Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Neutrons can present a significant challenge for neutrino experiments in which energy reconstruction is critical. With the ability to escape detection completely and with a weak correlation between their kinetic energy and any eventual energy deposition, it is difficult to fully account for neutrons produced in neutrino interactions. This in turn leads to significant model dependence when evaluating neutron-related systematic uncertainties. The NOvA experiment is a long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment with a high-statistics sample of antineutrino data collected by its near detector. We report an excess relative to data of simulated neutron candidates with low energy depositions when using standard Geant4 physics lists. The simulation excess is traced to an overabundance of secondary photons produced from interactions of neutrons with kinetic energy greater than \SI{20}{\mega\eV}. Improved agreement with data is obtained by applying the data-driven neutron-on-carbon \menate model for neutrons between \SI{20}{\mega\eV} and ${\sim}$\SI{100}{\mega\eV}. With \menate, the residual oversimulation is more uniform across the calorimetric neutron energy spectrum, suggesting possible overproduction of primary neutrons by the GENIE neutrino interaction generator. These results motivate the adoption of \menate-supplemented Geant4 simulation as the nominal simulation in the production of future \nova simulation.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Authors: NOvA Collaboration, Abubakar, S., Acero, M. A., Acharya, B., Adamson, P., Anfimov, N., Antoshkin, A., Arrieta-Diaz, E., Asquith, L., Aurisano, A., Back, A., Balashov, N., Baldi, P., Bambah, B. A., Bannister, E. F., Barros, A., Barrow, J., Bat, A., Bezerra, T. J. C., Bhatnagar, V., Bhuyan, B., Bian, J., Booth, A. C., Brahma, B., Bromberg, C., Buchanan, N., Burns, J., Butkevich, A., Catano-Mur, E., Cesar, J. P., Chang, C., Chaudhary, S., Chen, H., Choate, S., Choudhary, B. C., Chow, O. T. K., Christensen, A., Cicala, M. F., Coan, T. E., Contreras, T., Cooleybeck, A., Cremonesi, L., Davies, G. S., Derwent, P. F., Dever, K., Djurcic, Z., Dobbs, K., Tonguino, D. Dueñas, Dukes, E. C., Dye, A., Ehrlich, R., Ewart, E., Filip, P., Frank, M. J., Gallagher, H. R., Giri, A., Gomes, R. A., Goodman, M. C., Group, R., Gusmão, A., Habig, A., Hakl, F., Hartnell, J., Hatcher, R., Hays, J. M., He, M., Heller, K., Hewes, V, Himmel, A., Horoho, T., Huang, X., Huynh, T., Ivanova, A., Kaess, K., Kakorin, I., Kalitkina, A., Kaplan, D. M., Khanam, A., Kirezli, B., Kleykamp, J., Klimov, O., Koerner, L. W., Kolupaeva, L., Kufatty, G., Kumar, A., Kuruppu, C. D., Kus, V., Lackey, T., Lang, K., Lister, A., Liu, J., Lock, J. A., Magill, S., Mann, W. A., Manoharan, M. T., Plata, M. Manrique, Marathe, A., Marshak, M. L., Martinez-Casales, M., Matveev, V., Medhi, A., Mehta, B., Messier, M. D., Meyer, H., Miao, T., Mishra, S., Mohanta, R., Moren, A., Morozova, A., Mu, W., Mualem, L., Muether, M., Murthy, C., Myers, D., Nachtman, J., Naples, D., Nelson, J. K., Neogi, O., Nichol, R., Niner, E., Nissan, G., Nixon, M., Norman, A., Norrick, A., Oh, H., Olshevskiy, A., Olson, T., Onel, Y., Pal, A., Paley, J., Panda, L., Patterson, R. B., Pawloski, G., Petti, R., Pradhan, R. K., Prais, L. R., Puhan, S., Rabelhofer, M., Rafique, A., Rajaoalisoa, M., Ramson, B., Rebel, B., Reynolds, C., Roy, P., Sagar, D., Samoylov, O., Sanchez, M. C., Falero, S. Sánchez, Shanahan, P., Sharma, P., Sheshukov, A., Shukla, S., Singh, I., Singh, P., Singh, V., Snopok, P., Solomey, N., Sousa, A., Soustruznik, K., Strait, M., Sullivan, C., Suter, L., Sutton, A., Sutton, K., Swain, S. K., Sztuc, A., Talukdar, N., Tas, P., Thomas, J., Tiras, E., Titus, M., Torun, Y., Tran, D., Trokan-Tenorio, J., Urheim, J., Utt, B., Vahle, P., Vallari, Z., Vockerodt, K. J., Waldron, A. V., Wallbank, M., Wang, B., Weber, C., Wetstein, M., Whittington, D., Wickremasinghe, D. A., Wolcott, J., Wu, W., Xiao, Y., Yaeggy, B., Yahaya, A., Yankelevich, A., Yonehara, K., Zadorozhnyy, S., Zalesak, J., Zhao, L., Zwaska, R.
Institutions: Central University of South Bihar, Banaras Hindu University, University of Delhi, Argonne National Laboratory, Illinois Institute of Technology, Michigan State University, Universidad del Atlántico, University of Cincinnati, Charles University, University of Minnesota, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Florida State University, Iowa State University, California Institute of Technology, University of South Carolina, University of Sussex, Queen Mary University of London, University of Pittsburgh, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Panjab University, The Ohio State University, Syracuse University, The University of Texas at Austin, Cochin University of Science and Technology, University of Houston, Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana University, University of Iowa, University of Mississippi, University of California, Irvine
Topic: Neutrino Physics Research
Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funders: National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, University of Minnesota, Grantová Agentura, Univerzita Karlova, UK Research and Innovation, Russian Foundation for Basic Research, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Goiás, Office of Science, Science and Technology Facilities Council, Fermilab
Awards: G2011917337, G2376186588, G5574724152
OpenAlex ID: W7212040716
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