Measurement of the \(\nu_\mu\) CCQE cross section on carbon with the ND280 detector at T2K

Abstract

The Charged-Current Quasi-Elastic (CCQE) interaction, \(\nu_{l} + n \rightarrow l^{-} + p\), is the dominant CC process at \(E_\nu \sim 1\) GeV and contributes to the signal in accelerator-based long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiments operating at intermediate neutrino energies. This paper reports a measurement by the T2K experiment of the \(\nu_{\mu}\) CCQE cross section on a carbon target with the off-axis detector based on the observed distribution of muon momentum (\(p_\mu\)) and angle with respect to the incident neutrino beam (\(\theta_\mu\)). The flux-integrated CCQE cross section was measured to be \((0.83 \pm 0.12) \times 10^{-38}\textrm{ cm}^{2}\) in good agreement with NEUT MC value of \({0.88 \times 10^{-38}} \textrm{ cm}^{2}\). The energy dependence of the CCQE cross section is also reported. The axial mass, \(M_A^{QE}\), of the dipole axial form factor was extracted assuming the Smith-Moniz CCQE model with a relativistic Fermi gas nuclear model. Using the absolute (shape-only) \(p_{\mu}cos\theta_\mu\) distribution, the effective \(M_A^{QE}\) parameter was measured to be \({1.26^{+0.21}_{-0.18} \textrm{ GeV}/c^{2}}\) (\({1.43^{+0.28}_{-0.22} \textrm{ GeV}/c^{2}}\)).