First Measurement of the Muon Neutrino Interaction Cross Section and Flux as a Function of Energy at the LHC with FASER

The FASER collaboration Mammen Abraham, Roshan ; Ai, Xiaocong ; Anders, John ; et al.
Phys.Rev.Lett. 134 (2025) 211801, 2025.
Inspire Record 2855783 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.156838

This letter presents the measurement of the energy-dependent neutrino-nucleon cross section in tungsten and the differential flux of muon neutrinos and anti-neutrinos. The analysis is performed using proton-proton collision data at a center-of-mass energy of $13.6 \, {\rm TeV}$ and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $(65.6 \pm 1.4) \, \mathrm{fb^{-1}}$. Using the active electronic components of the FASER detector, $338.1 \pm 21.0$ charged current muon neutrino interaction events are identified, with backgrounds from other processes subtracted. We unfold the neutrino events into a fiducial volume corresponding to the sensitive regions of the FASER detector and interpret the results in two ways: We use the expected neutrino flux to measure the cross section, and we use the predicted cross section to measure the neutrino flux. Both results are presented in six bins of neutrino energy, achieving the first differential measurement in the TeV range. The observed distributions align with Standard Model predictions. Using this differential data, we extract the contributions of neutrinos from pion and kaon decays.

32 data tables

The systematic uncertainties of the fitted number of neutrino interactions.

The systematic uncertainties of the fitted number of anti-neutrino interactions.

The systematic uncertainties of the fitted number of neutrino and anti-neutrino interactions.

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First Measurement of the Muon Neutrino Charged Current Single Pion Production Cross Section on Water with the T2K Near Detector

The T2K collaboration Abe, Ko ; Andreopoulos, Costas ; Antonova, Maria ; et al.
Phys.Rev.D 95 (2017) 012010, 2017.
Inspire Record 1465650 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.73182

The T2K off-axis near detector, ND280, is used to make the first differential cross section measurements of muon neutrino charged current single positive pion production on a water target at energies ${\sim}0.8$ GeV. The differential measurements are presented as a function of muon and pion kinematics, in the restricted phase-space defined by $p_{\pi^+}>200$MeV/c, $p_{\mu^-}>200$MeV/c, $\cos \theta_{\pi^+}>0.3$ and $\cos \theta_{\mu^-}>0.3$. The total flux integrated $\nu_\mu$ charged current single positive pion production cross section on water in the restricted phase-space is measured to be $\langle\sigma\rangle_\phi=4.25\pm0.48 (\mathrm{stat})\pm1.56 (\mathrm{syst})\times10^{-40} \mathrm{cm}^{2}/\mathrm{nucleon}$. The total cross section is consistent with the NEUT prediction ($5.03\times10^{-40} \mathrm{cm}^{2}/\mathrm{nucleon}$) and 2$\sigma$ lower than the GENIE prediction ($7.68\times10^{-40} \mathrm{cm}^{2}/\mathrm{nucleon}$). The differential cross sections are in good agreement with the NEUT generator. The GENIE simulation reproduces well the shapes of the distributions, but over-estimates the overall cross section normalization.

8 data tables

Total $\nu_\mu$ CC1$\pi^+$ cross section on water in the reduced phase-space of $p_{\pi^+} > 200$ MeV/$c$, $p_\mu > 200$ MeV/c, $\cos(\theta_{\pi^+}) > 0.3$ and $\cos(\theta_\mu) > 0.3$. The T2K data point is placed at the $\nu_\mu$ flux mean energy.

Unfolded $\nu_\mu$ CC1$\pi^+$ differential cross section as a function of $p_\pi$ in the reduced phase-space of $p_{\pi^+} > 200$ MeV/$c$, $p_\mu > 200$ MeV/c, $\cos(\theta_{\pi^+}) > 0.3$ and $\cos(\theta_\mu) > 0.3$.

Unfolded $\nu_\mu$ CC1$\pi^+$ differential cross section as a function of $\cos\theta_\pi$ in the reduced phase-space of $p_{\pi^+} > 200$ MeV/$c$, $p_\mu > 200$ MeV/c, $\cos(\theta_{\pi^+}) > 0.3$ and $\cos(\theta_\mu) > 0.3$.

