Neutrino-nucleus Interactions Research Articles

Searching for solar KDAR with DUNE

The observation of 236 MeV muon neutrinos from kaon-decay-at-rest (KDAR) originating in the core of the Sun would provide a unique signature of dark matter annihilation. Since excellent angle and energy reconstruction are necessary to detect this monoenergetic, directional neutrino flux, DUNE with its vast volume and reconstruction capabilities, is a promising candidate for a KDAR neutrino search. In this work, we evaluate the proposed KDAR neutrino search strategies by realistically modeling both neutrino-nucleus interactions and the response of DUNE. We find that, although reconstruction of the neutrino energy and direction is difficult with current techniques in the relevant energy range, the superb energy resolution, angular resolution, and particle identification offered by DUNE can still permit great signal/background discrimination. Moreover, there are non-standard scenarios in which searches at DUNE for KDAR in the Sun can probe dark matter interactions.

First T2K measurement of transverse kinematic imbalance in the muon-neutrino charged-current single- π+ production channel containing at least one proton

This paper reports the first T2K measurement of the transverse kinematic imbalance in the single-$\pi^+$ production channel of neutrino interactions. We measure the differential cross sections in the muon-neutrino charged-current interaction on hydrocarbon with a single $\pi^+$ and at least one proton in the final state, at the ND280 off-axis near detector of the T2K experiment. The extracted cross sections are compared to the predictions from different neutrino-nucleus interaction event generators. Overall, the results show a preference for models which have a more realistic treatment of nuclear medium effects including the initial nuclear state and final-state interactions.

Commissioning of a High Pressure Time Projection Chamber with Optical Readout

The measurements of proton–nucleus scattering and high resolution neutrino–nucleus interaction imaging are key in reducing neutrino oscillation systematic uncertainties in future experiments. A High Pressure Time Projection Chamber (HPTPC) prototype has been constructed and operated at the Royal Holloway University of London and CERN as a first step in the development of a HPTPC that is capable of performing these measurements as part of a future long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment, such as the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment. In this paper, we describe the design and operation of the prototype HPTPC with an argon based gas mixture. We report on the successful hybrid charge and optical readout using four CCD cameras of signals from 241Am sources.

Inclusive and exclusive neutrino-nucleus cross sections and the reconstruction of the interaction kinematics

We present a full kinematic analysis of neutrino-nucleus charged current quasielastic interactions based on the Local Fermi Gas model and the Random Phase Approximation. The model was implemented in the NEUT Monte Carlo framework, which allows us to investigate potentially measurable observables, including hadron distributions. We compare the predictions simultaneously to the most recent T2K and MINERvA charged current (CC) inclusive, CC0π and transverse kinematic-imbalance variable results. We pursuit a microscopic interpretation of the relevant reaction mechanisms, with the aim to achieving in neutrino oscillation experiments a correct reconstruction of the incoming neutrino kinematics, free of conceptual biasses. Such study is of the utmost importance for the ambitious experimental program which is underway to precisely determine neutrino properties, test the three-generation paradigm, establish the order of mass eigenstates and investigate leptonic CP violation.

First measurement using a nuclear emulsion detector of theνμcharged-current cross section on iron around the 1 GeV energy region

