Simultaneous Measurement of νμ Quasielasticlike Cross Sections on CH, C, H2 O, Fe, and Pb as a Function of Muon Kinematics at MINERvA

Kleykamp J.; Akhter S.; Ahmad Dar Z.; Ansari V.; Ascencio M.V.; Sajjad Athar M.; Bashyal A.; Bercellie A.; Betancourt M.; Bodek A.; Bonilla J.L.; Bravar A.; Budd H.; Caceres G.; Cai T.; Carneiro M.F.; Díaz G.A.; Da Motta H.; Dytman S.A.; Felix J.; Fields L.; Filkins A.; Fine R.; Gago A.M.; Gallagher H.; Gilligan S.M.; Gran R.; Granados E.; Harris D.A.; Henry S.; Jena D.; Jena S.; Klustová A.; Kordosky M.; Last D.; Lozano A.; Lu X.-G.; Maher E.; Manly S.; Mann W.A.; Mauger C.; McFarland K.S.; Messerly B.; Miller J.; Moreno O.; Morfín J.G.; Naples D.; Nelson J.K.; Nguyen C.; Olivier A.; Paolone V.; Perdue G.N.; Plows K.-J.; Ramírez M.A.; Ransome R.D.; Ray H.; Ruterbories D.; Schellman H.; Solano Salinas C.J.; Su H.; Sultana M.; Syrotenko V.S.; Valencia E.; Vaughan N.H.; Waldron A.V.; Wret C.; Yaeggy B.; Zazueta L. · Physical Review Letters (2023) · DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.130.161801

Resumen

This Letter presents the first simultaneous measurement of the quasielasticlike neutrino-nucleus cross sections on C, water, Fe, Pb, and scintillator (hydrocarbon or CH) as a function of longitudinal and transverse muon momentum. The ratio of cross sections per nucleon between Pb and CH is always above unity and has a characteristic shape as a function of transverse muon momentum that evolves slowly as a function of longitudinal muon momentum. The ratio is constant versus longitudinal momentum within uncertainties above a longitudinal momentum of 4.5 GeV/c. The cross section ratios to CH for C, water, and Fe remain roughly constant with increasing longitudinal momentum, and the ratios between water or C to CH do not have any significant deviation from unity. Both the overall cross section level and the shape for Pb and Fe as a function of transverse muon momentum are not reproduced by current neutrino event generators. These measurements provide a direct test of nuclear effects in quasielasticlike interactions, which are major contributors to long-baseline neutrino oscillation data samples.

Instituciones: Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú; Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería