https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-020-08577-5
Regular Article - Experimental Physics
Adjusting neutrino interaction models and evaluating uncertainties using NOvA near detector data
1
Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, 60439, Lemont, IL, USA
2
Universidad del Atlantico, Carrera 30 No. 8-49, Puerto Colombia, Atlantico, Colombia
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Department of Physics, Institute of Science, Banaras Hindu University, 221 005, Varanasi, India
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California Institute of Technology, 91125, Pasadena, CA, USA
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Charles University, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Institute of Particle and Nuclear Physics, Prague, Czech Republic
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Department of Physics, University of Cincinnati, 45221, Cincinnati, OH, USA
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Department of Physics, Cochin University of Science and Technology, 682 022, Kochi, India
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Department of Physics, Colorado State University, 80523-1875, Fort Collins, CO, USA
9
Czech Technical University in Prague, Brehova 7, 115 19, Prague 1, Czech Republic
10
University of Dallas, 1845 E Northgate Drive, 75062, Irving, TX, USA
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Department of Physics and Astrophysics, University of Delhi, 110007, Delhi, India
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Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, 60510, Batavia, IL, USA
13
Instituto de Física, Universidade Federal de Goiás, 74690-900, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil
14
Department of Physics, IIT Guwahati, 781 039, Guwahati, India
15
Department of Physics, Harvard University, 02138, Cambridge, MA, USA
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Department of Physics, University of Houston, 77204, Houston, TX, USA
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School of Physics, University of Hyderabad, 500 046, Hyderabad, India
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Department of Physics, IIT Hyderabad, 502 205, Hyderabad, India
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Illinois Institute of Technology, 60616, Chicago, IL, USA
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Indiana University, 47405, Bloomington, IN, USA
21
Institute of Computer Science, The Czech Academy of Sciences, 182 07, Prague, Czech Republic
22
Institute for Nuclear Research of Russia, Academy of Sciences 7a, 60th October Anniversary prospect, 117312, Moscow, Russia
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Institute of Physics, The Czech Academy of Sciences, 182 21, Prague, Czech Republic
24
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Iowa State University, 50011, Ames, IA, USA
25
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California at Irvine, 92697, Irvine, CA, USA
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Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, 141980, Dubna, Moscow Region, Russia
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Nuclear Physics and Astrophysics Division, Lebedev Physical Institute, Leninsky Prospect 53, 119991, Moscow, Russia
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Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, 48824, East Lansing, MI, USA
29
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota Duluth, 55812, Duluth, MN, USA
30
School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, 55455, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
31
University of Mississippi, 38677, University, MS, USA
32
Department of Physics, Panjab University, 160 014, Chandigarh, India
33
Department of Physics, University of Pittsburgh, 15260, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
34
Department of Physics, University of South Alabama, 36688, Mobile, AL, USA
35
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of South Carolina, 29208, Columbia, SC, USA
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South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, 57701, Rapid City, SD, USA
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Department of Physics, Southern Methodist University, 75275, Dallas, TX, USA
38
Department of Physics, Stanford University, 94305, Stanford, CA, USA
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Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Sussex, BN1 9QH, Falmer, Brighton, UK
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Department of Physics, Syracuse University, 13210, Syracuse, NY, USA
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Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Tennessee, 37996, Knoxville, TN, USA
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Department of Physics, University of Texas at Austin, 78712, Austin, TX, USA
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Department of Physics and Astronomy, Tufts University, 02155, Medford, MA, USA
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Physics and Astronomy Department, University College London, Gower Street, WC1E 6BT, London, UK
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Department of Physics, University of Virginia, 22904, Charlottesville, VA, USA
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Department of Mathematics, Statistics, and Physics, Wichita State University, 67206, Wichita, KS, USA
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Department of Physics, William & Mary, 23187, Williamsburg, VA, USA
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Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 53706, Madison, WI, USA
Received:
17
June
2020
Accepted:
19
October
2020
Published online:
4
December
2020
The two-detector design of the NOvA neutrino oscillation experiment, in which two functionally identical detectors are exposed to an intense neutrino beam, aids in canceling leading order effects of cross-section uncertainties. However, limited knowledge of neutrino interaction cross sections still gives rise to some of the largest systematic uncertainties in current oscillation measurements. We show contemporary models of neutrino interactions to be discrepant with data from NOvA, consistent with discrepancies seen in other experiments. Adjustments to neutrino interaction models in GENIE are presented, creating an effective model that improves agreement with our data. We also describe systematic uncertainties on these models, including uncertainties on multi-nucleon interactions from a newly developed procedure using NOvA near detector data.
© The Author(s) 2020
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