Search

Accelerator based neutrino oscillation experiments seek to measure the relative number of electron and muon neutrinos and antineutrinos at different $L/E$ values. However high statistics studies of neutrino interactions are almost exclusively measured using muon neutrinos and antineutrinos since the dominant flavor of neutrinos produced by accelerator based beams are of the muon type. This work reports new measurements of electron neutrino and antineutrino interactions in hydrocarbon, obtained by strongly suppressing backgrounds initiated by muon flavor neutrinos and antineutrinos. Double differential cross sections as a function of visible energy transfer, $E_\text{avail}$, and transverse momentum transfer, $p_T$, or three momentum transfer, $q_3$ are presented., Comment: 25 pages, 32 figures and 7 tables, accepted for publication in Physical Review D. Revised to add content updated in review process

We extend the QCD Parton Model analysis using a factorized nuclear structure model incorporating individual nucleons and pairs of correlated nucleons. Our analysis of high-energy data from lepton Deep-Inelastic Scattering, Drell-Yan and W/Z production simultaneously extracts the universal effective distribution of quarks and gluons inside correlated nucleon pairs, and their nucleus-specific fractions. Such successful extraction of these universal distributions marks a significant advance in our understanding of nuclear structure properties connecting nucleon- and parton-level quantities., Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, 1 table

Neutron production in antineutrino interactions can lead to bias in energy reconstruction in neutrino oscillation experiments, but these interactions have rarely been studied. MINERvA previously studied neutron production at an average antineutrino energy of ~3 GeV in 2016 and found deficiencies in leading models. In this paper, the MINERvA 6 GeV average antineutrino energy data set is shown to have similar disagreements. A measurement of the cross section for an antineutrino to produce two or more neutrons and have low visible energy is presented as an experiment-independent way to explore neutron production modeling. This cross section disagrees with several leading models' predictions. Neutron modeling techniques from nuclear physics are used to quantify neutron detection uncertainties on this result., Comment: 25 pages, 11 figures; Added ancillary files with cross section values as .csv Matches preprint accepted by publisher

We discuss the foundation for a new global nCTEQ nuclear PDF analysis, combining a number of our previous analyses into one consistent framework with updates to the underlying theoretical treatment as well as the addition of new available data. In particular, the new global release will be the first nCTEQ release containing neutrino DIS scattering data in a consistent manner together with JLab high-x DIS data and new LHC p-Pb data. These additions will improve the data-driven description of nuclear PDFs in new regions, especially the strange quark and the gluon PDF at low-x., Comment: DIS2023

Motivated by the wide range of kinematics covered by current and planned deep-inelastic scattering (DIS) facilities, we revisit the formalism, practical implementation, and numerical impact of target mass corrections (TMCs) for DIS on unpolarized nuclear targets. An important aspect is that we only use nuclear and later partonic degrees of freedom, carefully avoiding a picture of the nucleus in terms of nucleons. After establishing that formulae used for individual nucleon targets $(p,n)$, derived in the Operator Product Expansion (OPE) formalism, are indeed applicable to nuclear targets, we rewrite expressions for nuclear TMCs in terms of \mbox{re-scaled} (or averaged) kinematic variables. As a consequence, we find a representation for nuclear TMCs that is approximately independent of the nuclear target. We go on to construct a single-parameter fit for all nuclear targets that is in good numerical agreement with full computations of TMCs. We discuss in detail qualitative and quantitative differences between nuclear TMCs built in the OPE and the parton model formalisms, as well as give numerical predictions for current and future facilities., Comment: journal version: 96 pages (including two appendices and references), many plots and figures, extended/improved discussions

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., Comment: 9 pages, 8 flgures, including supplemental material

We present measurements of the cross section for anti-neutrino charged-current quasielastic-like scattering on hydrocarbon using the medium energy (ME) NuMI wide-band neutrino beam peaking at $\sim 6$ GeV. The cross section measurements are presented as a function of the longitudinal momentum ($p_{||}$) and transverse momentum ($p_{T}$) of the final state muon. This work complements our previously reported high statistics measurement in the neutrino channel and extends the previous anti-neutrino measurement made in the low energy (LE) beam at neutrino energy($$) $\sim$ 3.5 GeV to $p_{T}$ of 2.5 GeV/c. Current theoretical models do not completely describe the data in this previously unexplored high $p_{T}$ region. The single differential cross section as a function of four momentum transfer ($Q^{2}_{QE}$) now extends to 4 GeV$^2$ with high statistics. The cross section as a function of $Q^{2}_{QE}$ shows that the tuned simulations developed by the MINERvA collaboration that agreed well with the low energy beam measurements do not agree as well with the medium energy beam measurements. Newer neutrino interaction models such as the GENIE 3 tunes are better able to simulate the high $Q^{2}_{QE}$., Comment: 17 pages, 14 figures

