Cross sections for the interaction ${\nu }_{\mu }A\to {\mu }^{-}{\pi }^{0}X$ with neutrino energies between 1 and 5 GeV are measured using a sample of 165,000 selected events collected in the NOvA experiment’s near detector, a hydrocarbon-based detector exposed to the Neutrinos from the Main Injector beam at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. Results are presented as a flux-averaged total cross section and as differential cross sections in the momenta and angles of the outgoing muon and ${\pi }^0$, the total four-momentum transfer, and the invariant mass of the hadronic system. Comparisons are made with predictions from a reference version of the genie neutrino interaction generator. The measured total cross section of ($3.57\pm 0.44)\times {10}^{-39}{\mathrm{cm}}^2$ is 7.5% higher than the genie prediction, but is consistent within experimental errors.

• Received 22 February 2023
• Accepted 5 June 2023

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.107.112008

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI. Funded by SCOAP³.

Published by the American Physical Society