AbstractWe have carried out $\nu_{\mu}$ charged-current interaction measurement on iron using an emulsion detector exposed to the T2K neutrino beam in the J-PARC neutrino facility. The data samples correspond to $4.0 \times 10^{19}$ protons on target, and the neutrino mean energy is 1.49 GeV. The emulsion detector is suitable for precision measurements of charged particles produced in neutrino–iron interactions with a low momentum threshold thanks to a thin-layered structure and sub-$\mu$m spatial resolution. The charged particles are successfully detected, and their multiplicities are measured using the emulsion detector. The cross section was measured to be $\sigma^{\mathrm{Fe}}_{\mathrm{CC}} = (1.28 \pm 0.11({\mathrm{stat.}})^{+0.12}_{-0.11}({\mathrm{syst.}})) \times 10^{-38} \, {\mathrm{cm}}^{2}/{\mathrm{nucleon}}$. The cross section in a limited kinematic phase space of induced muons, $\theta_{\mu} < 45^{\circ}$ and $p_{\mu} > 400 \, {\rm MeV}/c$, on iron was $\sigma^{\mathrm{Fe}}_{\mathrm{CC \hspace{1mm} phase \hspace{0.5mm} space}} = (0.84 \pm 0.07({\mathrm{stat.}})^{+0.07}_{-0.06}({\mathrm{syst.}})) \times 10^{-38} \, {\mathrm{cm}}^{2}/{\mathrm{nucleon}}$. The cross-section results are consistent with previous values obtained via different techniques using the same beamline, and they are reproduced well by current neutrino interaction models. These results demonstrate the capability of the detector in the detailed measurement of neutrino–nucleus interactions around the 1 GeV energy region.

Coulomb sum rule for He4 and O16 from coupled-cluster theory

We demonstrate the capability of coupled-cluster theory to compute the Coulomb sum rule for the $^4$He and $^{16}$O nuclei using interactions from chiral effective field theory. We perform several checks, including a few-body benchmark for $^4$He. We provide an analysis of the center-of-mass contaminations, which we are able to safely remove. We then compare with other theoretical results and experimental data available in the literature, obtaining a fair agreement. This is a first and necessary step towards initiating a program for computing neutrino-nucleus interactions from first principles and supporting the experimental long-baseline neutrino program with a state-of-the-art theory that can reach medium-mass nuclei.

A model for neutrino-nucleus interactions in the GeV region

We review the recent progress in modelling neutrino-nucleus scattering, in a framework based on scaling which describes simultaneously the nuclear response to electromagnetic and weak probes. The study is relevant for the analysis of neutrino oscillation data and the design of the next generation experiments Hyper-Kamiokande and DUNE.

Unified model of nucleon elastic form factors and implications for neutrino-oscillation experiments

Precise knowledge of the nucleon's axial-current form factors is crucial for modeling GeV-scale neutrino-nucleus interactions. Unfortunately, the axial form factor remains insufficiently constrained to meet the precision requirements of upcoming long-baseline neutrino-oscillation experiments. This work studies the nucleon's axial and vector form factors using the light-front approach to build a quark-diquark model of the nucleon with an explicit pion cloud. The light-front wave functions in both the quark and pion-baryon Fock spaces are first calibrated to existing experimental information on the nucleon's electromagnetic form factors and then used to predict the axial form factor. The resulting squared charge radius of the axial pseudovector form factor is predicted to be ${r}_{A}^{2}=0.29\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.03\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{fm}}^{2}$, where the small error accounts for the model's parametric uncertainty. We use our form factor results to explore the (quasi)elastic scattering of neutrinos by (nuclei)nucleons, with the result that the widely implemented dipole ansatz is an inadequate approximation of the full form factor for modeling both processes. The approximation leads to a 5%--10% overestimation of the total cross section, depending on the (anti)neutrino energy. We project overestimations of similar size in the flux-averaged cross sections for the upcoming DUNE long-baseline neutrino-oscillation experiment.

Simultaneous measurement of the muon neutrino charged-current cross section on oxygen and carbon without pions in the final state at T2K

This paper reports the first simultaneous measurement of the double differential muon neutrino charged-current cross section on oxygen and carbon without pions in the final state as a function of the outgoing muon kinematics, made at the ND280 off-axis near detector of the T2K experiment. The ratio of the oxygen and carbon cross sections is also provided to help validate various models' ability to extrapolate between carbon and oxygen nuclear targets, as is required in T2K oscillation analyses. The data are taken using a neutrino beam with an energy spectrum peaked at 0.6 GeV. The extracted measurement is compared with the prediction from different Monte Carlo neutrino-nucleus interaction event generators, showing particular model separation for very forward-going muons. Overall, of the models tested, the result is best described using Local Fermi Gas descriptions of the nuclear ground state with RPA suppression.

