Neutrino Scattering Uncertainties and their Role in Long Baseline Oscillation Experiments

Abstract

The field of oscillation physics is about to make an enormous leap forward in statistical precision: first through the MINOS experiment in the coming year, and later through the NOvA and T2K experiments. Because of the relatively poor understanding of neutrino interactions in the energy ranges of these experiments, there are systematics that can arise in interpreting far detector data that can be as large as or even larger than the expected statistical uncertainties. We describe how these systematic errors arise, and how specific measurements in a dedicated neutrino scattering experiment like MINERvA can reduce the cross section systematic errors to well below the statistical errors.

arXiv comment18 pages, 7 figures

References in corpus (2)

• The JHF-Kamioka neutrino project
• Neutrino Production of Resonances

Cited by in corpus (6)

• The GENIE Neutrino Monte Carlo Generator
• Model independent determination of the axial mass parameter in quasielastic neutrino-nucleon scattering
• Damping signatures in future neutrino oscillation experiments
• Detecting matter effects in long baseline experiments
• Hadronic Shower Energy Scale Uncertainty in the MINOS Experiment
• Physics at an Upgraded Fermilab Proton Driver