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NuXTract 2023 - Towards a consensus in neutrino cross sections

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222/R-001 (CERN)

222/R-001

CERN

200
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Description

Workshop photo:

Thanks everyone for a great workshop, see you again soon!

We are thrilled to invite you to NuXTract, a new in-person NuSTEC workshop scheduled for the week of October 2nd 2023 at CERN from Monday 2nd 2pm until Friday 6th 1pm. 

This special workshop will be dedicated to open issues in neutrino cross-section extraction, and data presentation and preservation efforts. It is an excellent opportunity for experiments to discuss how they present data, for theorists to specify their needs from a data release, and for all of us to dive into the statistical challenges in cross-section extraction (e.g. unfolding, regularisation methods, efficiency corrections, background constraints). 

The agenda will be composed of invited talks, selected abstracts, and lots of discussions. 

A google doc is available in this link to all participants to share their thoughts, questions, discussion points 

We have high hopes and wish to come out of this workshop with a set of NuSTEC best-practice guidelines for how to extract a cross-section measurement, and start a neutrino cross-section database with comparable results we know how to interpret.

The workshop will bring together both experts and early career scientists to share experiences with cross-section extraction challenges and use of experimental data releases. We will also hear about data preservation efforts and novel approaches to cross-section extractions (e.g. forward folding or ML methods). 

If you wish to take part, please mark your schedules, be sure to register and to submit an abstract using the links on the left of this page if you wish to attend and/or present anything.

We hope to see many of you there!

Fees

We are planning on hosting a social buffet on Thursday evening as well as providing coffee and snacks. To cover this, we will ask for a small attendance fee of 100 CHF for those attending in person. Please pay the using this form. 

Accommodation

CERN has a hotel on site close to our workshop rooms. We have booked 50 of these rooms for the workshop that will be available until 30 days before the workshop. If you want to book one of these, please use this booking form. Leave the team account / budget code part empty. If you have any trouble accessing the form or booking a room please contact the organisers.

Abstract submission and registration deadline: August 31st.

The organising committee:   
Artur Ankowski   
Adi Ashkenazi   
Pablo Barham (LOC)   
Stephen Dolan (LOC)   
Laura Munteanu (LOC)   
Vishvas Pandey   
Joanna Sobczyk   
Clarence Wret   
CERN Neutrino Secretariat: Antonella and Elena

Registration
NuXTract 2023 - Fees
Register
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  • Monday, 2 October
  • Tuesday, 3 October
    • 09:00 → 10:00
      General overview 500/1-001 - Main Auditorium

      500/1-001 - Main Auditorium

      CERN

      400
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      Conveners: Dr Clarence Wret (University of Rochester (US)), Clarence Wret
    • 10:00 → 10:30
      Experiment Overview 500/1-001 - Main Auditorium

      500/1-001 - Main Auditorium

      CERN

      400
      Show room on map
      Conveners: Clarence Wret, Dr Clarence Wret (University of Rochester (US))
      • 10:00
        NOvA’s approach to cross-section analyses and publishing results 20m
        Speakers: Gregory Pawloski, Gregory Pawloski (Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)
        NuXtract-NOvA.pdf
    • 10:30 → 11:00
      Coffee break 30m 500/1-001 - Main Auditorium

      500/1-001 - Main Auditorium

      CERN

      400
      Show room on map
    • 11:00 → 12:10
      Experiment Overview 500/1-001 - Main Auditorium

      500/1-001 - Main Auditorium

      CERN

      400
      Show room on map
      Conveners: Dr Clarence Wret (University of Rochester (US)), Clarence Wret, Laura Munteanu (CERN), Laura-Iuliana Munteanu (CERN)
      • 11:00
        MINERvA's experience of cross-section extraction methods 20m

        MINERvA is a dedicated neutrino-nucleus cross section experiment at Fermilab in the NuMI (anti)neutrino beamline, where it was exposed to both low and medium energy configurations with a neutrino energy spectrum ranging from a few GeV to tens of GeV. The large high statistics in the data are complemented by a large simulated sample, and their comparison allows MINERvA to probe nuclear structure and test interaction models important for oscillation experiments. Analyzers in MINERvA extract inclusive and exclusive cross sections with a comprehensive accounting of systematic uncertainty, making use of various methods of data driven background constraint, and reporting cross section data at the truth level by utilizing the D’Agostini method of iterative Bayesian unfolding. Other methods of unfolding have been proposed and explored (e.g., singular value decomposition) in MINERvA, however the D’Agostini method remains standard in the collaboration’s published results. An overview of the methods used in MINERvA cross section extraction and results will be presented.

