Measurement of the Neutrino Mixing Angle θ23 in NOvA

This Letter reports new results on muon neutrino disappearance from NOvA, using a 14 kton detector equivalent exposure of 6.05 x 10(20) protons on target from the NuMI beam at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. The measurement probes the muon-tau symmetry hypothesis that requires maximal theta(23) mixing (theta(23) = pi/4). Assuming the normal mass hierarchy, we find Delta m(32)(2) = (2.67 +/- 0.11) x 10(-3) eV(2) and sin(2) theta(23)at the two statistically degenerate values 0.404(-0.022)(+0.030) and 0.624(-0.030)(+0.022), both at the 68% confidence level. Our data disfavor the maximal mixing scenario with 2.6 sigma significance.