We discuss the two most recent global analyses of nuclear parton distribution functions within the nCTEQ approach. LHC data on $W/Z$-boson, single-inclusive hadron and heavy quark/quarkonium production are shown to not only significantly reduce the gluon uncertainty down to $x\geq10^{-5}$, but to also influence the strange quark density. The latter is further constrained by neutrino deep-inelastic scattering and charm dimuon production data, whose consistency with neutral-current experiments is also re-evaluated., Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, proceedings of the 41st International Conference on High Energy Physics (ICHEP 2022), 6-13 July 2022, Bologna, Italy

MINERvA has measured the $\nu_{\mu}$-induced coherent $\pi^{+}$ cross section simultaneously in hydrocarbon (CH), graphite (C), iron (Fe) and lead (Pb) targets using neutrinos from 2 to 20 GeV. The measurements exceed the predictions of the Rein-Sehgal and Berger-Sehgal PCAC based models at multi-GeV $\nu_{\mu}$ energies and at produced $\pi^{+}$ energies and angles, $E_{\pi}>1$ GeV and $\theta_{\pi}<10^{\circ}$. Measurements of the cross-section ratios of Fe and Pb relative to CH reveal the effective $A$-scaling to increase from an approximate $A^{1/3}$ scaling at few GeV to an $A^{2/3}$ scaling for $E_{\nu}>10$ GeV., Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures and 60 pages of supplemental material. Updated to accepted version, with ancillary files of the cross section data

This is the report for the topical group Theory of Neutrino Physics (TF11/NF08) for Snowmass 2021. This report summarizes the progress in the field of theoretical neutrino physics in the past decade, the current status of the field, and the prospects for the upcoming decade., Comment: 26 pages, 5 figures

Neutrino-induced charged-current single $\pi^+$ production in the $\Delta(1232)$ resonance region is of considerable interest to accelerator-based neutrino oscillation experiments. In this work, high statistics differential cross sections are reported for the semi-exclusive reaction $\nu_\mu A \to \mu^- \pi^+ +$ nucleon(s) on scintillator, carbon, water, iron, and lead targets recorded by MINERvA using a wide-band $\nu_\mu$ beam with $\left< E_\nu \right> \approx 6$~GeV. Suppression of the cross section at low $Q^2$ and enhancement of low $T_\pi$ are observed in both light and heavy nuclear targets compared to phenomenological models used in current neutrino interaction generators. The cross-section ratios for iron and lead compared to CH across the kinematic variables probed are 0.8 and 0.5 respectively, a scaling which is also not predicted by current generators., Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, 117 pages of supplementary material; updated to accepted version and added ancillary files with cross section data; updated again to add ancillary files with neutrino flux used for result

Processes with precisely known cross sections, like neutrino electron elastic scattering ($\nu e^{-} \!\rightarrow \nu e^{-}$) and inverse muon decay ($\nu_\mu e^{-} \!\rightarrow \mu^{-} \nu_e$) have been used by MINERvA to constrain the uncertainty on the NuMI neutrino beam flux. This work presents a new measurement of neutrino elastic scattering with electrons using the medium energy \numubar enhanced NuMI beam. A sample of 578 events after background subtraction is used in combination with the previous measurement on the \numu beam and the inverse muon decay measurement to reduce the uncertainty on the \numu flux in the \numu-enhanced beam from 7.6\% to 3.3\% and the \numubar flux in the \numubar-enhanced beam from 7.8\% to 4.7\%., Comment: 12 pages, 16 figures

In global analyses of nuclear parton distribution functions (nPDFs), neutrino deep-inelastic scattering (DIS) data have been argued to exhibit tensions with the data from charged-lepton DIS. Using the nCTEQ framework, we investigate these possible tensions both internally and with the data sets used in our recent nPDF analysis nCTEQ15WZSIH. We take into account nuclear effects in the calculation of the deuteron structure function $F_2^D$ using the CJ15 analysis. The resulting nPDF fit, nCTEQ15WZSIHdeut, serves as the basis for our comparison with inclusive neutrino DIS and charm dimuon production data. Using $\chi^2$ hypothesis testing, we confirm evidence of tensions with these data and study the impact of the proton PDF baseline as well as the treatment of data correlation and normalization uncertainties. We identify the experimental data and kinematic regions that generate the tensions and present several possible approaches how a consistent global analysis with neutrino data can be performed. We show that the tension can be relieved using a kinematic cut at low $x$ ($x>0.1$) and also investigate a possibility of managing the tensions by using uncorrelated systematic errors. Finally, we present a different approach identifying a subset of neutrino data which leads to a consistent global analysis without any additional cuts. Understanding these tensions between the neutrino and charged-lepton DIS data is important not only for a better flavor separation in global analyses of nuclear and proton PDFs, but also for neutrino physics and for searches for physics beyond the Standard Model., Comment: 33 pages, 25 figures

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., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures. Supplementary 18 figures

We compare different neural network architectures for Machine Learning (ML) algorithms designed to identify the neutrino interaction vertex position in the MINERvA detector. The architectures developed and optimized by hand are compared with the architectures developed in an automated way using the package "Multi-node Evolutionary Neural Networks for Deep Learning" (MENNDL), developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The two architectures resulted in a similar performance which suggests that the systematics associated with the optimized network architecture are small. Furthermore, we find that while the domain expert hand-tuned network was the best performer, the differences were negligible and the auto-generated networks performed well. There is always a trade-off between human, and computer resources for network optimization and this work suggests that automated optimization, assuming resources are available, provides a compelling way to save significant expert time.

