Measurement of coherent production of π(±) in neutrino and antineutrino beams on carbon from Eν of 1.5 to 20 GeV

A Higuera; A Mislivec; L Aliaga; O Altinok; A Bercellie; M Betancourt; A Bodek; A Bravar; W K Brooks; H Budd; A Butkevich; M F Carneiro; C M Castromonte; M E Christy; J Chvojka; H da Motta; J Devan; S A Dytman; G A Díaz; B Eberly; J Felix; L Fields; R Fine; G A Fiorentini; H Gallagher; A Gomez; R Gran; D A Harris; K Hurtado; J Kleykamp; M Kordosky; T Le; E Maher; S Manly; W A Mann; C M Marshall; D A Martinez Caicedo; K S McFarland; C L McGivern; A M McGowan; B Messerly; J Miller; J G Morfín; J Mousseau; T Muhlbeier; D Naples; J K Nelson; A Norrick; J Osta; J L Palomino; V Paolone; J Park; C E Patrick; G N Perdue; R D Ransome; H Ray; L Ren; P A Rodrigues; D Ruterbories; H Schellman; D W Schmitz; F D Snider; C J Solano Salinas; N Tagg; B G Tice; E Valencia; T Walton; J Wolcott; M Wospakrik; G Zavala; D Zhang; B P Ziemer; MINERvA Collaboration

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.113.261802

Measurement of coherent production of π(±) in neutrino and antineutrino beams on carbon from Eν of 1.5 to 20 GeV

Phys Rev Lett. 2014 Dec 31;113(26):261802. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.113.261802. Epub 2014 Dec 23.

Authors

A Higuera¹, A Mislivec², L Aliaga³, O Altinok⁴, A Bercellie², M Betancourt⁵, A Bodek², A Bravar⁶, W K Brooks⁷, H Budd², A Butkevich⁸, M F Carneiro⁹, C M Castromonte⁹, M E Christy¹⁰, J Chvojka², H da Motta⁹, J Devan¹¹, S A Dytman¹², G A Díaz¹³, B Eberly¹², J Felix¹⁴, L Fields¹⁵, R Fine², G A Fiorentini⁹, H Gallagher⁴, A Gomez², R Gran¹⁶, D A Harris⁵, K Hurtado¹⁷, J Kleykamp², M Kordosky¹¹, T Le¹⁸, E Maher¹⁹, S Manly², W A Mann⁴, C M Marshall², D A Martinez Caicedo²⁰, K S McFarland²¹, C L McGivern¹², A M McGowan², B Messerly¹², J Miller⁷, J G Morfín⁵, J Mousseau²², T Muhlbeier⁹, D Naples¹², J K Nelson¹¹, A Norrick¹¹, J Osta⁵, J L Palomino⁹, V Paolone¹², J Park², C E Patrick¹⁵, G N Perdue²¹, R D Ransome¹⁸, H Ray²², L Ren¹², P A Rodrigues², D Ruterbories², H Schellman¹⁵, D W Schmitz²³, F D Snider⁵, C J Solano Salinas²⁴, N Tagg²⁵, B G Tice¹⁸, E Valencia¹⁴, T Walton¹⁰, J Wolcott², M Wospakrik²², G Zavala¹⁴, D Zhang¹¹, B P Ziemer²⁶; MINERvA Collaboration

Affiliations

¹ University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627, USA and Campus León y Campus Guanajuato, Universidad de Guanajuato, Lascurain de Retana No. 5, Colonia Centro, Guanajuato 36000, Guanajuato, México.
² University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627, USA.
³ Department of Physics, College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia 23187, USA and Sección Física, Departamento de Ciencias, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Apartado 1761, Lima, Peru.
⁴ Physics Department, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, USA.
⁵ Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Batavia, Illinois 60510, USA.
⁶ University of Geneva, 1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland.
⁷ Departamento de Física, Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, Avenida España 1680 Casilla 110-V, Valparaíso, Chile.
⁸ Institute for Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 117312 Moscow, Russia.
⁹ Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas, Rua Dr. Xavier Sigaud 150, Urca, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 22290-180, Brazil.
¹⁰ Department of Physics, Hampton University, Hampton, Virginia 23668, USA.
¹¹ Department of Physics, College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia 23187, USA.
¹² Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, USA.
¹³ Sección Física, Departamento de Ciencias, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Apartado 1761, Lima, Peru.
¹⁴ Campus León y Campus Guanajuato, Universidad de Guanajuato, Lascurain de Retana No. 5, Colonia Centro, Guanajuato 36000, Guanajuato, México.
¹⁵ Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA.
¹⁶ Department of Physics, University of Minnesota, Duluth, Duluth, Minnesota 55812, USA.
¹⁷ Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas, Rua Dr. Xavier Sigaud 150, Urca, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 22290-180, Brazil and Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería, Apartado 31139, Lima, Peru.
¹⁸ Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA.
¹⁹ Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, 375 Church Street, North Adams, Massachusetts 01247, USA.
²⁰ Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Batavia, Illinois 60510, USA and Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas, Rua Dr. Xavier Sigaud 150, Urca, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 22290-180, Brazil.
²¹ University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627, USA and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Batavia, Illinois 60510, USA.
²² University of Florida, Department of Physics, Gainesville, Florida 32611, USA.
²³ Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Batavia, Illinois 60510, USA and Enrico Fermi Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA.
²⁴ Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería, Apartado 31139, Lima, Peru.
²⁵ Department of Physics, Otterbein University, 1 South Grove Street, Westerville, Ohio 43081, USA.
²⁶ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California 92697-4575, USA.

PMID: 25615308
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.113.261802

Abstract

Neutrino-induced coherent charged pion production on nuclei νμA→μ(±)π(∓)A is a rare, inelastic interaction in which a small squared four-momentum |t| is transferred to the recoil nucleus, leaving it intact in the reaction. In the scintillator tracker of MINERvA, we remove events with evidence of particles from nuclear breakup and reconstruct |t| from the final-state pion and muon. We select low |t| events to isolate a sample rich in coherent candidates. By selecting low |t| events, we produce a model-independent measurement of the differential cross section for coherent scattering of neutrinos and antineutrinos on carbon. We find poor agreement with the predicted kinematics in neutrino generators used by current oscillation experiments.