Speaker
Dr
Nathan Mayer
(Tufts University)
Description
A sample enriched in quasielastic scattering events is selected from charged-current $\nu_{\mu}$ interactions in iron using the MINOS near detector exposed to a wide-band $\nu_{\mu}$ beam with peak flux at 3 GeV. Contributions from non-quasielastic backgrounds are evaluated using four independent kinematic sideband samples. The shapes of data distributions in four-momentum transfer, $Q^2$, are compared to expectations from a conventional Monte Carlo treatment of neutrino reactions within a nuclear medium modeled as a relativistic Fermi gas. Inclusion of a data-driven suppression of baryon resonance production at low $Q^2$ into the neutrino-nucleus simulation yields good agreement over the sidebands and a good description of the $Q^2$ distribution of the quasielastic-enhanced sample. By fitting the shape of the latter distribution using the dipole axial-vector form factor of the neutron,the effective value of the axial-vector mass is obtained: $M_{A} = 1.23 ^{+0.13} _{-0.09} \mbox{(fit)} ^{+0.12} _{-0.15} \mbox{(syst.)}$ GeV. This measurement probes quasielastic scattering in the nuclear medium of a large ($A$ = 56) target nucleus using 123,000 candidate quasielastic $\nu_\mu$Fe interactions of energies $1 < E_{\nu} < 8$ GeV.
| WG1: Neutrino Oscillation Physics (Yes/No) | No |
|---|---|
| WG2: Neutrino Scattering Physics (Yes/No) | Yes |
| WG3: Accelerator Physics (Yes/No) | No |
| WG4: Muon Physics (Yes/No) | No |
| Type of presentation | Oral presentation |
Author
Dr
Nathan Mayer
(Tufts University)