The \minerva experiment reports double-differential cross-section measurements for $\nu_{\mu}$-carbon interactions with three-momentum transfer $|\vec{q}| < 1.2$ GeV obtained with medium energy exposures in the NuMI beam. These measurements are performed as a function of the three-momentum transfer and an energy transfer estimator called the available energy defined as the energy that would be visible in the detector. The double differential cross sections are compared to the GENIE and NuWro predictions along with the modified version of GENIE which incorporates new models for better agreement with earlier measurements from MINERvA. In these measurements, the quasi-elastic, resonance, and multi-nucleon knockout processes appear at different kinematics in this two-dimensional space. The results can be used to improve models for neutrino interactions needed by neutrino oscillation experiments.

Vector boson production and neutrino deep-inelastic scattering (DIS) data are crucial for constraining the strange quark parton distribution function (PDF) and more generally for flavor decomposition in PDF extractions. We extend the nCTEQ15 nuclear PDFs (nPDFs) by adding the recent $W$ and $Z$ production data from the LHC in a global nPDF fit. The new nPDF set, referred to as nCTEQ15WZ, is used as a starting point for a follow-up study in which we assess the compatibility of neutrino DIS data with charged lepton DIS data. Specifically, we re-analyze neutrino DIS data from NuTeV, Chorus, and CDHSW, as well as dimuon data from CCFR and NuTeV. To scrutinize the level of compatibility, different kinematic regions of the neutrino data are investigated. Fits to the neutrino data alone and a preliminary global fit are performed and compared to nCTEQ15WZ., Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures. Submission to SciPost

With the advance of particle accelerator and detector technologies, the neutrino physics landscape is rapidly expanding. As neutrino oscillation experiments enter the intensity and precision frontiers, neutrino-nucleus interaction measurements are providing crucial input. MINERvA is an experiment at Fermilab dedicated to the study of neutrino-nucleus interactions in the regime of incident neutrino energies from one to few GeV. The experiment recorded neutrino and antineutrino scattering data with the NuMI beamline from 2009 to 2019 using the Low-Energy and Medium-Energy beams that peak at 3 GeV and 6 GeV, respectively. This article reviews the broad spectrum of interesting nuclear and particle physics that MINERvA investigations have illuminated. The newfound, detailed knowledge of neutrino interactions with nuclear targets thereby obtained is proving essential to continued progress in the neutrino physics sector., Comment: 22 pages, 17 figures. Accepted as invited contribution to EPJ special issue "Neutrino Interactions in the Intermediate and High Energy Region. Guest editors: Mohammad Sajjad Athar and Shri Krishna Singh"

Inverse muon decay, $\nu_\mu e^-\to\mu^-\nu_e$, is a reaction whose cross-section can be predicted with very small uncertainties. It has a neutrino energy threshold of $\approx 11$ GeV and can be used to constrain the high-energy part of the flux in the NuMI neutrino beam. This reaction is the dominant source of events which only contain high-energy muons nearly parallel to the direction of the neutrino beam. We have isolated a sample of hundreds of such events in neutrino and anti-neutrino enhanced beams, and have constrained the predicted high-energy flux., Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, submitted to Physical Review D. Minor corrections and clarifications

MINERvA presents a new analysis of inclusive charged-current neutrino interactions on a hydrocarbon target. We report single and double-differential cross sections in muon transverse and longitudinal momentum. These measurements are compared to neutrino interaction generator predictions from GENIE, NuWro, GiBUU, and NEUT. In addition, comparisons against models with different treatments of multi-nucleon correlations, nuclear effects, resonant pion production, and deep inelastic scattering are presented. The data recorded corresponds to $10.61\times10^{20}$ protons on target with a peak neutrino energy of approximately 6 GeV. The higher energy and larger statistics of these data extend the kinematic range for model testing beyond previous MINERvA inclusive charged-current measurements. The results are not well modeled by several generator predictions using a variety of input models., Comment: 20 pages, 19 figures

Charged-current neutrino interactions with low hadronic recoil ("low-nu") have a cross-section that is approximately constant versus neutrino energy. These interactions have been used to measure the shape of neutrino fluxes as a function of neutrino energy at accelerator-based neutrino experiments such as CCFR, NuTeV, MINOS and MINERvA. In this paper, we demonstrate that low-nu events can be used to measure parameters of neutrino flux and detector models and that utilization of event distributions over the upstream detector face can discriminate among parameters that affect the neutrino flux model. From fitting a large sample of low-nu events obtained by exposing MINERvA to the NuMI medium-energy beam, we find that the best-fit flux parameters are within their a priori uncertainties, but the energy scale of muons reconstructed in the MINOS detector is shifted by 3.6% (or 1.8 times the a priori uncertainty on that parameter). These fit results are now used in all MINERvA cross-section measurements, and this technique can be applied by other experiments operating at MINERvA energies, such as DUNE., Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures, Replaced with accepted version

