arXiv subjects

F. Akbar

Publications and source records attributed to F. Akbar.

67 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2019

Tuning the GENIE Pion Production Model with MINERvA Data

Faced with unresolved tensions between neutrino interaction measurements at few-GeV neutrino energies, current experiments are forced to accept large systematic uncertainties to cover discrepancies between their data and model predictions. In this paper, the widely used pion production model in GENIE is compared to four MINERvA charged current pion production measurements using NUISANCE. Tunings, ie, adjustments of model parameters, to help match GENIE to MINERvA and older bubble chamber data are presented here. We find that scattering off nuclear targets as measured in MINERvA is not in good agreement with scattering off nucleon (hydrogen or deuterium) targets in the bubble chamber data. An additional ad hoc correction for the low-$Q^2$ region, where collective effects are expected to be large, is also presented. While these tunings and corrections improve the agreement of GENIE with the data, the modeling is imperfect. The development of these tunings within the NUISANCE frameworkallows for straightforward extensions to other neutrino event generators and models, and allows omitting and including new data sets as they become available.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2019

Neutron measurements from anti-neutrino hydrocarbon reactions

Charged-current anti-neutrino interactions on hydrocarbon scintillator in the MINERvA detector are used to study activity from their final-state neutrons. To ensure that most of the neutrons are from the primary interaction, rather than hadronic reinteractions in the detector, the sample is limited to momentum transfers below 0.8 GeV/c. From 16,129 interactions, 15,246 neutral particle candidates are observed. The reference simulation predicts 64\% of these candidates are due to neutrons from the anti-neutrino interaction directly, but also overpredicts the number of candidates by 15\% overall, which is beyond the standard uncertainty estimates for models of neutrino interactions and neutron propagation in the detector. Using the measured distributions for energy deposition, time of flight, position, and speed, we explore the sensitivity to the details those two aspects of the models. We also use multiplicity distributions to evaluate the presence of a two-nucleon knockout process. These results provide critical new information toward a complete description of the hadronic final state of neutrino interactions, which is vital to neutrino oscillation experiments.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2019

Measurement of $\barν_μ$ charged-current single $π^{-}$ production on hydrocarbon in the few-GeV region using MINERvA

The antineutrino scattering channel $\barν_μ \,\text{CH} \rightarrow μ^{+} \,π^{-} \,X$(nucleon(s)) is analyzed in the incident energy range 1.5 to 10 GeV using the MINERvA detector at Fermilab. Differential cross sections are reported as functions of $μ^{+}$ momentum and production angle, $π^{-}$ kinetic energy and production angle, and antineutrino energy and squared four-momentum transfer. Distribution shapes are generally reproduced by simulations based on the GENIE, NuWro, and GiBUU event generators, however GENIE (GiBUU) overestimates (underestimates) the cross-section normalizations by 8% (10%). Comparisons of data with the GENIE-based reference simulation probe conventional treatments of cross sections and pion intranuclear rescattering. The distribution of non-track vertex energy is used to decompose the signal sample into reaction categories, and cross sections are determined for the exclusive reactions $μ^{+} π^{-} n$ and $ μ^+ π^{-} p$. A similar treatment applied to the published MINERvA sample $\barν_μ \,\text{CH} \rightarrow μ^{+} \,π^{0} \,X$(nucleon(s)) has determined the $μ^{+} π^{0} n$ cross section, and the latter is used with $σ(π^{-} n)$ and $σ(π^{-} p)$ to carry out an isospin decomposition of $\barν_μ$-induced CC($π$). The ratio of magnitudes and relative phase for isospin amplitudes $A_{3}$ and $A_{1}$ thereby obtained are: $R^{\barν} = 0.99 \pm 0.19$ and $ϕ^{\barν} = 93^{\circ} \pm 7^{\circ}$. Our results are in agreement with bubble chamber measurements made four decades ago.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2019

Antineutrino Charged-Current reactions on Hydrocarbon with Low Momentum Transfer

We report on multinucleon effects in low momentum transfer ($< 0.8$ GeV/c) anti-neutrino interactions on plastic (CH) scintillator. These data are from the 2010-2011 antineutrino phase of the MINERvA experiment at Fermilab. The hadronic energy spectrum of this inclusive sample is well described when a screening effect at low energy transfer and a two-nucleon knockout process are added to a relativistic Fermi gas model of quasielastic, $Δ$ resonance, and higher resonance processes. In this analysis, model elements introduced to describe previously published neutrino results have quantitatively similar benefits for this antineutrino sample. We present the results as a double-differential cross section to accelerate investigation of alternate models for antineutrino scattering off nuclei.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2018

