Revisiting the 'LSND anomaly' II: critique of the data analysis

This paper, together with a preceding paper, questions the so-called "LSND anomaly": a 3.8 sigma excess of (nu) over bar (e) interactions over standard backgrounds, observed by the LSND Collaboration in a beam dump experiment with 800 MeV protons. That excess has been interpreted as evidence for the (nu) over bar (mu) -> (nu) over bar (e) oscillation in the Delta m(2) range from 0.2 eV(2) to 2 eV(2). Such a Delta m(2) range is incompatible with the widely accepted model of oscillations between three light neutrino species and would require the existence of at least one light "sterile" neutrino. In a preceding paper, it was concluded that the estimates of standard backgrounds must be significantly increased. In this paper, the LSND Collaboration's estimate of the number of (nu) over bar (e) interactions followed by neutron capture, and of its error, is questioned. The overall conclusion is that the significance of the "LSND anomaly" is not larger than 2.3 sigma