Measurement of the muon anti-neutrino double-differential cross section for quasi-elastic scattering on hydrocarbon at~$E_\nu \sim 3.5$ GeV

TL;DR

This paper reports detailed measurements of anti-neutrino quasi-elastic scattering on hydrocarbon at around 3.5 GeV, improving previous results with enhanced reconstruction and modeling, and highlighting the importance of nuclear effects.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive double-differential cross section measurement with updated algorithms and models, including multi-nucleon interactions and nuclear effects, advancing the understanding of anti-neutrino interactions.

Findings

Model agreement improves with a tuned nuclear model

Inclusion of multi-nucleon interactions enhances accuracy

Double-differential cross sections offer detailed kinematic insights

Abstract

We present double-differential measurements of anti-neutrino quasi-elastic scattering in the MINERvA detector. This study improves on a previous single differential measurement by using updated reconstruction algorithms and interaction models, and provides a complete description of observed muon kinematics in the form of a double-differential cross section with respect to muon transverse and longitudinal momentum. We include in our signal definition zero-meson final states arising from multi-nucleon interactions and from resonant pion production followed by pion absorption in the primary nucleus. We find that model agreement is considerably improved by a model tuned to MINERvA inclusive neutrino scattering data that incorporates nuclear effects such as weak nuclear screening and two-particle, two-hole enhancements.