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 for 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" 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.