Neutrino-argon cross-section measurements from the MicroBooNE experiment

TL;DR

MicroBooNE addresses the critical need for precise neutrino–argon cross-sections to reduce energy-reconstruction systematics in oscillation experiments. It leverages a liquid-argon TPC exposed to the Booster and NuMI beams to deliver a broad cross-section program, including inclusive CC, CC0π, pion production, and rare channels, with high-statistics measurements and novel reconstruction approaches. Key results include the first CC0π double-differential measurements, ν_e CC1π± and NCπ0 cross-sections on argon, and rare Λ, K+, and η production, enabling stringent tests of interaction models and final-state interactions. Together, these measurements constrain event generators and nuclear models, reduce backgrounds for proton-decay searches, and inform the precision goals of future LArTPC-based experiments such as DUNE and SBN.

Abstract

MicroBooNE is a liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) neutrino detector located along the Fermilab Booster Neutrino Beam and 8 degrees off-axis to the Neutrinos at the Main Injector beam. MicroBooNE collected data from both beams accumulating a large neutrino-argon scattering dataset containing hundreds of thousands of events. Understanding neutrino-argon interactions is crucial for the next generation of neutrino oscillation experiments including DUNE. MicroBooNE has developed pioneering methodologies and novel reconstruction tools in order to benchmark models at very high sensitivity across the interaction phase space, including for ultra-rare channels. This proceeding presents an overview of the most recent MicroBooNE neutrino interaction results. These measurements span inclusive, CC0$π$, and rare channels including $Λ$, $K^+$ and $η$ production, providing invaluable datasets for constraining backgrounds and improving the modeling of neutrino scattering critical for the broader LArTPC neutrino physics program.

Figures (5)

• Figure 1: Examples of the flux-integrated cross-section measurements performed by MicroBooNE.
• Figure 2: The unfolded differential cross-section for the inclusive $\nu_{\mu}$CC events with zero or multiple reconstructed protons as a function of proton multiplicity (left) MicroBooNE:2024zwf and the leading proton's kinetic energy (right) MicroBooNE:2024zkh. The dashed line indicates the 35 MeV tracking threshold, below which is a single bin that includes events without protons. The unfolded data points show both statistical and systematic uncertainties.
• Figure 3: Extracted flux-integrated double-differential cross-sections for the CC$0\pi$ signal with respect to $\cos\theta_{\mu}$ in ranges of $p_{\mu}$. The unfolded data points show both statistical and systematic uncertainties. Only the momentum bins, $0.3~{\rm GeV}/c < p_{\mu} < 0.38~{\rm GeV}/c$ and $0.38~{\rm GeV}/c < p_{\mu} < 0.48~{\rm GeV}/c$, are shown here, with the full results available in ref. MicroBooNE:2025ooi
• Figure 4: Two-dimensional correlation between the reconstructed and true $\theta_{\rm vis}$ using the selected signal CC$1p0\pi$ simulated events (left); The flux-integrated single-differential cross-sections as a function of $\theta_{\rm vis}$ reported in regularized truth space (right). The unfolded data points show both statistical and systematic uncertainties.
• Figure 5: Extracted differential cross-sections in pion angle and pion momentum for $\stackrel{(-)}{\nu}_e \mathrm{CC} \mathrm{Np}$ channel (left) and NC$\pi^0$ channel (right), respectively.