MINER n A : Physics Goals

MINERnA: Physics Goals• MINERnA is studying neutrino interactions in

unprecedented detail• Goals

– To make measurements needed for current and future oscillation studies

– To study weak interactions on a variety of strongly boundsystems (He, C, H2O, Fe, Pb)

• Why is NuMI the home for MINERnA? – High intensity for precision studies – Wide range of available energies

• MINERnA detector capabilities– Reconstructs broad range of final states– Multiple nuclear targets for direct extraction of nuclear effects

LHe

Cryotarget

Event Display

Beamline time of Flight particle ID

Pions, m

uons

protons

kaons

Event Display

What MINERnA can provide• Measurement of nuclear effects in, e.g., Iron

– Exclusive: backgrounds/signals for oscillations– Inclusive: to measure nucleon PDF’s

• Test beam detector, built to study our calorimeters, could be reconfigured to mimic another sampling detector, e.g., INO

• MINERvA welcomes collaboration on such topics– For example, a proposal from an LBNE group to replace our water

target with a candidate LBNE near detector design is being formulated

MINERnA Data-taking schedule

• Low Energy Beam physics:– Peak energy: 3.5GeV– From 3/10 until NOvA shutdown (in 2012) – Exclusive final states in plastic

and nuclear targets• Medium Energy Beam physics:

– Peak energy: 7GeV– Concurrent with NOnA– Inclusive measurements at

high statistics, structure functions• Beyond NOnA

– MINERnA–based design is currently one option for LBNE Near Detector

• First test beam run in summer 2010– Testbeam detector is available for future

running. MINERvA is currently considering options and needs.

More MINERnA event displays

• One view of three different events in nuclear targets– From Quasi-elastic to

Deep Inelastic Scattering

strip

strip