First Double-Differential Cross Section Measurement of Neutral-Current π^{0} Production in Neutrino-Argon Scattering in the MicroBooNE Detector

P Abratenko¹, O Alterkait¹, D Andrade Aldana², L Arellano³, J Asaadi⁴, A Ashkenazi⁵, S Balasubramanian⁶, B Baller⁶, A Barnard⁷, G Barr⁷, D Barrow⁷, J Barrow⁸, V Basque⁶, J Bateman³, O Benevides Rodrigues², S Berkman⁹, A Bhanderi³, A Bhat¹⁰, M Bhattacharya⁶, M Bishai¹¹, A Blake¹², B Bogart¹³, T Bolton¹⁴, J Y Book¹⁵, M B Brunetti¹⁶, L Camilleri¹⁷, Y Cao³, D Caratelli¹⁸, F Cavanna⁶, G Cerati⁶, A Chappell¹⁶, Y Chen¹⁹, J M Conrad²⁰, M Convery¹⁹, L Cooper-Troendle²¹, J I Crespo-Anadón²², R Cross¹⁶, M Del Tutto⁶, S R Dennis²³, P Detje²³, R Diurba²⁴, Z Djurcic²⁵, R Dorrill², K Duffy⁷, S Dytman²¹, B Eberly²⁶, P Englezos²⁷, A Ereditato^{10

6}, J J Evans³, R Fine²⁸, W Foreman², B T Fleming¹⁰, D Franco¹⁰, A P Furmanski⁸, F Gao¹⁸, D Garcia-Gamez²⁹, S Gardiner⁶, G Ge¹⁷, S Gollapinni²⁸, E Gramellini³, P Green⁷, H Greenlee⁶, L Gu¹², W Gu¹¹, R Guenette³, P Guzowski³, L Hagaman¹⁰, M Handley²³, O Hen²⁰, C Hilgenberg⁸, G A Horton-Smith¹⁴, Z Imani¹, B Irwin⁸, M S Ismail²¹, C James⁶, X Ji³⁰, J H Jo¹¹, R A Johnson³¹, Y-J Jwa¹⁷, D Kalra¹⁷, N Kamp²⁰, G Karagiorgi¹⁷, W Ketchum⁶, M Kirby¹¹, T Kobilarcik⁶, I Kreslo²⁴, N Lane³, I Lepetic²⁷, J-Y Li³², Y Li¹¹, K Lin²⁷, B R Littlejohn², H Liu¹¹, W C Louis²⁸, X Luo¹⁸, C Mariani³³, D Marsden³, J Marshall¹⁶, N Martinez¹⁴, D A Martinez Caicedo³⁴, S Martynenko¹¹, A Mastbaum²⁷, I Mawby¹², N McConkey³⁵, V Meddage¹⁴, J Mendez³⁶, J Micallef^{20

1}, K Miller¹⁰, A Mogan³⁷, T Mohayai³⁸, M Mooney³⁷, A F Moor²³, C D Moore⁶, L Mora Lepin³, M M Moudgalya³, S Mulleriababu²⁴, D Naples²¹, A Navrer-Agasson³, N Nayak¹¹, M Nebot-Guinot³², J Nowak¹², N Oza¹⁷, O Palamara⁶, N Pallat⁸, V Paolone²¹, A Papadopoulou²⁵, V Papavassiliou³⁹, H B Parkinson³², S F Pate³⁹, N Patel¹², Z Pavlovic⁶, E Piasetzky⁵, K Pletcher⁹, I Pophale¹², X Qian¹¹, J L Raaf⁶, V Radeka¹¹, A Rafique²⁵, M Reggiani-Guzzo^{32

3}, L Ren³⁹, L Rochester¹⁹, J Rodriguez Rondon³⁴, M Rosenberg¹, M Ross-Lonergan²⁸, I Safa¹⁷, G Scanavini⁴⁰, D W Schmitz¹⁰, A Schukraft⁶, W Seligman¹⁷, M H Shaevitz¹⁷, R Sharankova⁶, J Shi²³, E L Snider⁶, M Soderberg⁴¹, S Söldner-Rembold³, J Spitz¹³, M Stancari⁶, J St John⁶, T Strauss⁶, A M Szelc³², W Tang⁴², N Taniuchi²³, K Terao¹⁹, C Thorpe³, D Torbunov¹¹, D Totani¹⁸, M Toups⁶, A Trettin³, Y-T Tsai¹⁹, J Tyler¹⁴, M A Uchida²³, T Usher¹⁹, B Viren¹¹, J Wang³⁰, M Weber²⁴, H Wei³⁶, A J White¹⁰, S Wolbers⁶, T Wongjirad¹, M Wospakrik⁶, K Wresilo²³, W Wu²¹, E Yandel¹⁸, T Yang⁶, L E Yates⁶, H W Yu¹¹, G P Zeller⁶, J Zennamo⁶, C Zhang¹¹; MicroBooNE Collaboration

