From JLab to Fermilab: Electrons for Neutrinos

The ability of current and next generation accelerator based neutrino oscillation measurements to reach their desired sensitivity and provide new insight into the nature of our Universe, requires a high-level of understanding of the neutrino-nucleus interactions. These include precise estimation of the relevant cross sections and the reconstruction of the incident neutrino energy from the measured final state particles. Incomplete understanding of these interactions can skew the reconstructed neutrino spectrum and thereby bias the extraction of fundamental oscillation parameters and searches for new physics.

This e4nu program at JLab exploits the similarity of electron- and neutrino-nucleus interactions. It leverages wide phase-space exclusive electron scattering data with known beam energies to test energy reconstruction methods and interaction models. In this talk, I will present data from the CLAS experiment, collected in the same energy range and on nuclear targets similar to those used in relevant neutrino experiments. I will highlight new results on both inclusive and exclusive pion production.