A search for sterile neutrinos in MINOS

MINOS, the Main Injector Neutrino Oscillation Search, is a long baseline neutrino oscillation experiment based at Fermilab National Accelerator Laboratory. The experiment uses a neutrino beam, which is measured 1 km downstream from its origin in the Near detector at Fermilab and then 735 km later in the Far detector at the Soudan mine. By comparing these two measurements, MINOS can attain a very high precision for parameters in the atmospheric sector of neutrino oscillations. In addition to precisely determining [Delta]m[superscript 2,subscript23] and [theta]₂₃ through the disappearance of v[subscript mu], MINOS is able to measure v[subscript mu] [mathematical symbol for implies] v[subscript sterile] by looking for a deficit in the number of neutral current interactions seen in the Far detector. In this thesis, we present the results of a search for sterile neutrinos in MINOS.