We use the nCTEQ analysis framework to investigate nuclear Parton Distribution Functions (nPDFs) in the region of large x and intermediate-to-low $Q$, with special attention to recent JLab Deep Inelastic Scattering data on nuclear targets. This data lies in a region which is often excluded by $W$ and $Q$ cuts in global nPDF analyses. As we relax these cuts, we enter a new kinematic region, which requires new phenomenology. In particular, we study the impact of i) target mass corrections, ii) higher twist corrections, iii) deuteron corrections, and iv) the shape of the nuclear PDF parametrization at large-$x$ close to one. Using the above tools, we produce a new nPDF set (named nCTEQ15HIX) which yields a good description of the new JLab data in this challenging kinematic region, and displays reduced uncertainties at large $x$, in particular for up and down quark flavors., Comment: 25 pages, 19 figures, 6 tables, 1 auxiliary data file. Version 02: include journal updates

The NuSTEC workshop held at the University of Pittsburgh in October 2019 brought theorists and experimentalists together to discuss the state of modeling and measurements related to pion production in neutrino-nucleus scattering in the kinematic region where pions are produced through both resonant and non-resonant mechanisms. Modeling of this region is of critical importance to the current and future accelerator- and atmospheric-based neutrino oscillation experiments. For the benefit of the community, links to the presentations are accompanied by annotations from the speakers highlighting significant points made during the presentations and resulting discussions., Comment: 31 pages, includes links to workshop presentations

In neutrino interactions with nucleons and nuclei, Shallow Inelastic Scattering (SIS) refers to processes, dominated by non-resonant contributions, in the kinematic region where $Q^2$ is small and the invariant mass of the hadronic system, $W$, is above the pion production threshold. The extremely rich science of this complex region, poorly understood both theoretically and experimentally, encompasses the transition from interactions described in terms of hadronic degrees of freedom to interactions with quarks and gluons described by perturbative QCD. Since a large fraction of events in NOvA and DUNE, and in atmospheric neutrino measurements such as IceCube-Upgrade, KM3NeT, Super- and Hyper-Kamiokande, are from this SIS region, there is a definite need to improve our knowledge of this physics. This LoI summarizes the current understandings of the SIS physics and a series of proposals for the path to forward., Comment: 6 pages, Letter of Interest for Snowmass 2021 (https://www.snowmass21.org/docs/files/summaries/NF/SNOWMASS21-NF6_NF1-TF11_TF0-CompF2_CompF0_Katori-094.pdf), NF094

MINERvA reports inclusive charged-current cross sections for muon neutrinos on hydrocarbon in the NuMI beamline. We measured the double-differential cross section in terms of the longitudinal and transverse muon momenta, as well as the single-differential cross sections in those variables. The data used in this analysis correspond to an exposure of $3.34 \times 10^{20}$ protons on target with a peak neutrino energy of approximately 3.5 GeV. Measurements are compared to the GENIE, NuWro and GiBUU neutrino cross-section predictions, as well as a version of GENIE modified to produce better agreement with prior exclusive MINERvA measurements. None of the models or variants were able to successfully reproduce the data across the entire phase space, which includes areas dominated by each interaction channel., Comment: 20 pages, 16 figures

We study neutrino-induced charged-current (CC) $\pi^0$ production on carbon nuclei using events with fully imaged final-state proton-$\pi^0$ systems. Novel use of final-state correlations based on transverse kinematic imbalance enable the first measurements of the struck nucleon's Fermi motion, of the intranuclear momentum transfer (IMT) dynamics, and of the final-state hadronic momentum configuration in neutrino pion production. Event distributions are presented for i) the momenta of neutrino-struck neutrons below the Fermi surface, ii) the direction of missing transverse momentum characterizing the strength of IMT, and iii) proton-pion momentum imbalance with respect to the lepton scattering plane. The observed Fermi motion and IMT strength are compared to the previous MINERvA measurement of neutrino CC quasielastic-like production. The measured shapes and absolute rates of these distributions, as well as the cross-section asymmetries show tensions with predictions from current neutrino generator models., Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures. v3: PRD-accepted version, with full package of supplemental materials; v4: added 2 missing references; v5: corrected typo in Eq. 8

We measure neutrino charged current quasielastic-like scattering on hydrocarbon at high statistics using the wide-band NuMI beam with neutrino energy peaked at 6 GeV. The double-differential cross section is reported in terms of muon longitudinal and transverse momentum. Cross-section contours versus lepton momentum components are approximately described by a conventional generator-based simulation, however discrepancies are observed for transverse momenta above 0.5 GeV/c for longitudinal momentum ranges 3 to 5 GeV/c and 9 to 20 GeV/c. The single differential cross section versus momentum transfer squared ($d\sigma/dQ_{QE}^2$) is measured over a four-decade range of $Q^2$ that extends to $10~GeV^2$. The cross section turn-over and fall-off in the $Q^2$ range 0.3 to $10~GeV^2$ is not fully reproduced by generator predictions that rely on dipole form factors. Our measurement probes the axial-vector content of the hadronic current and complements the electromagnetic form factor data obtained using electron-nucleon elastic scattering. These results help oscillation experiments because they probe the importance of various correlations and final-state interaction effects within the nucleus, which have different effects on the visible energy in detectors., Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures

