We have found 122 charmed-particle decays among 3855 neutrino interactions located in the fiducial volume of a hybrid emulsion spectrometer installed in the Fermilab wide-band neutrino beam. We obtain an average relative charmed-particle production cross section of σ(ν μ → c μ − ) σ(ν μ →μ − ) =4.9 −0.6 +0.7 % , at an average neutrino energy of 22 GeV. We also obtain a production rate of σ(ν μ → c c ν μ ) σ(ν μ →ν μ ) =0.13 −0.11 +0.31 % , if we assume that there was an undetected muon, a limit of σ(ν μ → c c μ − ) σ(ν μ → c μ − )<3% (90% CL ) can be obtained. Other cross section ratios and limits are also presented.
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.
The SciBooNE Collaboration reports inclusive neutral current neutral pion production by a muon neutrino beam on a polystyrene target (C8H8). We obtain (7.7 \pm 0.5(stat.) \pm 0.5 (sys.)) x 10^(-2) as the ratio of the neutral current neutral pion production to total charged current cross section; the mean energy of neutrinos producing detected neutral pions is 1.1 GeV. The result agrees with the Rein-Sehgal model implemented in our neutrino interaction simulation program with nuclear effects. The spectrum shape of the neutral pion momentum and angle agree with the model. We also measure the ratio of the neutral current coherent pion production to total charged current cross section to be (0.7 \pm 0.4) x 10^(-2).
We present measurements of the semi-inclusive cross sections for νμ- and ν¯μ-nucleon deep inelastic scattering interactions with two oppositely charged muons in the final state. These events dominantly arise from the production of a charm quark during the scattering process. The measurement was obtained from the analysis of 5102 νμ-induced and 1458 ν¯μ-induced events collected with the NuTeV detector exposed to a sign-selected beam at the Fermilab Tevatron. We also extract a cross-section measurement from a reanalysis of 5030 νμ-induced and 1060 ν¯μ-induced events collected from the exposure of the same detector to a quad-triplet beam by the Chicago Columbia Fermilab Rochester (CCFR) experiment. The results are combined to obtain the most statistically precise measurement of neutrino-induced dimuon production cross sections to date. These measurements should be of broad use to phenomenologists interested in the dynamics of charm production, the strangeness content of the nucleon, and the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix element Vcd.
We report on the first observation of open charm production in neutral current deep inelastic neutrino scattering as seen in the NuTeV detector at Fermilab. The production rate is shown to be consistent with a pure gluon-$% Z^{0}$ boson production model, and the observed level of charm production is used to determine the effective charm mass. As part of our analysis, we also obtain a new measurement for the proton-nucleon charm production cross section at $\sqrt{s}=38.8$ GeV.
Two different nuclear-medium effects are isolated using a low three-momentum transfer subsample of neutrino-carbon scattering data from the MINERvA neutrino experiment. The observed hadronic energy in charged-current $\nu_\mu$ interactions is combined with muon kinematics to permit separation of the quasielastic and $\Delta$(1232) resonance processes. First, we observe a small cross section at very low energy transfer that matches the expected screening effect of long-range nucleon correlations. Second, additions to the event rate in the kinematic region between the quasielastic and $\Delta$ resonance processes are needed to describe the data. The data in this kinematic region also has an enhanced population of multi-proton final states. Contributions predicted for scattering from a nucleon pair have both properties; the model tested in this analysis is a significant improvement but does not fully describe the data. We present the results as a double-differential cross section to enable further investigation of nuclear models. Improved description of the effects of the nuclear environment are required by current and future neutrino oscillation experiments.
The azimuthal dependence of the flow of hadronic energy about the momentum-transfer direction in charged-current deep-inelastic neutrino-nucleon scattering is used to study gluon emission and the transverse momentum 〈kT〉 of partons confined inside the nucleon. A 7-standard-deviation azimuthal asymmetry is observed indicating an average 〈kT〉=0.303±0.041 GeV/c.
Limits on $\nu_\mu (\overline{\nu}_\mu) \to \nu_e (\overline{\nu}_e)$ oscillations based on a statistical separation of $\nu_e N$ charged current interactions in the CCFR detector at Fermilab are presented. $\nu_e$ interactions are identified by the difference in the longitudinal shower energy deposition pattern of $\nu_e N \rightarrow eX$ versus $\nu_\mu N \to \nu_\mu X$ interactions. Neutrino energies range from 30 to 600 GeV with a mean of 140 GeV, and $\nu_\mu$ flight lengths vary from 0.9 km to 1.4 km. The lowest 90% confidence upper limit in $sin^2 2\alpha$ of $1.1 \times 10^{-3}$ is obtained at $\Delta m^2 \sim 300 eV^2$. For $sin^2 2\alpha = 1$, $\Delta m^2 > 1.6 eV^2$ is excluded, and for $\Delta m^2 \gg 1000 eV^2$, $sin^2 2\alpha > 1.8 \times 10^{-3}$ is excluded. This result is the most stringent limit to date for $\Delta m^2 > 25 eV^2$ and it excludes the high $\Delta m^2$ oscillation region favoured by the LSND experiment. The $\nu_\mu$-to-$\nu_e$ cross-section ratio was measured as a test of $\nu_\mu (\bar\nu_\mu) \leftrightarrow \nu_e (\bar\nu_e)$ universality to be $1.026 \pm 0.055$.
The structure of the nucleon is studied by means of deep-inelastic neutrino-nucleon scattering at high energies through the weak neutral current. The neutrino-nucleon scattering events were observed in a 340-metric-ton fine-grained calorimeter exposed to a narrow-band (dichromatic) neutrino beam at Fermilab. The data sample after analysis cuts consists of 9200 charged-current and 3000 neutral-current neutrino and antineutrino events. The neutral-current valence and sea nucleon structure functions are extracted from the x distribution reconstructed from the measured angle and energy of the recoil-hadron shower and the incident narrow-band neutrino-beam energy. They are compared to those extracted from charged-current events analyzed as neutral-current events. It is shown that the nucleon structure is independent of the type of neutrino interaction, which confirms an important aspect of the standard model. The data are also used to determine the value of sin2θW=0.238±0.013±0.015±0.010 for a single-parameter fit, where the first error is from statistical sources, the second from experimental systematic errors, and the third from estimated theoretical errors.
We extract a set of values for the Gross-Llewellyn Smith sum rule at different values of 4-momentum transfer squared ($Q^{2}$), by combining revised CCFR neutrino data with data from other neutrino deep-inelastic scattering experiments for $1 < Q^2 < 15 GeV^2/c^2$. A comparison with the order $\alpha^{3}_{s}$ theoretical predictions yields a determination of $\alpha_{s}$ at the scale of the Z-boson mass of $0.114 \pm^{.009}_{.012}$. This measurement provides a new and useful test of perturbative QCD at low $Q^2$, because of the low uncertainties in the higher order calculations.