        Speaker: Mx Noah Vaughan (Oregon State University)
        NHVaughan_NuXTract_MnvXSec_final.pdf
      • 11:30
        Cross-section extraction using template fitting in T2K cross-section measurements 20m
        Speakers: Margherita Buizza Avanzini (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)), Margherita Buizza Avanzini
        XsecFitter@NuXtract_021023.pdf
    • 12:10 → 13:40
      Lunch break 1h 30m 222/R-001

      222/R-001

      CERN

      200
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    • 13:40 → 15:30
      Methods 31/3-004 - IT Amphitheatre

      31/3-004 - IT Amphitheatre

      CERN

      105
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      Convener: Adi Ashkenazi (Tel Aviv University (IL))
      • 13:40
        Binned log-likelihood template fitting with T2K 15m

        When performing neutrino cross section extractions, it is desirable to avoid dependence on the interaction model used in Monte-Carlo generation. Log-likelihood template fitting is a method which can be used to explore the input parameter space and find the best ways of describing data. This method has several advantages, including straightforward background constraining and informative diagnostics. This talk will explore the techniques used in a cross section extraction performed with a binned maximum log-likelihood method in the context of a new ongoing $\nu_{e}$CC single-pion production cross section analysis at T2K.

        Speaker: Nick Latham
        NuXTract23_fitting.pdf
      • 14:00
        Forward folding 20m

        Statistical methods

        Speaker: Lukas Koch (Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz (DE))
        ForwardFolding.pdf
      • 14:30
        Unbiased reconstruction of calorimetric variables in cross-section analyses 15m

        Neutrino cross-sections are often extracted purely in terms of lepton kinematics. In recent years more detailed analyses have been developed that additionally make use of kinematics in the hadronic system, which has proven very successful. However, even with new detector technologies of unparalleled precision, pattern recognition and reconstruction algorithms still require particle momenta above a given detection threshold. Calorimetric variables such as the hadronic energy provide alternative handles on the kinematics in the hadronic system and do not rely on a successful reconstruction of the hadron track. This talk will detail different methods to measure cross sections as a function of calorimetric variables in plastic scintillator based detectors and the problems and potential biases accompanying them.

        Speaker: Katharina Lachner (University of Warwick)
        unbiased_calorimetry_recon_for_xsec_analyses.pdf
      • 14:50
        Unfolding: Machine learning approaches 20m

        OmniFold: A Method to Simultaneously Unfold All Observables

        Speaker: Ben Nachman (Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (US))
        NuXTract2023.pdf
      • 15:10
        Machine Learning-Assisted Unfolding for Neutrino Cross-section Measurements 20m

        The choice of unfolding method for a cross-section measurement is tightly coupled to the model dependence of the efficiency correction and the overall impact of cross-section modeling uncertainties in the analysis. A key issue is the dimensionality used, as the kinematics of all outgoing particles in an event typically affects the reconstruction performance in a neutrino detector. OmniFold is an unfolding method that iteratively reweights a simulated dataset, using machine learning to utilize arbitrarily high-dimensional information, that has previously been applied to collider and cosmology datasets. Here, we explore its use for neutrino physics using a public T2K near detector simulated dataset, and compare its performance with more traditional approaches, under a series of mock data studies.

        Speaker: Andrew Cudd (University of Colorado Boulder)
        nuxtract_omnifold_20231003.pdf
    • 15:30 → 16:00
      Coffee break 30m 31/3-004 - IT Amphitheatre

      31/3-004 - IT Amphitheatre

      CERN

      105
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    • 16:00 → 17:00
      Methods 31/3-004 - IT Amphitheatre

      31/3-004 - IT Amphitheatre

      CERN

      105
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      Convener: Adi Ashkenazi (Tel Aviv University (IL))
      • 16:00
        Unfolding: a statistician's perspective 20m

        Unfolding: a statistician's perspective

        Speaker: Mikael Kuusela (Carnegie Mellon University (US))
        NuXTract_Oct_2023.pdf
      • 16:25
        Treating Detector Systematics via a Likelihood Free Inference Method 20m

