Electron Neutrino Background Analysis for the MINOS Near Detector

The MINOS experiment has the potential to observe electron neutrino appearance for a set of oscillation parameters that has not been excluded by the CHOOZ experiment. However, the observation of this hypothetical signal relies on an accurate understanding of the backgrounds. In order to understand these backgrounds, an analysis of the MINOS near detector energy spectrum, which contains no oscillated signal, is utilized. The results of this analysis can then be extrapolated to the far detector to yield the background estimate. The details and results of this near detector analysis are discussed.