First Measurement of η Meson Production in Neutrino Interactions on Argon with MicroBooNE

Abstract

We present a measurement of η production from neutrino interactions on argon with the MicroBooNE detector. The modeling of resonant neutrino interactions on argon is a critical aspect of the neutrino oscillation physics program being carried out by the DUNE and Short Baseline Neutrino programs. η production in neutrino interactions provides a powerful new probe of resonant interactions, complementary to pion channels, and is particularly suited to the study of higher-order resonances beyond the Δð1232Þ. We measure a flux-integrated cross section for neutrino-induced η production on argon of 3.22 0.84ðstatÞ 0.86ðsystÞ 10−41 cm2=nucleon. By demonstrating the successful reconstruction of the two photons resulting from η production, this analysis enables a novel calibration technique for electromagnetic showers in GeV accelerator neutrino experiments.