Calorimetric Detector Response in NOvA

NOvA, the NuMI Off-Axis ν_e Appearance experiment, is a long baseline neutrino oscillation experiment which uses a predominantly muon neutrino, or antineutrino, beam. It is composed of two functionally equivalent liquid scintillator detectors separated by 809 km; a 300 ton near detector located at Fermilab and a 14kt far detector located at Ash River, Minnesota. NOvA’s physics analyses require accurate energy reconstruction. The following studies were performed, using near detector events, to better understand NOvA’s calorimetric detector response. First, we use the π⁰ → γγ decay, where the invariant π⁰ mass is directly correlated to the energy scale, to peek at the electromagnetic energy scale calibration. Secondly, we explore NOvA’s calorimetric response to events fully composed of electromagnetic particles, events fully composed of hadronic particles, and events with a mix of both. The lessons learned from quantifying the detector response will be incorporated into future energy reconstruction software.