Measurement of electron neutrino CCQE-like cross-section in MINERvA

TL;DR

This paper reports the first experimental measurement of the electron neutrino CCQE-like cross-section at few-GeV energies, providing crucial data for neutrino oscillation experiments and validating theoretical estimates.

Contribution

It presents the first direct measurement of the electron neutrino CCQE-like cross-section in the relevant energy range, filling a key gap in experimental neutrino physics.

Findings

First measurement of electron neutrino CCQE-like cross-section

Provides differential cross-sections vs. electron energy, angle, and Q^2

Offers total cross-section as a function of neutrino energy

Abstract

The electron-neutrino charged-current quasi-elastic (CCQE) cross-section on nuclei is an important input parameter to appearance-type neutrino oscillation experiments. Current experiments typically work from the muon neutrino cross-section and apply corrections from theoretical arguments to obtain a prediction for the electron neutrino cross-section, but to date there has been no experimental verification of the estimates for this channel at an energy scale appropriate to such experiments. We present a preliminary result from the MINERvA experiment on the first measurement of an exclusive reaction in few-GeV electron neutrino interactions, namely, the cross-section for a CCQE-like process. The result is given both as differential cross-sections vs. the electron energy, electron angle, and $Q^{2}$, as well as a total cross-section vs. neutrino energy.