Speaker
Enrique Arrieta Diaz
(Southern Methodist University)
Description
NO$\nu$A is a long-baseline experiment that uses the NuMI beam, at Fermilab, to study muon neutrino to electron neutrino oscillations. The experiment is located 14.6 *mrad* off the beam axis which allows access a narrow band of neutrino energies centered at 2 *GeV*. NO$\nu$A is a two-detector experiment with one located underground at Fermilab (Near Detector), and the other one located on the surface in northern Minnesota (Far Detector), 810 *km* away from Fermilab. The design of the two detectors is identical, varying only in their mass: 14 *kton* for the Far Detector, and 300 *ton* for the Near Detector. The similarities between the detectors allow the initial event rate of muon and electron neutrinos, measured by the Near Detector, to yield a nearly bias-free normalization of the event rate at the Far Detector. The NuMI beam is currently delivering power in the order of 450 *kW*, and it will go up to a maximum of 700 *kW* in the near future. With the current power, the beam delivers protons on target on the order of $10^{13}$ per spill, which accounts for an average of 5 neutrino interactions in the Near Detector. This high rate of neutrino interactions favors measurements such as neutrino cross sections, and in particular, muon neutrino cross sections due to the high purity of the muon neutrino beam. This poster presents the first steps towards measurements of the muon neutrino charged current inclusive cross section, using the NO$\nu$A Near Detector, at a neutrino energy region centered at 2 *GeV*.
Author
Enrique Arrieta Diaz
(Southern Methodist University)