        Estimating the impact of systematic uncertainties in particle physics experiments is challenging, especially since the detector response is unknown analytically in most situations and needs to be estimated through Monte Carlo (MC) simulations. Typically, detector property variations are parameterized in ways that implicitly assume a specific physics model, which can introduce biases on quantities measured by an analysis. This talk presents a method to recover a model-independent, event-wise estimate of the detector response variation by applying a likelihood-free inference method to a set of MC simulations representing discrete detector realizations. The method provides a re-weighting scheme for every event, which can be used to apply the effects of detector property variations decoupled from the assumed physics model. We demonstrate the performance of the method on a simplified MC model of a neutrino oscillation experiment and show that it fully decouples the modeling of the detector response from the physics parameters to be measured in an MC forward-folding analysis.

        Speaker: Ms Alexandra Trettin (University of Manchester)
        NuXtract LLH free inference.key
        NuXtract LLH free inference.pdf
  • Wednesday, 4 October
    • 09:00 → 10:30
      Experiment Overview 513/1-024

      513/1-024

      CERN

      50
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      Convener: Pablo Samuel Barham Alzas (CERN)
      • 09:00
        MicroBooNE's approach to exclusive cross-section measurements 20m
        Speaker: Afroditi Papadopoulou
        NuXTract23_Papadopoulou_Oct_2023_XSecTechniques.pdf
      • 09:30
        MicroBooNE's approach to inclusive cross-section measurements 20m

        MicroBooNE is a liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) located along the Fermilab Booster Neutrino Beam with a mean neutrino energy of approximately 0.8 GeV. The analysis of neutrino interactions leverage the mm level spatial resolutions of LArTPCs to provide a detailed description of the interaction in the detector. As a result, MicroBooNE has collected the largest neutrino-argon scattering dataset to date and can probe many questions related to the nuclear state and the interplay between different interaction pathways. A particular focus is the $\nu_{\mu}$-CC inclusive channel and it's energy dependence, especially in the GeV and sub-GeV regime. Understanding this is crucial for the next generation of neutrino oscillation experiments such as DUNE. At MicroBooNE, we introduce a novel conditional constraint approach that validates the hadronic model, in particular the mapping between reconstructed visible hadronic energy to true hadronic energy. This enables an extraction of neutrino energy-dependent cross-sections with suitable model discrimination power and a comprehensive measurement of the inclusive scattering channel. This provides a foundation from which one can begin to probe modelling strengths and weaknesses in relevant regions of phase space. This talk will outline such a complementary approach to extracting cross-sections and invite feedback on how such an analysis fits into the larger goal of understanding neutrino scattering in this energy regime.

        Speaker: Bannanje Nitish Nayak (University of California Irvine (US))
        xsec_nuxtract_final.pdf
      • 10:00
        Preview of new techniques for future MicroBooNE cross-section data releases 20m

        The MicroBooNE liquid argon time projection chamber experiment has a vibrant neutrino interaction physics program, with over thirty active analyses and a growing library of recent publications. As the precision and detail of MicroBooNE's cross-section measurements continue to improve, the collaboration is exploring new methods for maximizing the usefulness of the results for the nuclear modeling community. This talk will motivate and describe the technical implementation of these new methods, including a technique for reporting accurate covariances between measurements of different observables and potentially between measurements obtained from distinct analyses. We anticipate that these methods may be incorporated into the data release strategy for new cross-section measurements by other neutrino experiments in a relatively straightforward way.

        Speaker: Steven Gardiner
        NuXTract_talk.pdf
    • 10:30 → 11:00
      Coffee break 30m 513/1-024

      513/1-024

      CERN

      50
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    • 11:00 → 12:30
      Data release 513/1-024

      513/1-024

      CERN

      50
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      Convener: Dr Stephen Dolan (CERN)
      • 11:00
        Experimental data from a theoretical needs POV I 20m
        Speaker: Kajetan Niewczas
        niewczas_231004_v2.pdf
      • 11:30
        Experimental data from a theoretical needs POV II 20m
        Speaker: Alexis Nikolakopoulos (Ghent University)
        NuXTract_4_oct.pdf
    • 12:30 → 14:00
      Lunch break 1h 30m 513/1-024

      513/1-024

      CERN

      50
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    • 14:00 → 15:15
      Data release 513/1-024

