Exploring nucleon spin structure through neutrino neutral-current interactions in MicroBooNE

TL;DR

This paper discusses measuring the strange quark contribution to proton spin using neutrino interactions in MicroBooNE, focusing on automated proton track reconstruction in a liquid argon detector.

Contribution

It introduces an automated method for reconstructing and classifying proton tracks in LArTPCs, aiding in neutrino-nucleon cross section measurements and spin structure analysis.

Findings

Development of automated proton track reconstruction

Enhanced classification accuracy for proton tracks

Foundation for future $ u$-nucleon interaction studies

Abstract

The net contribution of the strange quark spins to the proton spin, $\Delta s$, can be determined from neutral current elastic neutrino-proton interactions at low momentum transfer combined with data from electron-proton scattering. The probability of neutrino-proton interactions depends in part on the axial form factor, which represents the spin structure of the proton and can be separated into its quark flavor contributions. Low momentum transfer neutrino neutral current interactions can be measured in MicroBooNE, a high-resolution liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) in its first year of running in the Booster Neutrino Beamline at Fermilab. The signal for these interactions in MicroBooNE is a single short proton track. We present our work on the automated reconstruction and classification of proton tracks in LArTPCs, an important step in the determination of neutrino- nucleon cross sections and the measurement of $\Delta s$.