Nuclear structure uncertainties in coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering

The effects of the nuclear structure uncertainties on the description of processes induced by coherent scattering of neutrinos on nuclei are investigated. A reference calculation based on a specific nuclear model is defined and the cross sections and also the expected number of events produced by neutrinos generated by the explosion of a supernova in our galaxy, and by a spallation neutron source are evaluated. By changing the input parameters of the reference calculation their relevance on cross sections and on the number of the detected events is estimated. Seven spherical nuclei with different proton to neutron ratios are considered as possible targets of the neutrinos in the detector, the lightest being 12C and the heaviest 208Pb. The effects generated by the uncertainties of the nuclear model are much smaller than those due to the supernova neutrino flux models. This makes the coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering a reliable tool to investigate the details of the neutrino sources, the neutrino-nucleus interaction, and, eventually, also to extract information about neutron distributions in nuclei.

Measurement of beam-correlated background neutrons from the Fermilab Booster Neutrino Beam in ANNIE Phase-I

The Accelerator Neutrino Neutron Interaction Experiment (ANNIE) aims to make a unique measurement of neutron yield from neutrino-nucleus interactions and to perform R&D for the next generation of water-based neutrino detectors. In this paper, we characterize beam-induced neutron backgrounds in the experimental hall at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. It is shown that the background levels are sufficiently low to allow the next stage of the experiment to proceed. These measurements are relevant to other Booster Neutrino Beam (BNB) [1] experiments located adjacent to ANNIE Hall, where dirt neutrons and sky-shine could present similar backgrounds.

Implementation of the SuSAv2-meson exchange current 1p1h and 2p2h models in GENIE and analysis of nuclear effects in T2K measurements

We first present the implementation and validation of the SuSAv2-MEC 1p1h and 2p2h models in the GENIE neutrino-nucleus interaction event generator and a comparison of the subsequent predictions to measurements of lepton and hadron kinematics from the T2K experiment. These predictions are also compared to those of other available models in GENIE. We additionally compare the semi-inclusive predictions of the implemented 1p1h model to those of the microscopic model on which SuSAv2 is based - Relativistic Mean Field (RMF) - to begin to test the validity of widely-used `factorisation' assumptions employed by generators to predict hadron kinematics from inclusive input models. The results highlight that a more precise treatment of hadron kinematics in generators is essential in order to attain the few-% level uncertainty on neutrino interactions necessary for the next generation of accelerator-based long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiments.

W -boson and trident production in TeV–PeV neutrino observatories

Detecting TeV--PeV cosmic neutrinos provides crucial tests of neutrino physics and astrophysics. The statistics of IceCube and the larger proposed IceCube-Gen2 demand calculations of neutrino-nucleus interactions subdominant to deep-inelastic scattering, which is mediated by weak-boson couplings to nuclei. The largest such interactions are W-boson and trident production, which are mediated instead through photon couplings to nuclei. In a companion paper [1], we make the most comprehensive and precise calculations of those interactions at high energies. In this paper, we study their phenomenological consequences. We find that: (1) These interactions are dominated by the production of on-shell W-bosons, which carry most of the neutrino energy, (2) The cross section on water/iron can be as large as 7.5%/14% that of charged-current deep-inelastic scattering, much larger than the quoted uncertainty on the latter, (3) Attenuation in Earth is increased by as much as 15%, (4) W-boson production on nuclei exceeds that through the Glashow resonance on electrons by a factor of $\simeq$ 20 for the best-fit IceCube spectrum, (5) The primary signals are showers that will significantly affect the detection rate in IceCube-Gen2; a small fraction of events give unique signatures that may be detected sooner.