Affiliations

¹ Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, USA.
² Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), Chicago, Illinois 60616, USA.
³ The University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, United Kingdom.
⁴ University of Texas, Arlington, Texas 76019, USA.
⁵ Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel.
⁶ Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), Batavia, Illinois 60510, USA.
⁷ University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3RH, United Kingdom.
⁸ University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA.
⁹ Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA.
¹⁰ University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA.
¹¹ Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, New York 11973, USA.
¹² Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YW, United Kingdom.
¹³ University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.
¹⁴ Kansas State University (KSU), Manhattan, Kansas 66506, USA.
¹⁵ Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
¹⁶ University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, United Kingdom.
¹⁷ Columbia University, New York, New York 10027, USA.
¹⁸ University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA.
¹⁹ SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA.
²⁰ Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, Massaschisetts 02139, USA.
²¹ University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, USA.
²² Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas (CIEMAT), Madrid E-28040, Spain.
²³ University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0HE, United Kingdom.
²⁴ Universität Bern, Bern CH-3012, Switzerland.
²⁵ Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Lemont, Illinois 60439, USA.
²⁶ University of Southern Maine, Portland, Maine 04104, USA.
²⁷ Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA.
²⁸ Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA.
²⁹ Universidad de Granada, Granada E-18071, Spain.
³⁰ Nankai University, Nankai District, Tianjin 300071, China.
³¹ University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio 45221, USA.
³² University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3FD, United Kingdom.
³³ Center for Neutrino Physics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, USA.
³⁴ South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (SDSMT), Rapid City, South Dakota 57701, USA.
³⁵ University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom.
³⁶ Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803, USA.
³⁷ Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523, USA.
³⁸ Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47405, USA.
³⁹ New Mexico State University (NMSU), Las Cruces, New Mexico 88003, USA.
⁴⁰ Wright Laboratory, Department of Physics, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA.
⁴¹ Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244, USA.
⁴² University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA.

PMID: 40344138
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.161802

First Double-Differential Cross Section Measurement of Neutral-Current π^{0} Production in Neutrino-Argon Scattering in the MicroBooNE Detector

P Abratenko et al. Phys Rev Lett. 2025.

. 2025 Apr 25;134(16):161802.

doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.161802.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, USA.
² Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), Chicago, Illinois 60616, USA.
³ The University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, United Kingdom.
⁴ University of Texas, Arlington, Texas 76019, USA.
⁵ Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel.
⁶ Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), Batavia, Illinois 60510, USA.
⁷ University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3RH, United Kingdom.
⁸ University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA.
⁹ Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA.
¹⁰ University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA.
¹¹ Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, New York 11973, USA.
¹² Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YW, United Kingdom.
¹³ University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.
¹⁴ Kansas State University (KSU), Manhattan, Kansas 66506, USA.
¹⁵ Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
¹⁶ University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, United Kingdom.
¹⁷ Columbia University, New York, New York 10027, USA.
¹⁸ University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA.
¹⁹ SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA.
²⁰ Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, Massaschisetts 02139, USA.
²¹ University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, USA.
²² Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas (CIEMAT), Madrid E-28040, Spain.
²³ University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0HE, United Kingdom.
²⁴ Universität Bern, Bern CH-3012, Switzerland.
²⁵ Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Lemont, Illinois 60439, USA.
²⁶ University of Southern Maine, Portland, Maine 04104, USA.
²⁷ Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA.
²⁸ Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA.
²⁹ Universidad de Granada, Granada E-18071, Spain.
³⁰ Nankai University, Nankai District, Tianjin 300071, China.
³¹ University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio 45221, USA.
³² University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3FD, United Kingdom.
³³ Center for Neutrino Physics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, USA.
³⁴ South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (SDSMT), Rapid City, South Dakota 57701, USA.
³⁵ University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom.
³⁶ Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803, USA.
³⁷ Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523, USA.
³⁸ Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47405, USA.
³⁹ New Mexico State University (NMSU), Las Cruces, New Mexico 88003, USA.
⁴⁰ Wright Laboratory, Department of Physics, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA.
⁴¹ Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244, USA.
⁴² University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA.

PMID: 40344138
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.161802

Abstract

We report the first double-differential cross section measurement of neutral-current neutral pion (NCπ^{0}) production in neutrino-argon scattering, as well as single-differential measurements of the same channel in terms of final states with and without protons. The kinematic variables of interest for these measurements are the π^{0} momentum and the π^{0} scattering angle with respect to the neutrino beam. A total of 4971 candidate NCπ^{0} events fully contained within the MicroBooNE detector are selected using data collected at a mean neutrino energy of ∼0.8 GeV from 6.4×10^{20} protons on target from the Booster Neutrino Beam at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. After extensive data-driven model validation to ensure unbiased unfolding, the Wiener-singular-value-decomposition method is used to extract nominal flux-averaged cross sections. The results are compared to predictions from commonly used neutrino event generators, which tend to overpredict the measured NCπ^{0} cross section, especially in the 0.2-0.5 GeV/c π^{0} momentum range and at forward scattering angles. Events with at least one proton present in the final state are also underestimated. This data will help improve the modeling of NCπ^{0} production, which represents a major background in measurements of charge-parity violation in the neutrino sector and in searches for new physics beyond the standard model.

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First Double-Differential Cross Section Measurement of Neutral-Current π^{0} Production in Neutrino-Argon Scattering in the MicroBooNE Detector

Affiliations

First Double-Differential Cross Section Measurement of Neutral-Current π^{0} Production in Neutrino-Argon Scattering in the MicroBooNE Detector

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Research Materials

Miscellaneous