The main aim of physics research is to obtain a consistent description of nature leading to a detailed understanding of the phenomena observed in experiments. The field of particle physics focuses on the discovery and understanding of the fundamental particles and the forces by which they interact with each other. Using methods from group theory, the present knowledge can be mathematically described by the so-called ''Standard Model'', which interprets the fundamental particles (quarks and leptons) as quantum-mechanical fields interacting via the electromagnetic, weak and strong force. These interactions are mediated via gauge particles such as the photon (for the electromagnetic force), W{sup {+-}} and Z{sup 0} (for the weak force) and gluons (for the strong force). Gravitation is not yet included in this description as it presently cannot be formulated in a way to be incorporated in the Standard Model. However, the gravitational force is negligibly small on microscopic levels. The validity of this mathematical approach is tested experimentally by accelerating particles such as electrons and protons, as well as their antiparticles, to high energies and observing the reactions as these particles collide using sophisticated detectors. Due to the high energy of the particles involved, these detectors need to be …

This thesis explains the origins of neutrinos and their interactions, and the phenomenon of neutrino oscillations. Experiments for measuring neutrino oscillations are mentioned and the experiment investigated in this thesis, the ''Main Injector Neutrino Oscillation Search'', and its neutrino beam, the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory's ''Neutrinos At The Main Injector'', are described. MINOS is a long baseline (735 km) neutrino oscillation experiment with a near and a far detector, intended to make precision measurements of the atmospheric sector neutrino oscillation parameters. A measurement is made of the ''atmospheric'' neutrino oscillation parameters, {Delta}m{sub 23}{sup 2} and sin {sup 2}(2{theta}{sub 23}), using neutrinos from the NuMI beam. The results of this analysis are compared to measurements at MINOS using neutrinos from the atmosphere and with other experiments. A more detailed method of beam neutrino analysis is discussed, and the extra calibrations needed to perform that analysis properly are described, with special attention paid to two aspects of the calibration, which comprise the bulk of work for this thesis. The light injection calibration system uses LEDs to illuminate the detector readout and provides a normalization of the stability of the detector over time. The hardware and different modi operandi of the system are …

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