We have measured new observables based on the final state kinematic imbalances in the mesonless production of $\nu_\mu+A\rightarrow\mu^-+p+X$ in the $\text{MINER}\nu\text{A}$ tracker. Components of the muon-proton momentum imbalances parallel ($\delta p_\mathrm{Ty}$) and perpendicular($\delta p_\mathrm{Tx}$) to the momentum transfer in the transverse plane are found to be sensitive to the nuclear effects such as Fermi motion, binding energy and non-QE contributions. The QE peak location in $\delta p_\mathrm{Ty}$ is particularly sensitive to the binding energy. Differential cross sections are compared to predictions from different neutrino interaction models. The Fermi gas models presented in this study cannot simultaneously describe features such as QE peak location, width and the non-QE events contributing to the signal process. Correcting the GENIE's binding energy implementation according to theory causes better agreement with data. Hints of proton left-right asymmetry are observed in $\delta p_\mathrm{Tx}$. Better modeling of the binding energy can reduce bias in neutrino energy reconstruction and these observables can be applied in current and future experiments to better constrain nuclear effects., Comment: 14 pages, 12 figures; Added data release file in .root format

Extraction of the strange quark PDF is a long-standing puzzle. We use the nCTEQ nPDFs with uncertainties to study the impact of the LHC W/Z production data on both the flavor differentiation and nuclear corrections; this complements the information from neutrino-DIS data. As the proton flavor determination is dependent on nuclear corrections (from heavy target DIS, for example), LHC heavy ion measurements can also help improve proton PDFs. We introduce a new implementation of the nCTEQ code (nCTEQ++) based on C++ which has a modular strucure and enables us to easily integrate programs such as HOPPET, APPLgrid, and MCFM. Using ApplGrids generated from MCFM, we use nCTEQ++ to perform a preliminary fit including the pPb LHC W/Z vector boson data., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures. DIS2019 Workshop, Torino, Italy

The antineutrino scattering channel $\bar{\nu}_{\mu} \,\text{CH} \rightarrow \mu^{+} \,\pi^{-} \,X$(nucleon(s)) is analyzed in the incident energy range 1.5 to 10 GeV using the MINERvA detector at Fermilab. Differential cross sections are reported as functions of $\mu^{+}$ momentum and production angle, $\pi^{-}$ kinetic energy and production angle, and antineutrino energy and squared four-momentum transfer. Distribution shapes are generally reproduced by simulations based on the GENIE, NuWro, and GiBUU event generators, however GENIE (GiBUU) overestimates (underestimates) the cross-section normalizations by 8% (10%). Comparisons of data with the GENIE-based reference simulation probe conventional treatments of cross sections and pion intranuclear rescattering. The distribution of non-track vertex energy is used to decompose the signal sample into reaction categories, and cross sections are determined for the exclusive reactions $\mu^{+} \pi^{-} n$ and $ \mu^+ \pi^{-} p$. A similar treatment applied to the published MINERvA sample $\bar{\nu}_{\mu} \,\text{CH} \rightarrow \mu^{+} \,\pi^{0} \,X$(nucleon(s)) has determined the $\mu^{+} \pi^{0} n$ cross section, and the latter is used with $\sigma(\pi^{-} n)$ and $\sigma(\pi^{-} p)$ to carry out an isospin decomposition of $\bar{\nu}_{\mu}$-induced CC($\pi$). The ratio of magnitudes and relative phase for isospin amplitudes $A_{3}$ and $A_{1}$ thereby obtained are: $R^{\bar{\nu}} = 0.99 \pm 0.19$ and $\phi^{\bar{\nu}} = 93^{\circ} \pm 7^{\circ}$. Our results are in agreement with bubble chamber measurements made four decades ago., Comment: 22 pages, 17 figures

Elastic neutrino scattering on electrons is a precisely-known purely leptonic process that provides a standard candle for measuring neutrino flux in conventional neutrino beams. Using a total sample of 810 neutino-electron scatters after background subtraction, the measurement reduces the normalization uncertainty on the muon neutrino NuMI flux between 2 and 20 GeV from 7.5% to 3.9%. This is the most precise measurement of neutrino-electron scattering to date, will reduce uncertainties on MINERvA's absolute cross section measurements, and demonstrates a technique that can be used in future neutrino beams such as LBNF., Comment: 12 pages, 12 figures. Final accepted version, including ancillary files with flux data tables. Ancillary data files updated October 2021 to include the neutrino-electron measured event rate and covariance

