Measurement of single π0 production by coherent neutral-current ν Fe interactions in the MINOS Near Detector

Abstract

Forward single π production by coherent neutral-current interactions, ν A → ν A π , is investigated using a 2.8 × 1 20 protons-on-target exposure of the MINOS Near Detector. For single-shower topologies, the event distribution in production angle exhibits a clear excess above the estimated background at very forward angles for visible energy in the range 1–8 GeV. Cross sections are obtained for the detector medium comprised of 80% iron and 20% carbon nuclei with ⟨ A ⟩ = 48 , the highest⟨ A ⟩ target used to date in the study of this coherent reaction. The total cross section for coherent neutral-current single π production initiated by the ν μ flux of the NuMI low-energy beam with mean (mode) E ν of 4.9 GeV (3.0 GeV), is 77.6 ± 5.0 ( stat ) + 15.0 − 16.8 ( syst ) × 10 − 40 cm 2 per nucleus . The results are in good agreement with predictions of the Berger-Sehgal model.