Measurement of the Z/A dependence of neutrino charged-current total cross-sections

A relative measurement of total cross-sections is reported for polyethylene, marble, iron, and lead targets for the inclusive charged-current reaction \(\nu_\mu + N \rightarrow \mu^- + X\). The targets, passive blocks of \(\sim100\) kg each, were exposed simultaneously to the CERN SPS wide-band muon-neutrino beam over a period of 18 weeks. Systematic effects due to differences in the neutrino flux and detector efficiency for the different target locations were minimised by changing the position of the four targets on their support about every two weeks. The relative neutrino fluxes on the targets were monitored within the same experiment using charged-current interactions in the calorimeter positioned directly downstream of the four targets. From a fit to the Z/A dependence of the total cross-sections a value is deduced for the effective neutron-to-proton cross-section ratio.