G. A. Díaz

Measurement of coherent production of π(±) in neutrino and antineutrino beams on carbon from Eν of 1.5 to 20 GeV.

Neutrino-induced coherent charged pion production on nuclei νμA→μ(±)π(∓)A is a rare, inelastic interaction in which a small squared four-momentum |t| is transferred to the recoil nucleus, leaving it intact in the reaction. In the scintillator tracker of MINERvA, we remove events with evidence of particles from nuclear breakup and reconstruct |t| from the final-state pion and muon. We select low |t| events to isolate a sample rich in coherent candidates. By selecting low |t| events, we produce a model-independent measurement of the differential cross section for coherent scattering of neutrinos and antineutrinos on carbon. We find poor agreement with the predicted kinematics in neutrino generators used by current oscillation experiments.

Measurement of Ratios of νμ Charged-Current Cross Sections on C, Fe, and Pb to CH at Neutrino Energies 2–20 GeV

We present measurements of ν(μ) charged-current cross section ratios on carbon, iron, and lead relative to a scintillator (CH) using the fine-grained MINERvA detector exposed to the NuMI neutrino beam at Fermilab. The measurements utilize events of energies 2<E(ν)<20 GeV, with ⟨E(ν)⟩ = 8 GeV, which have a reconstructed μ(-) scattering angle less than 17° to extract ratios of inclusive total cross sections as a function of neutrino energy E(ν) and flux-integrated differential cross sections with respect to the Bjorken scaling variable x. These results provide the first high-statistics direct measurements of nuclear effects in neutrino scattering using different targets in the same neutrino beam. Measured cross section ratios exhibit a relative depletion at low x and enhancement at large x. Both become more pronounced as the nucleon number of the target nucleus increases. The data are not reproduced by GENIE, a conventional neutrino-nucleus scattering simulation, or by the alternative models for the nuclear dependence of inelastic scattering that are considered.

Measurement of muon plus proton final states in νμ interactions on hydrocarbon at = 4.2 GeV

A study of charged-current muon neutrino scattering on hydrocarbon in which the final state includes a muon, at least one proton, and no pions is presented. Although this signature has the topology of neutrino quasielastic scattering from neutrons, the event sample contains contributions from quasielastic and inelastic processes where pions are absorbed in the nucleus. The analysis accepts events with muon production angles up to 70° and proton kinetic energies greater than 110 MeV. The cross section, when based completely on hadronic kinematics, is well described by a relativistic Fermi gas nuclear model including the neutrino event generator modeling for inelastic processes and particle transportation through the nucleus. This is in contrast to the quasielastic cross section based on muon kinematics, which is best described by an extended model that incorporates multinucleon correlations. As a result, this measurement guides the formulation of a complete description of neutrino-nucleus interactions that encompasses the hadronic as well as the leptonic aspects of this process.

Measurement of the Muon Antineutrino Double-Differential Cross Section for Quasielastic-like Scattering on Hydrocarbon at

We present double-differential measurements of antineutrino charged-current quasielastic scattering in the MINERvA detector. This study improves on a previous single-differential measurement by using updated reconstruction algorithms and interaction models and provides a complete description of observed muon kinematics in the form of a double-differential cross section with respect to muon transverse and longitudinal momentum. We include in our signal definition zero-meson final states arising from multinucleon interactions and from resonant pion production followed by pion absorption in the primary nucleus. We find that model agreement is considerably improved by a model tuned to MINERvA inclusive neutrino scattering data that incorporates nuclear effects such as weak nuclear screening and two-particle, two-hole enhancements.

E_\nu \sim 3.5

Charged-current ν_{μ} interactions on carbon, iron, and lead with a final state hadronic system of one or more protons with zero mesons are used to investigate the influence of the nuclear environment on quasielasticlike interactions. The transferred four-momentum squared to the target nucleus, Q^{2}, is reconstructed based on the kinematics of the leading proton, and differential cross sections versus Q^{2} and the cross-section ratios of iron, lead, and carbon to scintillator are measured for the first time in a single experiment. The measurements show a dependence on the atomic number. While the quasielasticlike scattering on carbon is compatible with predictions, the trends exhibited by scattering on iron and lead favor a prediction with intranuclear rescattering of hadrons accounted for by a conventional particle cascade treatment. These measurements help discriminate between different models of both initial state nucleons and final state interactions used in the neutrino oscillation experiments.

GeV

Single neutral pion production via muon antineutrino charged-current interactions in plastic scintillator (CH) is studied using the \minerva detector exposed to the NuMI low-energy, wideband antineutrino beam at Fermilab. Measurement of this process constrains models of neutral pion production in nuclei, which is important because the neutral-current analog is a background for

Direct Measurement of Nuclear Dependence of Charged Current Quasielasticlike Neutrino Interactions Using MINERvA

\bar{\nu}_e

Single neutral pion production by charged-current

appearance oscillation experiments. The differential cross sections for

\bar{\nu}_\mu

\pi^0

interactions on hydrocarbon at

momentum and production angle, for events with a single observed