Simultaneous measurement of proton and lepton kinematics in quasielastic-like $\nu_{\mu}$-hydrocarbon interactions from 2 to 20 GeV

TL;DR

This paper presents the first detailed measurement of neutrino quasielastic-like interactions in hydrocarbon, revealing discrepancies with current models and providing insights for improved neutrino energy reconstruction.

Contribution

It introduces the first triple-differential cross section measurement for muon neutrino quasielastic-like reactions in hydrocarbon over a wide energy range.

Findings

Discrepancies with state-of-the-art simulation models.

Insights into nuclear effects affecting neutrino interactions.

Potential improvements for neutrino energy estimation methods.

Abstract

Neutrino charged-current quasielastic-like scattering, a reaction category extensively used in neutrino oscillation measurements, probes nuclear effects that govern neutrino-nucleus interactions. This Letter reports the first measurement of the triple-differential cross section for $\nu_{\mu}$ quasielastic-like reactions using the hydrocarbon medium of the MINERvA detector exposed to a wide-band beam spanning 2 $\leq$ E$_\nu \leq$ 20 GeV. The measurement maps the correlations among transverse and longitudinal muon momenta and summed proton kinetic energies, and compares them to predictions from a state-of-art simulation. Discrepancies are observed that likely reflect shortfalls with modeling of pion and nucleon intranuclear scattering and/or spectator nucleon ejection from struck nuclei. The separate determination of leptonic and hadronic variables can inform experimental approaches to neutrino-energy estimation.