Measurement of the \(\nu_\mu\) CCQE cross section on carbon with the ND280 detector at T2K

• Published in: arXiv.org 2015-12
• Main Authors: T2K Collaboration, Ariga, A, Assylbekov, S, Bass, M, Bay, F, Bhadra, S, Blaszczyk, F d M, Blondel, A, Brailsford, D, Bronner, C, Buchanan, N, Calland, R G, J Caravaca Rodríguez, Christodoulou, G, Coleman, J, Connolly, K, Davis, S, de Perio, P, Dolan, S, Duboyski, T, Emery-Schrenk, S, Escudero, L, Finch, A J, Fujii, Y, Furmanski, A P, Gilje, K, Gonin, M, Grant, N, Hadley, D R, Haegel, L, Haigh, M D, Hara, T, Hartz, M, Hignight, J, Hillairet, A, Holeczek, J, Huang, K, Ichikawa, A K, Imber, J, Izmaylov, A, Jamieson, B, Johnson, S, Jonsson, P, Kabirnezhad, M, Kaboth, A C, Kakuno, H, Kameda, J, Katori, T, Khotjantsev, A, Kielczewska, D, Kikawa, T, Kitching, P, Kobayashi, T, Lawe, M, Lazos, M, Lindner, T, Ludovici, L, Mahn, K, Mavrokoridis, K, McCauley, N, McFarland, K S, Mezzetto, M, Missert, A, Miura, M, Nakamura, K, Oser, S M, Oyama, Y, Palladino, V, Perevozchikov, O, Petrov, Y, Reeves, M, Reinherz-Aronis, E, Rodrigues, P A, Rojas, P, Sacco, R, Sánchez, F, Seiya, Y, Smy, M, Steinmann, J, Still, B, Suzuki, A, Suzuki, K, Tacik, R, Tada, M, Takahashi, S, Tanaka, H A, Thorley, A, Totsuka, Y, Tzanov, M, Vagins, M, Wakamatsu, K, Warzycha, W, Wascko, M O, Wilson, R J, Yamada, Y, Yen, S, Yoshida, K, Zaremba, K, Zimmerman, E D, Zmuda, J
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Carbon; Cross-sections; Dependence; Dipoles; Experiments; Form factors; Neutrino beams; Neutrinos; Nuclear models; Particle physics; Signal processing
• ISSN: 2331-8422
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.1411.6264

The Charged-Current Quasi-Elastic (CCQE) interaction, \(\nu_{l} + n \rightarrow l^{-} + p\), is the dominant CC process at \(E_\nu \sim 1\) GeV and contributes to the signal in accelerator-based long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiments operating at intermediate neutrino energies. This paper reports a measurement by the T2K experiment of the \(\nu_{\mu}\) CCQE cross section on a carbon target with the off-axis detector based on the observed distribution of muon momentum (\(p_\mu\)) and angle with respect to the incident neutrino beam (\(\theta_\mu\)). The flux-integrated CCQE cross section was measured to be \((0.83 \pm 0.12) \times 10^{-38}\textrm{ cm}^{2}\) in good agreement with NEUT MC value of \({0.88 \times 10^{-38}} \textrm{ cm}^{2}\). The energy dependence of the CCQE cross section is also reported. The axial mass, \(M_A^{QE}\), of the dipole axial form factor was extracted assuming the Smith-Moniz CCQE model with a relativistic Fermi gas nuclear model. Using the absolute (shape-only) \(p_{\mu}cos\theta_\mu\) distribution, the effective \(M_A^{QE}\) parameter was measured to be \({1.26^{+0.21}_{-0.18} \textrm{ GeV}/c^{2}}\) (\({1.43^{+0.28}_{-0.22} \textrm{ GeV}/c^{2}}\)).