Measurements of nuclear effects and the v̄µ + H → µ+ + n cross section in MINERνA with neutron tagging

Abstract

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Rochester. Department of Physics and Astronomy, 2021.MINERνA, or Main INjector ExpeRiment for ν-A, at Fermilab, is an experiment dedicated to the study of neutrino-nucleus interactions in the GeV regime. Its goal is to illustrate the interplay between hadronic and nuclear physics and measure intranuclear dynamics crucial for the present and future neutrino oscillation measurements. We first measure a set of variables sensitive to how Monte Carlo (MC) simulations of neutrino-nucleus interactions implement binding energy and then move on to measure the antineutrino CCQE cross section on the hydrogen targets in MINERνA’s CH detector. We have developed a method to preferentially select events on the hydrogen by comparing outgoing neutrons’ directions to theoretical neutron directions assuming two-body interactions. We measured the cross section, extracted the axial form factor, and performed a Z-expansion fit. We observe larger values in the axial form factor at high Q2 than current best fits. Finally, we show a preliminary selection of events with both protons and neutrons to investigate nuclear processes responsible for producing these final states