Faced with unresolved tensions between neutrino interaction measurements at few-GeV neutrino energies, current experiments are forced to accept large systematic uncertainties to cover discrepancies between their data and model predictions. In this paper, the widely used pion production model in GENIE is compared to four MINERvA charged current pion production measurements using NUISANCE. Tunings, ie, adjustments of model parameters, to help match GENIE to MINERvA and older bubble chamber data are presented here. We find that scattering off nuclear targets as measured in MINERvA is not in good agreement with scattering off nucleon (hydrogen or deuterium) targets in the bubble chamber data. An additional ad hoc correction for the low-$Q^2$ region, where collective effects are expected to be large, is also presented. While these tunings and corrections improve the agreement of GENIE with the data, the modeling is imperfect. The development of these tunings within the NUISANCE frameworkallows for straightforward extensions to other neutrino event generators and models, and allows omitting and including new data sets as they become available.

Charged-current anti-neutrino interactions on hydrocarbon scintillator in the MINERvA detector are used to study activity from their final-state neutrons. To ensure that most of the neutrons are from the primary interaction, rather than hadronic reinteractions in the detector, the sample is limited to momentum transfers below 0.8 GeV/c. From 16,129 interactions, 15,246 neutral particle candidates are observed. The reference simulation predicts 64\% of these candidates are due to neutrons from the anti-neutrino interaction directly, but also overpredicts the number of candidates by 15\% overall, which is beyond the standard uncertainty estimates for models of neutrino interactions and neutron propagation in the detector. Using the measured distributions for energy deposition, time of flight, position, and speed, we explore the sensitivity to the details those two aspects of the models. We also use multiplicity distributions to evaluate the presence of a two-nucleon knockout process. These results provide critical new information toward a complete description of the hadronic final state of neutrino interactions, which is vital to neutrino oscillation experiments., Comment: 22 pages, 11 figures, synchronized to incorporate journal reviewer's comments

MINERvA presents a new analysis of neutrino induced quasielastic-like interactions in a hydrocarbon tracking target. We report a double-differential cross section using the muon transverse and longitudinal momentum. In addition, differential cross sections as a function of the square of the four-momentum transferred and the neutrino energy are calculated using a quasielastic hypothesis. Finally, an analysis of energy deposited near the interaction vertex is presented. These results are compared to modified GENIE predictions as well as a NuWro prediction. All results use a dataset produced by $3.34\times10^{20}$ protons on target creating a neutrino beam with a peak energy of approximately 3.5 GeV, Comment: 38 pages, 47 figures

Recent LHC W/Z vector boson production data in proton-lead collisions are quite sensitive to the heavier flavors (especially the strange PDF), and this complements the information from neutrino-DIS data. As the proton flavor determination is dependent on nuclear corrections (from heavy target DIS, for example), LHC heavy ion measurements can also help improve proton PDFs. We introduce a new implementation of the nCTEQ code (nCTEQ++) based on C++ which has a modular strucure and enables us to easily integrate programs such as HOPPET, APPLgrid, and MCFM. Using ApplGrids generated from MCFM, we use nCTEQ++ to perform a fit including the $pPb$ LHC W/Z vector boson data., Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures. DIS2018 Workshop, Kobe, Japan

Final-state kinematic imbalances are measured in mesonless production of $\nu_\mu + A \to \mu^- + p + X$ in the MINERvA tracker. Initial- and final-state nuclear effects are probed using the direction of the $\mu^-$-p transverse momentum imbalance and the initial-state momentum of the struck neutron. Differential cross sections are compared to predictions based on current approaches to medium modeling. These models under-predict the cross section at intermediate intranuclear momentum transfers that generally exceed the Fermi momenta. As neutrino interaction models need to correctly incorporate the effect of the nucleus in order to predict neutrino energy resolution in oscillation experiments, this result points to a region of phase space where additional cross section strength is needed in current models, and demonstrates a new technique that would be suitable for use in fine grained liquid argon detectors where the effect of the nucleus may be even larger., Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, accepted by PRL, data release package updated

We report on multinucleon effects in low momentum transfer ($< 0.8$ GeV/c) anti-neutrino interactions on plastic (CH) scintillator. These data are from the 2010-2011 antineutrino phase of the MINERvA experiment at Fermilab. The hadronic energy spectrum of this inclusive sample is well described when a screening effect at low energy transfer and a two-nucleon knockout process are added to a relativistic Fermi gas model of quasielastic, $\Delta$ resonance, and higher resonance processes. In this analysis, model elements introduced to describe previously published neutrino results have quantitatively similar benefits for this antineutrino sample. We present the results as a double-differential cross section to accelerate investigation of alternate models for antineutrino scattering off nuclei., Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures. Updated to synchronize with reviewers and proofs recommendations and add supplemental cross section data file

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., Comment: 47 pages, 31 figures