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Measurement of double-differential muon neutrino charged-current interactions on C$_8$H$_8$ without pions in the final state using the T2K off-axis beam

The T2K collaboration Abe, Ko ; Andreopoulos, Costas ; Antonova, Maria ; et al.
Phys.Rev.D 93 (2016) 112012, 2016.
Inspire Record 1421157 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.77052

We report the measurement of muon neutrino charged-current interactions on carbon without pions in the final state at the T2K beam energy using 5.734$\times10^{20}$ protons on target. For the first time the measurement is reported as a flux-integrated, double-differential cross-section in muon kinematic variables ($\cos\theta_\mu$, $p_\mu$), without correcting for events where a pion is produced and then absorbed by final state interactions. Two analyses are performed with different selections, background evaluations and cross-section extraction methods to demonstrate the robustness of the results against biases due to model-dependent assumptions. The measurements compare favorably with recent models which include nucleon-nucleon correlations but, given the present precision, the measurement does not solve the degeneracy between different models. The data also agree with Monte Carlo simulations which use effective parameters that are tuned to external data to describe the nuclear effects. The total cross-section in the full phase space is $\sigma = (0.417 \pm 0.047 \text{(syst)} \pm 0.005 \text{(stat)})\times 10^{-38} \text{cm}^2$ $\text{nucleon}^{-1}$ and the cross-section integrated in the region of phase space with largest efficiency and best signal-over-background ratio ($\cos\theta_\mu>0.6$ and $p_\mu > 200$ MeV) is $\sigma = (0.202 \pm 0.0359 \text{(syst)} \pm 0.0026 \text{(stat)}) \times 10^{-38} \text{cm}^2$ $\text{nucleon}^{-1}$.

10 data tables

Total signal cross-section per nucleon integrated over all the muon kinematics phase space in Analysis I.

Results of the double differential cross-section measurement bin-by-bin in Analysis I.

Covariance matrix for shape systematics error in Analysis I.

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Measurement of the muon neutrino inclusive charged-current cross section in the energy range of 1-3 GeV with the T2K INGRID detector

The T2K collaboration Abe, K. ; Andreopoulos, C. ; Antonova, M. ; et al.
Phys.Rev.D 93 (2016) 072002, 2016.
Inspire Record 1394549 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.80058

We report a measurement of the $\nu_{\mu}$-nucleus inclusive charged current cross section (=$\sigma^{cc}$) on iron using data from exposed to the J-PARC neutrino beam. The detector consists of 14 modules in total, which are spread over a range of off-axis angles from 0$^\circ$ to 1.1$^\circ$. The variation in the neutrino energy spectrum as a function of the off-axis angle, combined with event topology information, is used to calculate this cross section as a function of neutrino energy. The cross section is measured to be $\sigma^{cc}(1.1\text{ GeV}) = 1.10 \pm 0.15$ $(10^{-38}\text{cm}^2/\text{nucleon})$, $\sigma^{cc}(2.0\text{ GeV}) = 2.07 \pm 0.27$ $(10^{-38}\text{cm}^2/\text{nucleon})$, and $\sigma^{cc}(3.3\text{ GeV}) = 2.29 \pm 0.45$ $(10^{-38}\text{cm}^2/\text{nucleon})$, at energies of 1.1, 2.0, and 3.3 GeV, respectively. These results are consistent with the cross section calculated by the neutrino interaction generators currently used by T2K. More importantly, the method described here opens up a new way to determine the energy dependence of neutrino-nucleus cross sections.

1 data table

Results of the $\nu_{\mu}$ CC inclusive cross section on Fe.


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

The T2K collaboration Abe, K. ; Adam, J. ; Aihara, H. ; et al.
Phys.Rev.D 92 (2015) 112003, 2015.
Inspire Record 1329784 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.72875

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 ${1.26^{+0.21}_{-0.18} \textrm{ GeV}/c^{2}}$ (${1.43^{+0.28}_{-0.22} \textrm{ GeV}/c^{2}}$).

2 data tables

The measured CCQE energy-dependent cross section per target neutron.

The fractional covariance matrix corresponding to the errors shown in Figure 7.