Limits on ${\nu }_{\mu }\left({\overline{\nu }}_{\mu }\right)\to {\nu }_{\tau }\left({\overline{\nu }}_{\tau }\right)$ and ${\nu }_{\mu }\left({\overline{\nu }}_{\mu }\right)\to \left({\overline{\nu }}_e\right){\nu }_e$ Oscillations from a Precision Measurement of Neutrino-Nucleon Neutral Current Interactions

We present limits on ${\nu }_{\mu }\left({\overline{\nu }}_{\mu }\right)\to {\nu }_{\tau }\left({\overline{\nu }}_{\tau }\right)$ and ${\nu }_{\mu }\left({\overline{\nu }}_{\mu }\right)\to {\nu }_e\left({\overline{\nu }}_e\right)$ oscillations based on a study of inclusive $\nu N$ interactions performed using the CCFR massive coarse-grained detector in the Fermilab Tevatron Quadrupole Triplet neutrino beam. The sensitivity to oscillations is from the difference in the longitudinal energy deposition pattern of ${\nu }_{\mu }N$ vs ${\nu }_{\tau }N$ or ${\nu }_{e}N$ charged-current interactions. The ${\nu }_{\mu }$ energies ranged from 30 to 500 GeV with a mean of 140 GeV. The minimum and maximum ${\nu }_{\mu }$ flight lengths are 0.9 and 1.4 km, respectively. For ${\nu }_{\mu }\to {\nu }_{\tau }$ oscillations, the lowest 90% confidence upper limit in ${sin}^{2}2\alpha$ of 2.7 × ${10}^{-3\mathrm{}}$ is obtained at $\Delta m^2\sim 50$ e${\mathrm{V}}^2$. This result is the most stringent limit to date for $25<\mathrm{}\Delta m^2<90\mathrm{}$ e${\mathrm{V}}^2$. For ${\nu }_{\mu }\to {\nu }_e$ oscillations, the lowest 90% confidence upper limit in ${sin}^{2}2\alpha$ of 1.9 × ${10}^{-3\mathrm{}}$ is obtained at $\Delta m^2\sim 350$ e${\mathrm{V}}^2$. This result is the most stringent limit to date for $250<\mathrm{}\Delta m^2<450\mathrm{}$ e${\mathrm{V}}^2$, and also excludes at 90% confidence much of the high $\Delta m^2$ region favored by the recent LSND observation.