Search for tau-neutrino interactions in the OPERA hybrid detector

The OPERA detector searches for neutrino oscillation in appearance mode by combining the high spatial resolution of nuclear emulsions and the features of scintillating fibers, RPC’s and drift-tube spectrometers to unambiguously detect CC interactions in the CNGS beam. Nuclear emulsions allow the use of topology analysis to tag decays. Electronic detectors allow detailed kinematical analysis to complement the topological signature and increase the signal to background ratio. The article reviews the performance of each subdetector used alone, then shows how all the subsystems interplay to locate and study each event in the modular target. The analysis of the first candidate found by the OPERA Collaboration is summarized and two examples are shown of how charm production and decay events are distinguished from CC.