The MINER n A Experiment

1. The MINERnA Experiment Ronald Ransome Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey Piscataway, NJ For the MINERnA Collaboration FNAL User’s Meeting June 2005

2. MINERnA Main INjector ExpeRiment n-A* MINERnA is a compact, fully active neutrino detector designed to study neutrino-nucleus interactions with unprecedented detail. The detector will be placed in the NuMI beam line, in front (upstream) of the MINOS near detector. *Minerva, pictured above, was the Roman goddess of wisdom and technical skill. FNAL User’s Meeting June 2005

3. The MINERnA Collaboration D. Drakoulakos, P. Stamoulis, G. Tzanakos, M. ZoisUniversity of Athens, Greece D. Casper#, J. Dunmore, C. Regis, B. ZiemerUniversity of California, Irvine E. PaschosUniversity of Dortmund D. Boehnlein, D. A. Harris#, N. Grossman, M. Kostin, J.G. Morfin*, A. Pla-Dalmau, P. Rubinov, P. Shanahan, P. SpentzourisFermi National Accelerator Laboratory M.E. Christy, W. Hinton, C.E. KeppelHampton University R. Burnstein, O. Kamaev, N. SolomeyIllinois Institute of Technology S. KulaginInstitute for Nuclear Research, Russia I. Niculescu. G. NiculescuJames Madison University G. Blazey, M.A.C. Cummings, V. RykalinNorthern Illinois University W.K. Brooks, A. Bruell, R. Ent, D. Gaskell, W. Melnitchouk, S. WoodJefferson Lab S. Boyd, D. Naples, V. PaoloneUniversity of Pittsburgh A. Bodek, R. Bradford, H. Budd, J. Chvojka, P. de Barbaro, S. Manly, K. McFarland*, J. Park, W. Sakumoto, J. SteinmanUniversity of Rochester R. Gilman, C. Glasshausser, X. Jiang,G. Kumbartzki, R. Ransome#, E. SchulteRutgers University A. ChakravortySaint Xavier University D. Cherdack, H. Gallagher, T. Kafka, W.A. Mann, W. OliverTufts University J.K. Nelson#, F.X. YumicevaThe College of William and Mary * Co-Spokespersons# Members of the MINERvA Executive Committee Collaboration of Particle, Nuclear, andTheoretical physicists FNAL User’s Meeting June 2005

4. Objectives of MINERnAPhysics Goals • Axial form factor of the nucleon • Yet to be accurately measured over a wide Q2 range. • Resonance production in both NC and CC neutrino interactions • No statistically significant measurements with 1-5 GeV neutrinos. • Study of “duality” with neutrinos. • Coherent pion production • No statistically significant measurements of s or A-dependence. • Nuclear effects • Expect some significant differences for n-A vs e/m-A nuclear effects. • Strange Particle Production • Important backgrounds for proton decay. • Parton distribution functions • Measurement of high-x behavior of quarks. • Generalized parton distributions FNAL User’s Meeting June 2005

5. Objectives of MINERnAHelping oscillation experiments • Better understanding of relationship between observed energy and incident neutrino energy - MINOS • Improved measurement of exclusive cross sections. • Measurement of n-initiated nuclear effects. • Much improved measurements of n-nucleus exclusive cross sections –NOnA and T2K • Nuclear (A) dependence. • Individual final states cross sections, esp. p0production. • Intra-nuclear charge exchange. FNAL User’s Meeting June 2005

6. How to achieve these objectives? • We need lots of neutrinos. • We need a detector with good tracking resolution, momentum resolution, low momentum threshold, and particle ID. • Identify exclusive final states. • Need a variety of targets to study nuclear dependence. FNAL User’s Meeting June 2005

7. Lots of Neutrinos-NuMI Beam Line MINOS MINERnA 20 GeV (see N. Saoulidou - MINOS talk). FNAL User’s Meeting June 2005

8. n Coil The MINERnA Detector • Active segmented scint. detector 5.87 tons. • ~1 ton each of nuclear target planes (C, Fe, Pb) upstream. MINOS used for higher energy forward muon detection. FNAL User’s Meeting June 2005

9. Clear fiber Assembleinto planes Scintillator and embedded WLS DDK Connectors Cookie M-64 PMT PMT Box Active Detector Elements Basic element: 1.7x3.3cm triangular strips.1.2mm WLS fiber readout in center hole • MINERnA optical system FNAL User’s Meeting June 2005

10. Front View of Detector Layers of iron/scintillator for hadron calorimetry Lead Sheets for EM calorimetry Toroidal magnetic field Inner Detector – X, U, V planes for stereo view FNAL User’s Meeting June 2005

