Neutrino and antineutrino inclusive charged-current cross section measurements with the MINOS near detector

Abstract

The energy dependence of the neutrino-iron and antineutrino-iron inclusive charged-current cross sections and their ratio have been measured using a high-statistics sample with the MINOS near detector exposed to the NuMI beam from the main injector at Fermilab. Neutrino and antineutrino fluxes were determined using a low hadronic energy subsample of charged-current events. We report measurements of $\ensuremath{\nu}\mathrm{\text{\ensuremath{-}}}\mathrm{Fe}$ ($\overline{\ensuremath{\nu}}\mathrm{\text{\ensuremath{-}}}\mathrm{Fe}$) cross section in the energy range 3--50 GeV (5--50 GeV) with precision of 2%--8% (3%--9%) and their ratio which is measured with precision 2%--8%. The data set spans the region from low energy, where accurate measurements are sparse, up to the high-energy scaling region where the cross section is well understood.