The LHC heavy ion data for W/Z production can provide new incisive information on the PDFs. This data is sensitive to the heavier quark flavors (strange and charm) in a high energy kinematic region; this can facilitate the determination of PDFs in the small x region where previous data was limited. At present, the flavor separation of the proton PDFs is dependent on DIS data from nuclear targets. Therefore, improved nuclear corrections can also yield enhanced flavor determination of both the proton and nuclear PDFs., Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures. 25th International Workshop on Deep-Inelastic Scattering and Related Topics (DIS 2017). PoS(DIS2017)204

Neutrino induced coherent charged pion production on nuclei, $\overline{\nu}_\mu A\to\mu^\pm\pi^\mp A$, is a rare inelastic interaction in which the four-momentum squared transfered to the nucleus is nearly zero, leaving it intact. We identify such events in the scintillator of MINERvA by reconstructing |t| from the final state pion and muon momenta and by removing events with evidence of energetic nuclear recoil or production of other final state particles. We measure the total neutrino and antineutrino cross sections as a function of neutrino energy between 2 and 20 GeV and measure flux integrated differential cross sections as a function of $Q^2$, $E_\pi$ and $\theta_\pi$. The $Q^2$ dependence and equality of the neutrino and anti-neutrino cross-sections at finite $Q^2$ provide a confirmation of Adler's PCAC hypothesis.

The semi-exclusive channel $\nu_{\mu}+\textrm{CH}\rightarrow\mu^{-}\pi^{0}+\textrm{nucleon(s)}$ is analyzed using MINERvA exposed to the low-energy NuMI $\nu_{\mu}$ beam with spectral peak at $E_{\nu} \simeq 3$ GeV. Differential cross sections for muon momentum and production angle, $\pi^{0}$ kinetic energy and production angle, and for squared four-momentum transfer are reported, and the cross section $\sigma(E_{\nu})$ is obtained over the range 1.5 GeV $\leq E_{\nu} <$ 20 GeV. Results are compared to GENIE and NuWro predictions and to published MINERvA cross sections for $\nu_{\mu}\textrm{-CC}(\pi^{+})$ and $\bar{\nu}_{\mu}\textrm{-CC}(\pi^{0})$. Disagreements between data and simulation are observed at very low and relatively high values for muon angle and for $Q^2$ that may reflect shortfalls in modeling of interactions on carbon. For $\pi^{0}$ kinematic distributions however, the data are consistent with the simulation and provide support for generator treatments of pion intranuclear scattering. Using signal-event subsamples that have reconstructed protons as well as $\pi^{0}$ mesons, the $p\pi^{0}$ invariant mass distribution is obtained, and the decay polar and azimuthal angle distributions in the rest frame of the $p\pi^{0}$ system are measured in the region of $\Delta(1232)^+$ production, $W < 1.4$ GeV., Comment: 19 pages, 22 figures

The precise measurement of neutrino properties is among the highest priorities in fundamental particle physics, involving many experiments worldwide. Since the experiments rely on the interactions of neutrinos with bound nucleons inside atomic nuclei, the planned advances in the scope and precision of these experiments requires a commensurate effort in the understanding and modeling of the hadronic and nuclear physics of these interactions, which is incorporated as a nuclear model in neutrino event generators. This model is essential to every phase of experimental analyses and its theoretical uncertainties play an important role in interpreting every result. In this White Paper we discuss in detail the impact of neutrino-nucleus interactions, especially the nuclear effects, on the measurement of neutrino properties using the determination of oscillation parameters as a central example. After an Executive Summary and a concise Overview of the issues, we explain how the neutrino event generators work, what can be learned from electron-nucleus interactions and how each underlying physics process - from quasi-elastic to deep inelastic scattering - is understood today. We then emphasize how our understanding must improve to meet the demands of future experiments. With every topic we find that the challenges can be met only with the active support and collaboration among specialists in strong interactions and electroweak physics that include theorists and experimentalists from both the nuclear and high energy physics communities.

Charged-current $\nu_{\mu}$ interactions on carbon, iron, and lead with a final state hadronic system of one or more protons with zero mesons are used to investigate the influence of the nuclear environment on quasielastic-like interactions. The transfered four-momentum squared to the target nucleus, $Q^2$, is reconstructed based on the kinematics of the leading proton, and differential cross sections versus $Q^2$ and the cross-section ratios of iron, lead and carbon to scintillator are measured for the first time in a single experiment. The measurements show a dependence on atomic number. While the quasielastic-like scattering on carbon is compatible with predictions, the trends exhibited by scattering on iron and lead favor a prediction with intranuclear rescattering of hadrons accounted for by a conventional particle cascade treatment. These measurements help discriminate between different models of both initial state nucleons and final state interactions used in the neutrino oscillation experiments.

We present measurements of the neutrino and antineutrino total charged-current cross sections on carbon and their ratio using the MINERvA scintillator-tracker. The measurements span the energy range 2-22 GeV and were performed using forward and reversed horn focusing modes of the Fermilab low-energy NuMI beam to obtain large neutrino and antineutrino samples. The flux is obtained using a sub-sample of charged-current events at low hadronic energy transfer along with precise higher energy external neutrino cross section data overlapping with our energy range between 12-22 GeV. We also report on the antineutrino-neutrino cross section ratio, Rcc, which does not rely on external normalization information. Our ratio measurement, obtained within the same experiment using the same technique, benefits from the cancellation of common sample systematic uncertainties and reaches a precision of 5% at low energy. Our results for the antineutrino-nucleus scattering cross section and for Rcc are the most precise to date in the energy range $E_{\nu} <$ 6GeV.

