Pion production within the hybrid relativistic plane wave impulse approximation model at MiniBooNE and MINERvA kinematics

TL;DR

This paper extends a hybrid relativistic model for single-pion production to nuclear targets, applying it to MiniBooNE and MINERvA neutrino experiments, and compares predictions with experimental data and Monte Carlo simulations.

Contribution

It introduces a relativistic plane-wave impulse approximation model for pion production on nuclei, combining a low-energy and Regge approach, and assesses its performance against experimental data.

Findings

Model underestimates MiniBooNE data

Results below MINERvA 1π0 production data

Better agreement for 1π+ and antineutrino 1π0 channels

Abstract

The hybrid model for electroweak single-pion production (SPP) off the nucleon, presented in [Gonz\'alez-Jim\'enez et al., Phys. Rev. D 95, 113007 (2017)], is extended here to the case of incoherent pion-production on the nucleus. Combining a low-energy model with a Regge approach, this model provides valid predictions in the entire energy region of interest for current and future accelerator-based neutrino-oscillation experiments. The Relativistic Mean-Field model is used for the description of the bound nucleons while the outgoing hadrons are considered as plane waves. This approach, known as Relativistic Plane-Wave Impulse Approximation (RPWIA), is a first step towards the development of more sophisticated models, it is also a test of our current understanding of the elementary reaction. We focus on the charged-current $\nu$($\bar\nu$)-nucleus interaction at MiniBooNE and MINERvA kinematics. The effect on the cross sections of the final-state interactions, which affect the outgoing hadrons on their way out of the nucleus, is judged by comparing our results with those from the NuWro Monte Carlo event generator. We find that the hybrid-RPWIA predictions largely underestimate the MiniBooNE data. In the case of MINERvA, our results fall below the $\nu$-induced 1$\pi^0$ production data, while a better agreement is found for $\nu$-induced 1$\pi^+$ and $\bar\nu$-induced 1$\pi^0$ production.