J. Devan

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.

The MINERνA data acquisition system and infrastructure

Abstract MINER ν A (Main INjector ExpeRiment ν - A ) is a new few-GeV neutrino cross-section experiment that began taking data in the FNAL NuMI (Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory Neutrinos at the Main Injector) beam-line in March of 2010. MINER ν A employs a fine-grained scintillator detector capable of complete kinematic characterization of neutrino interactions. This paper describes the MINER ν A data acquisition system (DAQ) including the readout electronics, software, and computing architecture.

Single neutral pion production by charged-current

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

\bar{\nu}_\mu

\bar{\nu}_e

interactions on hydrocarbon at

appearance oscillation experiments. The differential cross sections for

\langle E_\nu \rangle =

\pi^0

3.6 GeV

momentum and production angle, for events with a single observed

Measurement of the antineutrino to neutrino charged-current interaction cross section ratio in MINERvA

\pi^0