This paper reports on measurements of the total cross section for the inclusive reaction vμ+N, as a function of incident energy. Neutrinos and antineutrinos with energy in the range 3
Measurements of flux-normalized neutrino and antineutrino total charged-current cross sections (σ) in the energy range 45<E<205 GeV are presented. We see no evidence for the anomalous sharp rise in σν¯σν reported by earlier authors. The neutrino cross section rises linearly with energy and with σE about 18% smaller than other measurements below 10 GeV. The average antineutrino slope at 55 GeV is consistent with measurements at low energy; however, a (20 ± 10)% increase is indicated over our energy range.
We present results on flux-normalized neutrino and antineutrino cross sections near y=0 from data obtained in the Fermilab narrow-band beam. We conclude that values of σ0=dσdy|y=0 are consistent with rising linearly with energy over the range 45<~Eν<~20.5 GeV. The separate averages of ν and ν¯, each measured to 4%, are equal to well within the errors. The best fit for the combined data gives σ0E=(0.719±0.035)×10−38 cm2/GeV at an average Eν of 100 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.