Status and oscillation results of the OPERA experiment

The OPERA experiment, placed 730 km downstream the CERN neutrino beam to Gran Sasso (CNGS) in the LNGS underground laboratory, is designed to measure muon-neutrino to tau-neutrino oscillations in a direct appearance mode. The hybrid apparatus consists of an emulsion/lead target complemented by electronic detectors. Due to the target structure made of thin lead plates, OPERA is able to detect electromagnetic showers, allowing searches for tau electronic decays and for oscillations from muon-neutrino to electron-neutrino. The experimental set-up and associated facilities used to extract data recorded in the emulsion will be described, with the special procedures aimed at locating interaction vertices and detect short decay topologies. OPERA is taking data since 2008. A first nu-tau interaction candidate was already published in 2010. New results with increased statistics will be presented. In particular, an overview of the studies related to electrons will be shown. (author)