Simultaneous Measurement of ν_{μ} Quasielasticlike Cross Sections on CH, C, H_{2}O, Fe, and Pb as a Function of Muon Kinematics at MINERvA

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

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.130.161801

Simultaneous Measurement of ν_{μ} Quasielasticlike Cross Sections on CH, C, H_{2}O, Fe, and Pb as a Function of Muon Kinematics at MINERvA

Phys Rev Lett. 2023 Apr 21;130(16):161801. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.130.161801.

Authors

J Kleykamp¹, S Akhter², Z Ahmad Dar^{2

3}, V Ansari², M V Ascencio⁴, M Sajjad Athar², A Bashyal⁵, A Bercellie¹, M Betancourt⁶, A Bodek¹, J L Bonilla⁷, A Bravar⁸, H Budd¹, G Caceres⁹, T Cai^{1

10}, M F Carneiro^{5

9}, G A Díaz¹, H da Motta⁹, S A Dytman¹¹, J Felix⁷, L Fields¹², A Filkins³, R Fine¹, A M Gago⁴, H Gallagher¹³, S M Gilligan⁵, R Gran¹⁴, E Granados⁷, D A Harris^{6

10}, S Henry¹, D Jena⁶, S Jena¹⁵, A Klustová¹⁶, M Kordosky³, D Last¹⁷, A Lozano⁹, X-G Lu^{18

19}, E Maher²⁰, S Manly¹, W A Mann¹³, C Mauger¹⁷, K S McFarland¹, B Messerly¹¹, J Miller²¹, O Moreno^{3

7}, J G Morfín⁶, D Naples¹¹, J K Nelson³, C Nguyen²², A Olivier¹, V Paolone¹¹, G N Perdue^{1

6}, K-J Plows¹⁹, M A Ramírez^{7

17}, R D Ransome²³, H Ray²², D Ruterbories¹, H Schellman⁵, C J Solano Salinas²⁴, H Su¹¹, M Sultana¹, V S Syrotenko¹³, E Valencia^{3

7}, N H Vaughan⁵, A V Waldron^{16

25}, C Wret¹, B Yaeggy²¹, L Zazueta³; MINERvA Collaboration

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627, USA.
² Department of Physics, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh 202002, India.
³ Department of Physics, William & Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia 23187, USA.
⁴ Sección Física, Departamento de Ciencias, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Apartado 1761, Lima, Perú.
⁵ Department of Physics, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331, USA.
⁶ Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Batavia, Illinois 60510, USA.
⁷ Campus León y Campus Guanajuato, Universidad de Guanajuato, Lascurain de Retana No. 5, Colonia Centro, Guanajuato 36000, Guanajuato, México.
⁸ University of Geneva, 1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland.
⁹ Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas, Rua Dr. Xavier Sigaud 150, Urca, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 22290-180, Brazil.
¹⁰ Department of Physics and Astronomy, York University, Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3, Canada.
¹¹ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, USA.
¹² Department of Physics, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556, USA.
¹³ Physics Department, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, USA.
¹⁴ Department of Physics, University of Minnesota - Duluth, Duluth, Minnesota 55812, USA.
¹⁵ Department of Physical Sciences, IISER Mohali, Knowledge City, SAS Nagar, Mohali 140306, Punjab, India.
¹⁶ The Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, London SW7 2BW, United Kingdom.
¹⁷ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA.
¹⁸ Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, United Kingdom.
¹⁹ Department of Physics, Oxford University, Oxford OX1 3PJ, United Kingdom.
²⁰ Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, 375 Church Street, North Adams, Massachusetts 01247, USA.
²¹ Departamento de Física, Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, Avenida Espańa 1680 Casilla 110-V, Valparaíso, Chile.
²² Department of Physics, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, USA.
²³ Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA.
²⁴ Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería, Apartado 31139 Lima, Perú.
²⁵ G. O. Jones Building, Queen Mary University of London, 327 Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, United Kingdom.

PMID: 37154647
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.130.161801

Abstract

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.