Photomultiplier tube testing for the MiniBooNE experiment

The recent discoveries in the neutrino sector in the Standard Model have opened a new frontier in high-energy physics. Understanding neutrinos and how they interact is crucial to continuing to verify the Standard Model and look beyond Standard Model physics. The MiniBooNE experiment is a ν~_μ → ν~_e oscillation search designed to confirm or rule out the neutrino oscillation signal seen by the LSND experiment at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. The MiniBooNE detector, a sphere filled with mineral oil and lined with 8-in Hamamatsu photomultiplier tubes (PMTs), uses Cerenkov imaging to identify ν_μ and ν_e interactions. The PMTs are the main detector component and must be well understood. They underwent a series of tests to determine their functionality and figures of merit in order to be placed in the detector, as described here.