Pion-proton correlation in neutrino interactions on nuclei

Abstract

In neutrino-nucleus interactions, a proton produced with a correlated pion might exhibit a left-right asymmetry relative to the lepton scattering plane even when the pion is absorbed. Absent in other proton production mechanisms, such an asymmetry measured in charged-current pionless production could reveal the details of the absorbed-pion events that are otherwise inaccessible. In this study, we demonstrate the idea of using final-state proton left-right asymmetries to quantify the absorbed-pion event fraction and underlying kinematics. This technique might provide critical information that helps constrain all underlying channels in neutrino-nucleus interactions in the GeV regime.