Single neutral pion production via muon antineutrino charged-current interactions in plastic scintillator (CH) is studied using the \minerva detector exposed to the NuMI low-energy, wideband antineutrino beam at Fermilab. Measurement of this process constrains models of neutral pion production in nuclei, which is important because the neutral-current analog is a background for $\bar{\nu}_e$ appearance oscillation experiments. The differential cross sections for $\pi^0$ momentum and production angle, for events with a single observed $\pi^0$ and no charged pions, are presented and compared to model predictions. These results comprise the first measurement of the $\pi^0$ kinematics for this process.
Flux-averaged differential cross section in $\pi^0$ momentum, $d\sigma/dp_{\pi^0}(10^{-40}\text{cm}^2/\text{nucleon}/(\text{GeV/c})$, for 1$\pi^0$ production with statistical (stat) and systematic (sys) uncertainties.
Flux-averaged differential cross section in $\pi^0$ angle, $d\sigma/d\theta_{\pi^0}(10^{-42}\text{cm}^2/\text{nucleon}/\text{deg.})$, for 1$\pi^0$ production with statistical (stat) and systematic (sys) uncertainties.
Forum