11. Neutrino-Nucleon Cross section NuMI flux range 1-20 GeV FNAL User’s Meeting June 2005

12. Event Rates16 Million total CC events in a 4 - year run Assume16.0x1020 in LE, ME, and HE configurations in 4 years Fiducial Volume = 3 tons CH, ≈ 0.6 t C, ≈ 1 t Fe and ≈ 1 t Pb Expected CC event samples: 8.6 M n events in CH 1.4 M n events in C 2.9 M n events in Fe 2.9 M n events in Pb Main CC Physics Topics with Expected Produced nStatistics in 3 tons of CH • Quasi-elastic 0.8 M events • Resonance Production 1.6 M total • Transition: Resonance to DIS 2 M events • DIS and Structure Functions 4.1 M DIS events • Coherent Pion Production 85 K CC / 37 K NC • Strange and Charm Particle Production > 230 K fullyreconstructed events • Generalized Parton Distributionsorder 10 K events • Nuclear Effects C:1.4 M, Fe: 2.9 M and Pb: 2.9 M FNAL User’s Meeting June 2005

13. Form factor Measurements • Vector form factors measured with electrons. • GE/GM ratio varies with Q2 - a surprise from JLab • Axial form factor poorly known. • Medium effects for FA measurement unknown - MINERnA will use C, Fe, and Pb targets to check this. MINERnA Measurement of Axial FF Expected MiniBooNe and K2K measurements FNAL User’s Meeting June 2005

14. Resonance Production and Duality Neutrino induced resonance production cross sections essentially unknown. Electron scattering has shown relation between structure functions measured in resonance region and DIS. Duality not well understood – could open opportunity to better high-x measurements. FNAL User’s Meeting June 2005

15. Coherent Pion Production Provides a test of the understanding of the weak interaction (the cross section can be calculated in various models), and neutral pion production is a significant background for neutrino oscillations. The p0 shower and can be easily confused with an electron shower. FNAL User’s Meeting June 2005

16. Example of MINERnA’s Analysis Potential Coherent Pion Production A-range of current measurements Data points: MINERnA Rein-Seghal model A Paschos- Kartavtsev model MINERnA’s nuclear targets allow the first measurement of the A-dependence of scoh across a wide A range. MINERnA 4-year run Expected MiniBooNe and K2K measurements FNAL User’s Meeting June 2005

17. Nuclear Effects Most measurements of neutrino interactions have been on heavy nuclei. The statistics have generally been so poor that any changes to measured quantities due to nuclear effects could be safely neglected. No longer! For example, oscillation of the W/Z into mesons can cause interactions with the nuclear medium that differ with A. This can cause shadowing effects which are substantial and different than what has been measured for e/m-A scattering. FNAL User’s Meeting June 2005

18. Sergey Kulagin model Nuclear EffectsPredicted difference n-A vs e/m-A Q2 distribution for SciBar detector Larger than expected rollover at low Q2 MiniBooNE From J. Raaf (NOON04) MINERnA should be able to determine this ratio to a few % for n > 6 GeV. FNAL User’s Meeting June 2005

19. Helping MINOS and NOnA/T2K Measurement of Dm2 with MINOS • Need to understand the relationship between the incoming neutrino energy and the visible energy in the detector. Measurement of sin2 Q13with NOnA • Need absolute cross sections of background reactions. • Note: Calculations are for “old” NOnA detector design. New detector design yields reduced systematic errors. Current Accuracy of Low-energy Cross-sections. With MINERnA measurements of cross sections. FNAL User’s Meeting June 2005

20. Current Status of MINERnA • Received Stage I approval in April 2004. • Successful summer 2004 R&D program concentrating on front-end electronics and scintillator extrusions. • Detailed costing and schedule module exists. • Underwent first FNAL Director’s (Temple) Review in January 2005. • MINERnA is a project in PPD with project directorate approved by Fermilab and project management plan currently under discussion. • Developing prototypes of many components. • Working with Fermilab to understand funding profiles and how to get MINERnA in the lab budget. • Current scheduling model indicates construction starting in Oct. 2006 and installation-finishing/commissioning-starting in early Fall 2008. FNAL User’s Meeting June 2005

21. Conclusions • Neutrinos provide a unique probe of nucleon structure. • New beams have sufficient intensity to do experiments with good statistics with low mass detector (10-100 times better than previous experiments). • MINERnA will provide greatly improved statistics for fundamental measurements and provide significant input for oscillation experiments. • Opportunity for unique and critical FNAL role in world neutrino efforts with a modest-scale project. FNAL User’s Meeting June 2005