First observation of coherent π0 production in neutrino–nucleus interactions with Eν<2 GeV

The MiniBooNE experiment at Fermilab has amassed the largest sample to date of π0s produced in neutral current (NC) neutrino–nucleus interactions at low energy. This Letter reports a measurement of the momentum distribution of π0s produced in mineral oil (CH2) and the first observation of coherent π...

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Veröffentlicht in:Physics letters. B 2008-06, Vol.664 (1-2), p.41-46
Hauptverfasser: Aguilar-Arevalo, A.A., Anderson, C.E., Bazarko, A.O., Brice, S.J., Brown, B.C., Bugel, L., Cao, J., Coney, L., Conrad, J.M., Cox, D.C., Curioni, A., Djurcic, Z., Finley, D.A., Fleming, B.T., Ford, R., Garcia, F.G., Garvey, G.T., Green, C., Green, J.A., Hart, T.L., Hawker, E., Imlay, R., Johnson, R.A., Karagiori, G., Kasper, P., Katori, T., Kobilarcik, T., Kourbanis, I., Koutsoliotas, S., Laird, E.M., Linden, S.K., Link, J.M., Liu, Y., Louis, W.C., Mahn, K.B.M., Marsh, W., Martin, P.S., McGregor, G., Metcalf, W., Meyers, P.D., Mills, F., Mills, G.B., Monroe, J., Moore, C.D., Nelson, R.H., Nguyen, V.T., Nienaber, P., Nowak, J.A., Ouedraogo, S., Patterson, R.B., Perevalov, D., Polly, C.C., Prebys, E., Raaf, J.L., Ray, H., Roe, B.P., Russell, A.D., Sandberg, V., Schirato, R., Schmitz, D., Shaevitz, M.H., Shoemaker, F.C., Smith, D., Soderberg, M., Sorel, M., Spentzouris, P., Stancu, I., Stefanski, R.J., Sung, M., Tanaka, H.A., Tayloe, R., Tzanov, M., Van de Water, R., Wascko, M.O., White, D.H., Wilking, M.J., Yang, H.J., Zeller, G.P., Zimmerman, E.D.
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Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:The MiniBooNE experiment at Fermilab has amassed the largest sample to date of π0s produced in neutral current (NC) neutrino–nucleus interactions at low energy. This Letter reports a measurement of the momentum distribution of π0s produced in mineral oil (CH2) and the first observation of coherent π0 production below 2 GeV. In the forward direction, the yield of events observed above the expectation for resonant production is attributed primarily to coherent production off carbon, but may also include a small contribution from diffractive production on hydrogen. Integrated over the MiniBooNE neutrino flux, the sum of the NC coherent and diffractive modes is found to be (19.5±1.1(stat)±2.5(sys))% of all exclusive NC π0 production at MiniBooNE. These measurements are of immediate utility because they quantify an important background to MiniBooNE's search for νμ→νe oscillations.
ISSN:0370-2693
1873-2445
DOI:10.1016/j.physletb.2008.05.006