Neutrino Interactions

This manuscript summarizes a series of three lectures on interactions of neutrinos . The lectures begin with a pedagogical foundation and then explore topics of interest to current and future neutrino oscillation and cross-section experiments.Comment: 26 pages, 24 figures, to appear in the procedings of the 61st Scottish Universities Summer School in Physic

Differences in Quasi-Elastic Cross-Sections of Muon and Electron Neutrinos

Accelerator neutrino oscillation experiments seek to make precision measurements of the neutrino flavor oscillations muon (anti)neutrino to electron (anti)neutrino in order to determine the mass hierarchy of neutrinos and to search for CP violation in neutrino oscillations. These experiments are currently performed with beams of muon neutrinos at energies near 1 GeV where the charged-current quasi-elastic interactions nu+n\rightarrow(l^-)+p and anti-nu+p\rightarrow(l^+)+n dominate the signal reactions. We examine the difference between the quasi-elastic cross-sections for muon and electron neutrinos and anti-neutrinos and estimate the uncertainties on these differences.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures, submitted to Physical Review D. Revision to discussion of radiative correction

A Small Target Neutrino Deep-Inelastic Scattering Experiment at the First Muon Collider

Several different scenarios for neutrino scattering experiments using a neutrino beam from the muon collider complex are discussed. The physics reach of a neutrino experiment at the front end of a muon collider is shown to extend far beyond that of current neutrino experiments, since the high intensity neutrino beams one would see at the muon collider allow for a large flexibility in choosing neutrino targets. Measurements of quark spin, A-dependence of the structure function $xF_3$ and neutral current chiral couplings to quarks are outlined.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, to appear in the proceedings of the Workshop on Physics at the First Muon Collider and at the Front End of a Muon Collider, November 1997, Fermila

Constraining the GENIE model of neutrino-induced single pion production using reanalyzed bubble chamber data

The longstanding discrepancy between bubble chamber measurements of $\nu_\mu$-induced single pion production channels has led to large uncertainties in pion production cross section parameters for many years. We extend the reanalysis of pion production data in deuterium bubble chambers where this discrepancy is solved (Wilkinson et al., PRD 90 (2014) 112017) to include the $\nu_{\mu}n\rightarrow \mu^{-}p\pi^{0}$ and $\nu_{\mu}n\rightarrow \mu^{-}n\pi^{+}$ channels, and use the resulting data to fit the parameters of the GENIE (Rein-Sehgal) pion production model. We find a set of parameters that can describe the bubble chamber data better than the GENIE default parameters, and provide updated central values and reduced uncertainties for use in neutrino oscillation and cross section analyses which use the GENIE model. We find that GENIE's non-resonant background prediction has to be significantly reduced to fit the data, which may help to explain the recent discrepancies between simulation and data observed by the MINERvA coherent pion and NOvA oscillation analyses.Comment: v3: Updated to match published versio

The 31-Tone Tuning System of Nicola Vicentino and the Toroidal Tonnetz: An Annotated Bibliography

Nicola Vicentino’s treatise L’antica musica ridotta alla moderna prattica (1555), from here on L’antica musica, argues that contrapuntal practices based on modes derived from the diatonic tetrachord are insufficient to express the variety of emotions possible in vocal text settings, and that composers should be inspired by the other Ancient Greek genera as described by Boethius, the chromatic and enharmonic tetrachords. To employ these alternative genera, Vicentino devised an ingenious system that extended quarter-comma mean tone temperament to a thirty-one-tone system that can be neatly approximated by a division of the octave into thirty-one equal parts

Quasi-Elastic Scattering in MINERvA

Determination of the quasi-elastic scattering cross-section over a broad range of neutrino energies, nuclear targets and Q^2 is a primary goal of the MINERvA experiment. We present preliminary comparisons of data and simulation in a sample rich in anti-{\nu}_{\mu}+p\rightarrow{\mu}+n events from approximately one eighth of the total anti-{\nu} events collected by MINERvA to date. We discuss future plans for quasi-elastic analyses in MINERvA.Comment: submitted to the proceedings of NuInt11, The Seventh International Workshop on Neutrino-Nucleus Interactions in the Few GeV Region, Dehradun, India, March 201

Sustained High-Frequency Dynamic Instability of a Nonlinear System of Coupled Oscillators Forced by Single or Repeated Impulses: Theoretical and Experimental Results

This report describes the impulsive dynamics of a system of two coupled oscillators with essential (nonlinearizable) stiffness nonlinearity. The system considered consists of a grounded weakly damped linear oscillator coupled to a lightweight weakly damped oscillating attachment with essential cubic stiffness nonlinearity arising purely from geometry and kinematics. It has been found that under specific impulse excitations the transient damped dynamics of this system tracks a high-frequency impulsive orbit manifold (IOM) in the frequency-energy plane. The IOM extends over finite frequency and energy ranges, consisting of a countable infinity of periodic orbits and an uncountable infinity of quasi-periodic orbits of the underlying Hamiltonian system and being initially at rest and subjected to an impulsive force on the linear oscillator. The damped nonresonant dynamics tracking the IOM then resembles continuous resonance scattering; in effect, quickly transitioning between multiple resonance captures over finite frequency and energy ranges. Dynamic instability arises at bifurcation points along this damped transition, causing bursts in the response of the nonlinear light oscillator, which resemble self-excited resonances. It is shown that for an appropriate parameter design the system remains in a state of sustained high-frequency dynamic instability under the action of repeated impulses. In turn, this sustained instability results in strong energy transfers from the directly excited oscillator to the lightweight nonlinear attachment; a feature that can be employed in energy harvesting applications. The theoretical predictions are confirmed by experimental results.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant CMMI-1100722