Coherent production of π^{+} and π^{-} mesons by charged-current interactions of neutrinos and antineutrinos on neon nuclei at the Fermilab Tevatron

Abstract

Coherent single-pion production on neon nuclei is studied using the Fermilab 15-ft bubble chamber filled with a heavy Ne-${\mathrm{H}}_{2}$ mixture and exposed to the Tevatron neutrino beam. In the neutrino energy range 40--300 GeV, the net signal is 20\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}6 events, giving a corrected rate per charged-current event of (0.26\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.10)%. The cross section and kinematic distributions agree with the predictions of a model based on partial conservation of axial-vector current and meson dominance.