, E Yandel, G Yang, J Yang, T Yang, A Yankelevich, L Yates, U Yevarouskaya, K Yonehara, T Young, B Yu, H Yu, J Yu, W Yuan, M Zabloudil, R Zaki, J Zalesak, L Zambelli, B Zamorano, A Zani, O Zapata, L Zazueta, GP Zeller, J Zennamo, J Zettlemoyer, K Zeug, C Zhang, S Zhang, Y Zhang, L Zhao, M Zhao, ED Zimmerman, S Zucchelli, A Zummo, V Zutshi, R Zwaska
Abstract:
The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) is a next-generation neutrino experiment with a rich physics program that includes searches for the hypothetical phenomenon of proton decay. Utilizing liquid-argon time-projection chamber technology, DUNE is expected to achieve world-leading sensitivity in the proton decay channels that involve charged kaons in their final states. The first DUNE demonstrator, ProtoDUNE Single-Phase, was a 0.77Â kt detector that operated from 2018 to 2020 at the CERN Neutrino Platform, exposed to a mixed hadron and electron test-beam with momenta ranging from 0.3 to . We present a selection of low-energy kaons among the secondary particles produced in hadronic reactions, using data from the 6 and beam runs. The selection efficiency is 1% and the sample purity 92%. The initial energies of the selected kaon candidates encompass the expected energy range of kaons originating from proton decay events in DUNE (below ). In addition, we demonstrate the capability of this detector technology to discriminate between kaons and other particles such as protons and muons, and provide a comprehensive description of their energy loss in liquid argon, which shows good agreement with the simulation. These results pave the way for future proton decay searches at DUNE.