      513/1-024

      CERN

      50
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      Convener: Dr Vishvas Pandey (Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)
      • 14:00
        Enabling BSM Studies With Neutrino Data 20m
        Speaker: Joachim Kopp (CERN)
        nuxtract.pdf
      • 14:30
        The theory experience using experimental data 20m
        Speaker: Dr Guillermo D. Megias (University of Seville (Spain))
        Link to slides
    • 15:15 → 15:30
      Experiment Overview 222/R-001

      222/R-001

      CERN

      200
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      • 15:15
        A modified slicing method with multi-dimensional unfolding to measure hadron-argon cross-section on ProtoDUNE-SP 15m

        Final-state interaction (FSI) is one of the most relevant nuclear effects involved in the neutrino-nucleus interactions, where the produced hadrons re-scatter with the nucleons within the nucleus. FSI accounts for a large source of uncertainties to neutrino detections, and hadron-nucleus scattering data can provide experimental constraints. Historically, experiments use hadron beam impinge on a thin target of material and measure its survival rate to extract the cross-section. However, in the case of liquid argon (LAr), which is used in many modern neutrino experiments, the large-size tank is not a thin-target in terms of hadrons. Therefore, the slicing method is proposed by the LArIAT collaboration, which hypothetically divide the LAr detector into several thin slices, and perform measurement in each slice. We further develop the method, deriving three energy-related variables in each event, and enable multi-dimensional unfolding of these variables, in order to fully consider the correlations among different slices. In this talk, the method as well as the procedures are applied to ProtoDUNE-SP Monte-Carlo (MC) sample. The consistency between the measured cross-section and the theoretical curve used for MC generation serves as a validation.

        Speaker: Yinrui Liu (University of Chicago (US))
        hadronXS_NuXTract_231004.pdf
    • 15:30 → 16:00
      Coffee break 30m 513/1-024

      513/1-024

      CERN

      50
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    • 16:00 → 18:00
      Data release 513/1-024

      513/1-024

      CERN

      50
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      Convener: Adi Ashkenazi (Tel Aviv University (IL))
      • 16:00
        Standardizing data releases 20m
        Speaker: Dr Luke Pickering (Royal Holloway, University of London)
        NuXTract-data-releases.pdf
      • 16:30
        MINERvA's approach to data preservation 20m

        Since ending data collection in 2019 and the subsequent decommissioning of its detector, the MINERvA collaboration has turned its focus towards the long term preservation of its neutrino scattering data and tools for its analysis in parallel with the active ongoing analysis of that data. This preservation project includes the development of the MINERvA Analysis Toolkit (MAT) which centralizes how systematic uncertainties are handled and contains comprehensive cross section analysis tools open to the HEP community for use and development. Additionally, the data and simulated samples are processed into a standardized Master Ana Dev (MAD) tuple for use by analyzers. These standard tuples allow the total MINERvA data and simulation to be centralized and compact for long term use and storage. The MAT and MADTuples together represent the strategy for preserving MINERvA’s legacy, one that is open for the public to develop and use. An overview of this ongoing data preservation effort will be presented.

        Speaker: Mx Noah Vaughan (Oregon State University)
        NHVaughan_NuXTract_MnvDataPres_Final.pdf
      • 17:00
        Data release discussion 1h
  • Thursday, 5 October
    • 09:00 → 10:00
      Experiment Overview 222/R-001

      222/R-001

      CERN

      200
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      Conveners: Laura Munteanu (CERN), Laura-Iuliana Munteanu (CERN)
      • 09:00
        Dealing with high dimensional efficiency corrections in T2K's cross-section measurements 20m
        Speakers: Sam Jenkins (University of Sheffield), Sam Jenkins (University of Liverpool)
        HighDimensionalEffCorrection.pdf
      • 09:30
        Neutrino cross-section measurements in the NINJA experiment 20m

        The NINJA collaboration aims to study neutrino-nucleus interactions in the energy range of hundreds of MeV to a few GeV using an emulsion-based detector. A series of neutrino-nucleus interaction measurements was conducted using the emulsion detector with water and iron targets in the near detector hall of the T2K experiment at J-PARC. The emulsion detector is suitable for precision measurements of charged particles produced in neutrino interactions with a low momentum threshold, especially low momentum protons as low as 200$\,$MeV/$c$, thanks to its thin-layered structure and sub-$\mu$m spatial resolution. In the neutrino cross-section measurement, we have measured flux-averaged charged-current inclusive cross sections on iron both neutrino and anti-neutrino. In this talk, we will present the extraction methods and the results of cross section using the emulsion detector.

