Measurements of Charged Current Reactions of muon neutrinos on C12

Abstract

Charged current scattering of ν_μon ^{12}C has been studied using a π^+ decay-in-flight ν_μbeam at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center. A sample of 66.9+-9.1 events satisfying criteria for the exclusive reaction ^{12}C(ν_μ,μ^-)^{12}N_{g.s.} was obtained using a large liquid scintillator neutrino detector. The observed flux-averaged cross section (5.6+-0.8+-1.0) x 10^{-41} cm^2 agrees well with reliable theoretical expectations. A measurement was also obtained for the inclusive cross section to all accessible ^{12}N states ^{12}C(ν_μ,μ^-)X. This flux-averaged cross section is (10.6+-0.3+-1.8) x 10^{-40} cm^2 which is lower than present theoretical calculations.