Neutral-current production of $K^{+}$ by atmospheric neutrinos is a background in searches for the proton decay $p \rightarrow K^{+} \bar{\nu}$. Reactions such as $\nu p \rightarrow \nu K^{+} \Lambda$ are indistinguishable from proton decays when the decay products of the $\Lambda$ are below detection threshold. Events with $K^{+}$ are identified in MINERvA by reconstructing the timing signature of a $K^{+}$ decay at rest. A sample of 201 neutrino-induced neutral-current $K^{+}$ events is used to measure differential cross sections with respect to the $K^{+}$ kinetic energy, and the non-$K^{+}$ hadronic visible energy. An excess of events at low hadronic visible energy is observed relative to the prediction of the NEUT event generator. Good agreement is observed with the cross section prediction of the GENIE generator. A search for photons from $\pi^{0}$ decay, which would veto a neutral-current $K^{+}$ event in a proton decay search, is performed, and a 2$\sigma$ deficit of detached photons is observed relative to the GENIE prediction.

The total cross sections are important ingredients for the current and future neutrino oscillation experiments. We present measurements of the total charged-current neutrino and antineutrino cross sections on scintillator (CH) in the NuMI low-energy beamline using an {\em in situ} prediction of the shape of the flux as a function of neutrino energy from 2--50 GeV. This flux prediction takes advantage of the fact that neutrino and antineutrino interactions with low nuclear recoil energy ($\nu$) have a nearly constant cross section as a function of incident neutrino energy. This measurement is the lowest energy application of the low-$\nu$ flux technique, the first time it has been used in the NuMI antineutrino beam configuration, and demonstrates that the technique is applicable to future neutrino beams operating at multi-GeV energies. The cross section measurements presented are the most precise measurements to date below 5 GeV., Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, and 12 supplemental tables of fluxes, cross sections, breakdowns of their uncertainties, and their covariance matrices

Knowledge of the neutrino flux produced by the Neutrinos at the Main Injector (NuMI) beamline is essential to the neutrino oscillation and neutrino interaction measurements of the MINERvA, MINOS+, NOvA and MicroBooNE experiments at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. We have produced a flux prediction which uses all available and relevant hadron production data, incorporating measurements of particle production off of thin targets as well as measurements of particle yields from a spare NuMI target exposed to a 120 GeV proton beam. The result is the most precise flux prediction achieved for a neutrino beam in the one to tens of GeV energy region. We have also compared the prediction to in situ measurements of the neutrino flux and find good agreement., Comment: v2 includes supplemental material consisting of the flux prediction and uncertainties in ascii and root format, a program to read the ascii datafiles, and a short guide with additional details. v3 fixes a couple of typographical errors on the units for some quantities in the beam focusing section

Neutrino-induced charged-current coherent kaon production, $\nu_{\mu}A\rightarrow\mu^{-}K^{+}A$, is a rare, inelastic electroweak process that brings a $K^+$ on shell and leaves the target nucleus intact in its ground state. This process is significantly lower in rate than neutrino-induced charged-current coherent pion production, because of Cabibbo suppression and a kinematic suppression due to the larger kaon mass. We search for such events in the scintillator tracker of MINERvA by observing the final state $K^+$, $\mu^-$ and no other detector activity, and by using the kinematics of the final state particles to reconstruct the small momentum transfer to the nucleus, which is a model-independent characteristic of coherent scattering. We find the first experimental evidence for the process at $3\sigma$ significance., Comment: added ancillary file with information about the six kaon candidates

Separate samples of charged-current pion production events representing two semi-inclusive channels $\nu_\mu$-CC($\pi^{+}$) and $\bar{\nu}_{\mu}$-CC($\pi^{0}$) have been obtained using neutrino and antineutrino exposures of the MINERvA detector. Distributions in kinematic variables based upon $\mu^{\pm}$-track reconstructions are analyzed and compared for the two samples. The differential cross sections for muon production angle, muon momentum, and four-momentum transfer $Q^2$, are reported, and cross sections versus neutrino energy are obtained. Comparisons with predictions of current neutrino event generators are used to clarify the role of the $\Delta(1232)$ and higher-mass baryon resonances in CC pion production and to show the importance of pion final-state interactions. For the $\nu_\mu$-CC($\pi^{+}$) ($\bar{\nu}_{\mu}$-CC($\pi^{0}$)) sample, the absolute data rate is observed to lie below (above) the predictions of some of the event generators by amounts that are typically 1-to-2 $\sigma$. However the generators are able to reproduce the shapes of the differential cross sections for all kinematic variables of either data set., Comment: 17 pages, 16 figures; supplementary materials in Supplement file (TeX and pdf)