Simultaneous measurement of muon neutrino quasielastic-like cross sections on CH, C, water, Fe, and Pb as a function of muon kinematics at MINERvA

TL;DR

This study provides the first simultaneous measurements of neutrino quasielastic-like cross sections on multiple nuclei, revealing discrepancies with current models and offering insights into nuclear effects relevant for neutrino oscillation experiments.

Contribution

It presents the first simultaneous measurement of quasielastic-like neutrino cross sections on C, water, Fe, Pb, and CH as functions of muon kinematics, highlighting model discrepancies.

Findings

Pb/CH ratio above unity with shape dependence on muon transverse momentum

Cross section ratios for C, water, Fe to CH are roughly constant with muon momentum

Current neutrino event generators do not reproduce the observed cross section levels and shapes

Abstract

This paper presents the first simultaneous measurement of the quasielastic-like neutrino-nucleus cross sections on C, water, Fe, Pb and scintillator (hydrocarbon or CH) as a function of longitudinal and transverse muon momentum. The ratio of cross sections per nucleon between Pb and CH is always above unity and has a characteristic shape as a function of transverse muon momentum that evolves slowly as a function of longitudinal muon momentum. The ratio is constant versus longitudinal momentum within uncertainties above a longitudinal momentum of 4.5GeV/c. The cross section ratios to CH for C, water, and Fe remain roughly constant with increasing longitudinal momentum, and the ratios between water or C to CH do not have any significant deviation from unity. Both the overall cross section level and the shape for Pb and Fe as a function of transverse muon momentum are not reproduced by current neutrino event generators. These measurements provide a direct test of nuclear effects in quasielastic-like interactions, which are major contributors to long-baseline neutrino oscillation data samples.