First Measurement of Muon Neutrino Charged Current Quasielastic (CCQE) Double Differential Cross Section

Abstract

Using a high statistics sample of muon neutrino charged current quasielastic (CCQE) events, we report the first measurement of the double differential cross section as a function of muon energy and angle for this process. The result features reduced model dependence and supplies the most complete information on neutrino CCQE scattering to date. Measurements of the absolute cross section as a function of neutrino energy and the single differential cross section as a function of 4-momentum transfer squared are also provided, largely to facilitate comparison with prior measurements. This data is of particular use for understanding the axial-vector form factor of the nucleon as well as improving the simulation of low energy neutrino interactions on nuclear targets, which is of particular relevance for experiments searching for neutrino oscillations.