Measurement of Partonic Nuclear Effects in Deep-Inelastic Neutrino Scattering using MINERvA

TL;DR

This paper presents a detailed measurement of how nuclear effects influence deep-inelastic neutrino scattering across different target materials, revealing nuclear shadowing effects at low x and high energies.

Contribution

It provides the first comprehensive ratios of neutrino-nucleus DIS cross sections for multiple targets, highlighting nuclear shadowing effects in neutrino scattering.

Findings

Good agreement with predictions at medium x and low energies

Observation of depletion in cross sections at low x and high energies

Evidence supporting nuclear shadowing with axial-vector current in neutrino interactions

Abstract

The MINERvA collaboration reports a novel study of neutrino-nucleus charged-current deep inelastic scattering (DIS) using the same neutrino beam incident on targets of polystyrene, graphite, iron, and lead. Results are presented as ratios of C, Fe, and Pb to CH. The ratios of total DIS cross sections as a function of neutrino energy and flux-integrated differential cross sections as a function of the Bjorken scaling variable x are presented in the neutrino-energy range of 5 - 50 GeV. Good agreement is found between the data and predicted ratios, based on charged-lepton nucleus scattering, at medium x and low neutrino energies. However, the data rate appears depleted in the vicinity of the nuclear shadowing region, x < 0.1. This apparent deficit, reflected in the DIS cross-section ratio at high neutrino energy , is consistent with previous MINERvA observations and with the predicted onset of nuclear shadowing with the the axial-vector current in neutrino scattering.