# Direct Measurement of Nuclear Dependence of Charged Current Quasielastic-like Neutrino Interactions using MINERvA

## TL;DR

This paper presents the first measurements of how nuclear environment affects charged-current quasielastic-like neutrino interactions on different nuclei, providing data to test and improve interaction models in neutrino physics.

## Contribution

It provides the first differential cross-section measurements versus $Q^2$ for neutrino interactions on carbon, iron, and lead, highlighting nuclear dependence and model implications.

## Key findings

- Quasielastic-like scattering on carbon aligns with predictions.
- Scattering on iron and lead shows trends consistent with intranuclear rescattering models.
- Measurements discriminate between different nuclear interaction models used in neutrino experiments.

## Abstract

Charged-current $\nu_{\mu}$ interactions on carbon, iron, and lead with a final state hadronic system of one or more protons with zero mesons are used to investigate the influence of the nuclear environment on quasielastic-like interactions. The transfered four-momentum squared to the target nucleus, $Q^2$, is reconstructed based on the kinematics of the leading proton, and differential cross sections versus $Q^2$ and the cross-section ratios of iron, lead and carbon to scintillator are measured for the first time in a single experiment. The measurements show a dependence on atomic number. While the quasielastic-like scattering on carbon is compatible with predictions, the trends exhibited by scattering on iron and lead favor a prediction with intranuclear rescattering of hadrons accounted for by a conventional particle cascade treatment. These measurements help discriminate between different models of both initial state nucleons and final state interactions used in the neutrino oscillation experiments.