Measurement of the Inclusive Electron Neutrino Charged Current Cross Section on Carbon with the T2K Near Detector

Abstract

The T2K off-axis near detector ND280 is used to make the first differential cross-section measurements of electron neutrino charged current interactions at energies similar to 1 GeV as a function of electron momentum, electron scattering angle, and four-momentum transfer of the interaction. The total flux-averaged nu(e) charged current cross section on carbon is measured to be (phi) = 1.11 +/- 0.10(stat) +/- 0.18(syst) x 10(-38) cm(2)/nucleon. The differential and total cross- section measurements agree with the predictions of two leading neutrino interaction generators, NEUT and GENIE. The NEUT prediction is 1.23 x 10(-38) cm(2)/nucleon and the GENIE prediction is 1.08 x 10(-38) cm(2)/nucleon. The total nu(e) charged current cross-section result is also in agreement with data from the Gargamelle experiment