Pion Production In {\nu} {\mu} Charged Current Interactions On {^{40}}ar In Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment

TL;DR

This study compares pion production in muon neutrino charged current interactions on argon using two Monte Carlo generators, highlighting differences in how they model final-state interactions and pion absorption.

Contribution

The paper provides a detailed simulation comparison of pion production on argon in DUNE, using GENIE and NuWro generators, emphasizing their differing responses to FSI processes.

Findings

NuWro shows higher pion absorption rates than GENIE.

Differences in FSI modeling significantly affect pion yield predictions.

Results aid in refining neutrino interaction models for DUNE.

Abstract

Understanding the pion generation and the consequences of final-state interactions (FSI) are critical for the data processing in all neutrino experiments. The energy utilized in modern neutrino research of the resonance (RES) generation processes contributes significantly to the pion production. If a pion is absorbed in the nuclear matter after its production, the event may become unrecognizable from a quasielastic (QE) scattering process and act as a background. For oscillation experiments, estimating this background is critical, and it necessitates solid theoretical models for both pion generation at the primary vertex and after FSI. The number of pions created after FSI differs greatly from the number produced at the primary vertex due to FSI. Because neutrino detectors can only detect final-state particles, FSI obscures the proper information about particles created at the primary vertex. A detailed study of FSI is required to overcome this problem, which theoretical models incorporated in Monte Carlo (MC) neutrino event generators can provide. They should give theoretical results concerning the neutrino interactions for various researches, acting as a connection among both theoretical models and experimental data. In this paper, we provide simulated events for the pion creation in {\nu} {\mu} charge current (CC) interactions on a 40 Ar target in the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) setup for two distinct MC generators: GENIE and NuWro. In comparison to GENIE (v-3.00.06), NuWro (v-19.02.2) is more opaque (less responsive) to the charge exchange and absorption processes; pions are more likely to be absorbed than produced during the intranuclear transport.