Recent highlights on neutrino-nucleus interactions

The recent developments on neutrino-nucleus interactions at low and intermediate energies are reviewed and discussed in conjunction with the recent data of atmospheric, solar, and accelerator neutrino experiments. The theoretical nuclear physics approaches used to interpret and predict phenomena for which neutrinos play a crucial role are also investigated. We emphasize on the implications of neutrino reactions and properties into the astrophysical phenomena and atmospheric neutrino problems.

Validation of neutrino energy estimation using electron scattering data

To study neutrino oscillations, the knowledge of the initial neutrino energy is required. This energy cannot be determined directly because neutrino beams have a broad energy distribution. Instead, the initial energy for each event is estimated from the final state particles of a neutrino-nucleus interaction using two main approaches. It can be determined either from the total energy of all the final state particles or, if the neutrino scatters quasi-elastically from a bound nucleon, then the initial energy can be calculated approximately using the scattered angle and energy of the outgoing charged lepton. This requires a detailed understanding of neutrino-nucleus interaction cross section for various interaction channels, for different atomic nuclei, and for a wide range of neutrino energies. None of these energy reconstruction techniques have been tested experimentally using beams of known energy. We exploited the similarity of electron-nucleus and neutrino-nucleus interactions, and applied the methods of neutrino energy estimation to Jefferson Lab CLAS electron scattering data for 1.1, 2.2 and 4.4 GeV electrons incident on 3He, 4He, C and Fe targets. We show that the energy reconstruction from the scattered electron plus proton provides a better description of the beam energy than the energy reconstruction from the scattered electron alone, however only 16 - 55% of events reconstruct to within 5% of the beam energy. The energy reconstruction works better for lighter nuclei and lower energies. The tails in the reconstructed energy distributions, corresponding to low (compared to the beam energy) reconstructed energy values, are almost identical for the two reconstruction methods and the consistency between the results from two reconstruction methods does not imply accuracy. We show that energy reconstruction is improved by restricting the transverse momentum of the scattered electron plus proton to be smaller than the nuclear Fermi momentum. We have also compared the results from data to GENIE neutrino event generator results running in electron scattering mode, using the most up to date version. We show that GENIE fails to fully describe the data. We also looked at the potential effects of incorrect energy reconstruction for the proposed DUNE experiment, by generating events with GENIE but reconstructing them using our data. The difference is far greater than the needed DUNE precision.

Study of Charged-Current neutrino interactions on water with nuclear emulsion in the NINJA experiment

Neutrino-nucleus interaction is one of the major sources of the uncertainty for neutrino oscillation experiments. The NINJA experiment aims to measure neutrino-water interactions containing low-momentum secondary particles using a nuclear emulsion detector. Since the nuclear emulsion has sub-micron position resolution, it allows us to observe the interaction vertices clearly. Short proton tracks down to 200 MeV/c momentum are expected to be observed, which are hardly reconstructed in plastic scintillator based detectors. A series of test experiments has been carried out with prototype detectors at J-PARC. In a test run in 2017-2018, a 3 kg water target detector was exposed to anti-neutrino beam corresponding to 0.7 × 1021 POT (protons on target). We have successfully detected low momentum protons above 200 MeV/c threshold from neutrino-water interactions.

T2K-WAGASCI: MIDAS-based DAQ software and online monitor for the readout of a large number of MPPCs