Reducing model bias in a deep learning classifier using domain adversarial neural networks in the MINERvA experiment

We present a simulation-based study using deep convolutional neural networks (DCNNs) to identify neutrino interaction vertices in the MINERvA passive targets region, and illustrate the application of domain adversarial neural networks (DANNs) in this context. DANNs are designed to be trained in one domain (simulated data) but tested in a second domain (physics data) and utilize unlabeled data from the second domain so that during training only features which are unable to discriminate between the domains are promoted. MINERvA is a neutrino-nucleus scattering experiment using the NuMI beamline at Fermilab. $A$-dependent cross sections are an important part of the physics program, and these measurements require vertex finding in complicated events. To illustrate the impact of the DANN we used a modified set of simulation in place of physics data during the training of the DANN and then used the label of the modified simulation during the evaluation of the DANN. We find that deep learning based methods offer significant advantages over our prior track-based reconstruction for the task of vertex finding, and that DANNs are able to improve the performance of deep networks by leveraging available unlabeled data and by mitigating network performance degradation rooted in biases in the physics models used for training.

physics.data-an↗

arXiv2018

Measurement of Quasielastic-Like Neutrino Scattering at $\left< E_ν\right> \sim 3.5$~ GeV on a Hydrocarbon Target

MINERvA presents a new analysis of neutrino induced quasielastic-like interactions in a hydrocarbon tracking target. We report a double-differential cross section using the muon transverse and longitudinal momentum. In addition, differential cross sections as a function of the square of the four-momentum transferred and the neutrino energy are calculated using a quasielastic hypothesis. Finally, an analysis of energy deposited near the interaction vertex is presented. These results are compared to modified GENIE predictions as well as a NuWro prediction. All results use a dataset produced by $3.34\times10^{20}$ protons on target creating a neutrino beam with a peak energy of approximately 3.5 GeV

hep-ex↗

arXiv2018

Measurement of final-state correlations in neutrino muon-proton mesonless production on hydrocarbon at $\langle E_ν\rangle=3$ GeV

Final-state kinematic imbalances are measured in mesonless production of $ν_μ+ A \to μ^- + p + X$ in the MINERvA tracker. Initial- and final-state nuclear effects are probed using the direction of the $μ^-$-p transverse momentum imbalance and the initial-state momentum of the struck neutron. Differential cross sections are compared to predictions based on current approaches to medium modeling. These models under-predict the cross section at intermediate intranuclear momentum transfers that generally exceed the Fermi momenta. As neutrino interaction models need to correctly incorporate the effect of the nucleus in order to predict neutrino energy resolution in oscillation experiments, this result points to a region of phase space where additional cross section strength is needed in current models, and demonstrates a new technique that would be suitable for use in fine grained liquid argon detectors where the effect of the nucleus may be even larger.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2017

Weak quasielastic electroproduction of hyperons with polarization observables

With the availability of high luminosity electron beam at the accelerators, there is now the possibility of studying weak quasielastic hyperon production off the proton, i.e. $e^-p \to ν_e Y(Y=Λ,Σ^0)$, which will enable the determination of the nucleon-hyperon vector and axial-vector transition form factors at high $ Q^2$ in the strangeness sector and provide test of the Cabibbo model, G-invariance, CVC, PCAC hypotheses and SU(3) symmetry. In this work, we have studied the total cross section, differential cross section as well as the longitudinal and perpendicular components of polarization of the final hyperons ($ Λ$ and $Σ^0$ produced in these reactions) and presented numerical results for these observables and their sensitivity to the transition form factors.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2016

