Measurement of νμ charged-current single π0 production on hydrocarbon in the few-GeV region using MINERvA

The semiexclusive channel ν_μ+CH →μ^-π⁰+nucleon(s ) is analyzed using MINERvA exposed to the low-energy NuMI ν_μ beam with spectral peak at E_ν≃3 GeV . Differential cross sections for muon momentum and production angle, π⁰ kinetic energy and production angle, and for squared four-momentum transfer are reported, and the cross section σ (E_ν) is obtained over the range 1.5 GeV ≤E_ν<20 GeV . Results are compared to GENIE and NuWro predictions and to published MINERvA cross sections for charged-current π⁺(π⁰) production by ν_μ(ν_¯μ) neutrinos. Disagreements between data and simulation are observed at very low and relatively high values for muon angle and for Q² that may reflect shortfalls in modeling of interactions on carbon. For π⁰ kinematic distributions, however, the data are consistent with the simulation and provide support for generator treatments of pion intranuclear scattering. Using signal-event subsamples that have reconstructed protons as well as π⁰ mesons, the p π⁰ invariant mass distribution is obtained, and the decay polar and azimuthal angle distributions in the rest frame of the p π⁰ system are measured in the region of Δ (1232 ⁾⁺ production, W <1.4 GeV .