Charged-current quasielastic scattering of muon antineutrino and neutrino in the MINERvA experiment

TL;DR

This paper compares spectral function calculations to MINERvA's charged-current quasielastic cross sections, highlighting the importance of final-state interactions in accurately modeling (anti)neutrino-nucleus interactions to reduce systematic uncertainties in neutrino oscillation experiments.

Contribution

It demonstrates that including final-state interactions in spectral function models is crucial for matching experimental data in neutrino-nucleus scattering.

Findings

Final-state interactions significantly affect muon kinematics.

Spectral function approach aligns well with MINERvA data when FSI is included.

Reduces systematic uncertainties in neutrino oscillation measurements.

Abstract

One of the largest sources of systematic uncertainties in ongoing neutrino-oscillation measurements is the description of nuclear effects. Its considerable reduction is expected thanks to the dedicated studies of (anti)neutrino-nucleus interactions in the MINERvA experiment. In this article, the calculations within the spectral function approach are compared to the charged-current quasielastic cross sections reported from MINERvA. The obtained results show that the effect of final-state interactions on the (anti)muon kinematics plays pivotal role in reproducing the experimental data.