Speaker
Description
COHERENT studies low-energy neutrino-nucleus interactions on various target nuclei. Charged-current interactions occur on high-Z shielding materials and produce a sizable background. Detector subsystems use lead shielding, and so measuring this background rate is of great importance. A 2021 measurement gave an interaction rate less than one third times the simulated prediction. One possible explanation lies in the theoretical framework used in the simulation. Depending on the employed nuclear model, cross-section amplitudes vary substantially with the direction of the charged-current lepton and are particularly sensitive to back-scattering channels. The Metal Sandwich, consisting of layered scintillator and lead, will attempt to recover lepton directionality and test this explanation. Swapping out the lead with other metals will also provide a unique opportunity to further add to the sparse collection of neutrino charged-current measurements at low energies.