Accelerating NOvA's Feldman-Cousins procedure using high performance computing platforms

In order to assess the compatibility between models containing physically constrained parameters and small-signal data, uncertainties often must be calculated by Monte Carlo simulation to account for non-normally distributed errors. This is the case for neutrino oscillation experiments, where neutrino-matter weak interactions are rare and beam intensity at the far site is low. The NuMI Off-axis νe Appearance (NOvA) collaboration attempts to measure the parameters governing neutrino oscillations within the PMNS oscillation model by comparing model predictions to a small data set of neutrino interactions. To account for non-normality, NOvA uses the computationally intensive Feldman-Cousins (FC) procedure, which involves fitting thousands of independent pseudoexperiments to generate empirical distribution functions that are used to calculate the significance of observations. I, along with collaborators on NOvA and Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing: High Energy Physics Data Analytics (SciDAC-4) collaborations, have implemented the FC procedure utilizing the High Performance Computing (HPC) facilities at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC). With this implementation, we have successfully processed NOvA's complete FC corrections for our recent neutrino + antineutrino appearance analysis in 36 hours: a speedup factor of 50 as compared to the methods used in previous analyses.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science (M.S.)

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Physics

Grantor dc:publisher

Colorado State University. Libraries

Year dc:date.issued

2019

Authors dc:creator

• Doyle, Derek, author
• Buchanan, Norm, advisor
• Harton, John, committee member
• Pouchet, Louis-Noël, committee member

• HPC
• NOvA
• Feldman-Cousins
• small signal
• neutrino oscillations

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright.

Language dc:language.iso

eng, English

Identifier URI

https://doi.org/10.25675/3.018986

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:mountainscholar.org:10217/195356