        Speaker: Hitoshi Oshima (ICRR, the University of Tokyo)
        NuXTract23_NINJA_oshima.pdf
    • 10:00 → 10:30
      Data release 513/1-024

      513/1-024

      CERN

      50
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    • 10:30 → 11:00
      Coffee break 30m 222/R-001

      222/R-001

      CERN

      200
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    • 11:00 → 12:00
      Experiment Overview 222/R-001

      222/R-001

      CERN

      200
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      Convener: Pablo Samuel Barham Alzas (CERN)
      • 11:00
        Measuring an Argon-Kaon Plus Cross Section by Unfolding Thin-Slice Targets 15m

        ProtoDUNE-SP is a single-phase liquid argon time projection chamber that took hadron test beam data in 2018. The test beam included positively charged kaons with test beam momenta of 6 GeV/c and 7 GeV/c, providing a sample to study kaons to benefit future DUNE proton decay and neutrino interaction studies with kaons in the final state. The total inelastic cross section of a positively charged kaon was measured at these test beam settings using the LArIAT thin-slice method of dividing the wires of the time projection chamber into target slices for calculating the cross section, which leverages the monolithic quality of liquid argon detectors. A Bayesian-like unfolding method using RooUnfold was applied to both the incident and interacting slice distributions to measure the cross sections at both test beam momenta. The talk will discuss the method of unfolding, optimization studies for unfolding, and applying systematic uncertainties using a LArIAT-style hadronic cross section using unfolding to extract a kaon total inelastic cross section.

        Speaker: Richard Diurba (University of Bern)
        ProtoDUNESPNuSTEC2023Thurs.pdf
      • 11:25
        Likelihood-fit-based Pion-Ar Cross Section Measurement Using ProtoDUNE-SP 15m

        ProtoDUNE-SP was a large-scale prototype of the single phase DUNE far detector which took test beam data in Fall 2018. The beam consisted of positive pions, kaons, muons, and protons, and this data is being used to measure the various hadron-Ar interaction cross sections. These measurements will provide important constraints for the nuclear ground state, final state interaction, and secondary interaction models of argon-based neutrino experiments. This talk will focus on the measurement of the pion-argon inelastic cross section broken down into three channels: absorption (no pions in the final state), charge exchange (a neutral pion in the final state), and other interactions. This measurement uses data collected with an central incident beam momentum of 1 GeV/c, and employs a likelihood fit as opposed to Bayesian unfolding to extract the cross sections.

        Speaker: Jacob Michael Calcutt (Oregon State University (US))
        NuXTract Talk-4.pdf
    • 12:00 → 12:30
      Fitting and tuning to data 222/R-001

      222/R-001

      CERN

      200
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      Conveners: Dr Clarence Wret (University of Rochester (US)), Clarence Wret
    • 12:30 → 12:50
      Workshop photo, by the LHC beam pipe outside R1

      Google maps: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/46%C2%B013'51.2%22N+6%C2%B003'18.8%22E/@46.2308899,6.0545893,19z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m4!3m3!8m2!3d46.230889!4d6.055233?entry=ttu

    • 12:50 → 14:00
      Lunch 1h 10m 222/R-001

      222/R-001

      CERN

      200
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    • 14:00 → 15:30
      Fitting and tuning to data 222/R-001

      222/R-001

      CERN

      200
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      Conveners: Clarence Wret, Dr Clarence Wret (University of Rochester (US))
      • 14:00
        MicroBooNE Tuning 20m
        Speaker: Michael Kirby (Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)
        MicroBooNE_Tuning_NuXTract2023.pdf
      • 14:30
        Challenges in fitting to xsec data 20m
        Speaker: Jaafar Chakrani (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR))
        20231005_NuXTract_v2.pdf
      • 15:00
        Discussion 30m
    • 15:30 → 16:00
      Coffee break 30m 500/1-001 - Main Auditorium

      500/1-001 - Main Auditorium

      CERN

      400
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    • 16:00 → 18:00
      Breakout sessions
      Breakout_Sessions_Info.pdf
    • 19:00 → 21:00
      Party 500/1-201 - Mezzanine

      500/1-201 - Mezzanine

      CERN

      10
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  • Friday, 6 October
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