Quasielastic production of polarized hyperons in antineutrino--nucleon reactions

We have studied the differential cross section as well as the longitudinal and perpendicular components of polarization of final hyperon($Λ$,$Σ$) produced in the antineutrino induced quasielastic charged current reactions on nucleon and nuclear targets. The nucleon-hyperon transition form factors are determined from the experimental data on quasielastic $(ΔS =0)$ charged current (anti)neutrino--nucleon scattering and the semileptonic decay of neutron and hyperons assuming G--invariance, T--invariance and SU(3) symmetry. The vector transition form factors are obtained in terms of nucleon electromagnetic form factors for which various parameterizations available in literature have been used. A dipole parameterization for the axial vector form factor and the pseudoscalar transition form factor derived in terms of axial vector form factor assuming PCAC and GT relation extended to strangeness sector have been used in numerical evaluations. The flux averaged cross section and polarization observables corresponding to CERN Gargamelle experiment have been calculated for quasielastic hyperon production and found to be in reasonable agreement with the experimental observations. The numerical results for the flux averaged differential cross section$\frac{dσ}{dQ^2}$ and longitudinal(perpendicular) polarization $P_L(Q^2)(P_P(Q^2))$ relevant for the antineutrino fluxes of MINER$ν$A, MicroBooNE, and T2K experiments have been presented. This will be useful in interpreting future experimental results on production cross sections and polarization observables from the experiments on the quasielastic production of hyperons induced by antineutrinos and explore the possibility of determining the axial vector and pseudoscalar form factors in the strangeness sector.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2016

Weak Quasielastic Production of Hyperons

We present the results for antineutrino induced quasielastic hyperon production from nucleon and nuclear targets \cite{Alam:2014bya,Singh:2006xp}. The inputs are the nucleon-hyperon(N--Y) transition form factors determined from the analysis of neutrino-nucleon scattering and semileptonic decays of neutron and hyperons using SU(3) symmetry. The calculations for the nuclear targets are done in local density approximation. The nuclear medium effects(NME) like Fermi motion, Pauli blocking and final state interaction(FSI) effects due to hyperon-nucleon scattering have been taken into account. The hyperons giving rise to pions through weak decays also contribute to the weak pion production in addition to the $Δ$ excitation mechanism which dominates in the energy region of $<$ 0.7 GeV. We also present the results of longitudinal and perpendicular components of polarization of final hyperon \cite{Akbar:2016awk}. These measurements in the future accelerator experiments with antineutrinos may give some information on axial vector and pseudoscalar form factors in the strangeness sector.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2016

Lepton production cross sections in quasielastic $ν/\barν-$A scattering

We present the results of (anti)neutrino induced CCQE cross sections from some nuclear targets in the energy region of $E_ν\le 1 GeV$. The aim of the study is to confront electron and muon production cross sections relevant for $ν_μ\leftrightarrow ν_e$ or $\barν_μ\leftrightarrow \barν_e$ oscillation experiments. The effects due to lepton mass and its kinematic implications, second class currents and uncertainties in the axial and pseudoscalar form factors are discussed for (anti)neutrino induced reaction cross sections on free nucleon as well as the nucleons bound in a nucleus where nuclear medium effects influence the cross section. The calculations have been performed using local Fermi gas model with nucleon correlation effects. The details are given in Ref.[1].

nucl-th↗

arXiv2016

Revisiting $ν_μ(\barν_μ)$ and $ν_e(\barν_e) $ Induced Quasielastic Scattering from Nuclei in Sub-GeV Energy Region

We present the results of charged current quasielastic(CCQE) scattering cross sections from free as well as bound nucleons like in $^{12}C$, $^{16}O$, $^{40}Ar$ and $^{208}Pb$ nuclear targets in $E_ν(_{\barν})~\le~ $1 GeV energy region. The results are obtained using local Fermi gas model with and without RPA effect. The differences those may arise in the electron and muon production cross sections due to the different lepton mass, uncertainties in the axial dipole mass $M_A$ and pseudoscalar form factor, and due to the inclusion of second class currents have been highlighted for neutrino/antineutrino induced processes.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2015

Electron and Muon production cross sections in quasielastic $ν(\barν)$-Nucleus scattering for $E_ν< 1~GeV$

In this work, we have studied (anti)neutrino induced charged current quasielastic scattering from some nuclear targets in the energy region of $E_ν< 1~GeV$. Our aim is to confront electron and muon production cross sections relevant for $ν_μ\leftrightarrow ν_e$ or $\barν_μ\leftrightarrow \barν_e$ oscillation experiments. The effects due to lepton mass and its kinematic implications, radiative corrections, second class currents and uncertainties in the axial and pseudoscalar form factors are calculated for (anti)neutrino induced reaction cross sections on free nucleon as well as the nucleons bound in a nucleus where nuclear medium effects influence the cross section. For the nuclear medium effects we have taken some versions of Fermi gas model(FGM) available in literature. The results for (anti)neutrino-nucleus scattering cross section per interacting nucleons are compared with the corresponding results in free nucleon case.

nucl-th↗