The WAGASCI project aims to perform a study of neutrino-nucleus interactions at the J-PARC accelerator in Japan with a new fine-grained neutrino detector (WAGASCI module) coupled with muon range detectors (WallMRD and BabyMIND).The WAGASCI module main target for neutrinos is purified water. A hollow cuboid lattice made of scintillators bars is used to detect charged particles coming out of the neutrino interaction points. Measurements in wide phase space become possible by the combination of the WAGASCI modules, side and downstream muon range detectors. The downstream-MRD, the so-called BabyMIND detector, also works as a magnet and provides charge identification capability as well as magnetic momentum measurement for high energy muons.The DAQ of the WAGASCI experiment is a modern DAQ that takes the object oriented paradigm to a new level of sofistication. Not only objects are exensively used, but the very architecture of the DAQ itself is modular, composed of many blocks indipendent from each other and with a clear external API. This makes adding new functionality quite easy and maintaing the software less time consuming.Our DAQ is an hybrid made up of multiple packages, most notably MIDAS (a DAQ framework developed at TRIUMF and PSI), Pyrame (a frontend software developed at LLR) and the well-known ROOT (developed at CERN). It is the first attempt to merge MIDAS and Pyrame, in a hopefully armonic and organical way. This is because the official T2K DAQ software is MIDAS-based while the WAGASCI frontend electronics is supported by Pyrame only.

ANNIE: Neutron multiplicity in neutrino interactions and new technologies

The Accelerator Neutrino Neutron Interaction Experiment (ANNIE) aims at measuring the neutron abundance in the final state of neutrino-nucleus interactions. This measurement will have a direct impact on our understanding of neutrino interactions and will lead to a better reduction of systematic errors and an improvement of signal-background discrimination in future large neutrino detectors, thus impacting long baseline oscillation experiments as well as proton decay searches and supernova detection. With a volume of about 26 tons of pure water doped with gadolinium to enhance neutron tagging efficiency, ANNIE will provide a measurement of the neutron yield of neutrino interactions as a function of the neutrino energy in the well-characterized Booster Neutrino Beam at Fermilab. The modularity of ANNIE will allow it to perform several fundamental tests of new technologies to be used in neutrino detectors, such as a novel kind of photodetectors called Large Area Picosecond Photodetectors and Water-based Liquid Scintillator, a newly-developed detection medium. The technology behind the ANNIE detector will have a noticeable impact on the development of future large water Cherenkov detectors as well as on detection techniques for neutrino physics.

Neutral current neutrino-nucleus scattering: theory

The treatment of nuclear effects in neutrino-nucleus interactions is one of the main sources of systematic uncertainty for the analysis and interpretation of data of neutrino oscillation experiments. Neutrinos interact with nuclei via charged or neutral currents and both cases must be studied to obtain a complete information. We give an overview of the theoretical work that has been done to describe nuclear effects in neutral-current neutrino-nucleus scattering in the kinematic region ranging between beam energies of a few hundreds MeV to a few GeV, which is typical of most ongoing and future accelerator-based neutrino experiments, and where quasielastic scattering is the main interaction mechanism. We review the current status and challenges of the theoretical models, the role and relevance of the contributions of different nuclear effects, and the present status of the comparison between the numerical predictions of the models as well as the available experimental data. We discuss also the sensitivity to the strange form factors of the nucleon and the methods and observables that can allow one to obtain evidence for a possible strange quark contribution from measurements of neutrino and antineutrino-nucleus scattering.

Impact of cross-sectional uncertainties on DUNE sensitivity due to nuclear effects

In neutrino oscillation experiments precise measurement of neutrino oscillation parameters is of prime importance as well as a challenge. To improve the statistics, presently running and proposed experiments are using heavy nuclear targets. These targets introduce nuclear effects and the quantification of these effects on neutrino oscillation parameters will be decisive in the prediction of neutrino oscillation physics. Limited understanding of neutrino nucleus interactions and inaccurate reconstruction of neutrino energy causes uncertainty in the cross section. The error in the determination of cross section which contributes to systematic error introduces error in the neutrino mixing parameters that are determined by these experiments. In this work we focus on the variation in the predictions of DUNE potential, arising due to systematic uncertainties, using two different event generators-GENIE and GiBUU. These generators have different and independent cross-section models. To check the DUNE potential with the two generators we have checked the sensitivity studies of DUNE for CP violation, mass hierarchy and octant degeneracy.