Speaker
Description
Understanding nuclear effects in neutrino–nucleus interactions is essential for current and future neutrino oscillation experiments. The MINERvA experiment provides a unique opportunity to study these effects using its lead-based electromagnetic calorimeter (DSCAL), which enables detailed measurements of hadronic energy in a heavy nuclear target. This work presents ongoing studies of neutrino interactions in lead using MINERvA, focusing on reconstructed distributions of available energy and three-momentum transfer. Comparisons between reconstructed data and simulation are shown for both the tracker (Carbon based) and DSCAL regions. These comparisons demonstrate the experiment’s sensitivity to nuclear effects in heavy nuclei. Studies are presented exploring generator-dependent modeling uncertainties, including comparisons in GENIE . A reweighting approach is being developed to reproduce alternative nuclear interaction models by applying weights derived from generator-level differences in hadronic final-state kinematics. This framework aims to improve evaluation of nuclear model uncertainties and their impact on reconstructed observables. These ongoing studies contribute to improving the modeling of neutrino interactions in heavy nuclei and provide important input for future precision neutrino measurements.