Nucleon structure functions obtained from neutrino and anti-neutrino scattering on iron nuclei at high energies (Ev=30 to 250 GeV) are presented. These results are compared with the results of other lepton-nucleon scattering experiments. The structure functions are used to test the validity of the Gross-Llewellyn-smith sum rule, which measures the number of valence quarks in the nucleons, and to obtain leading and second order QCD fits.
The NuTeV experiment at Fermilab has obtained a unique high statistics sample of neutrino and anti-neutrino interactions using its high-energy sign-selected beam. We present a measurement of the differential cross section for charged-current neutrino and anti-neutrino scattering from iron. Structure functions, F_2(x,Q^2) and xF_3(x,Q^2), are determined by fitting the inelasticity, y, dependence of the cross sections. This measurement has significantly improved systematic precision as a consequence of more precise understanding of hadron and muon energy scales.
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.
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.