Measurement of K(+) production cross section by 8 GeV protons using high-energy neutrino interactions in the SciBooNE detector

Abstract

The SciBooNE Collaboration reports K[superscript +] production cross section and rate measurements using high-energy daughter muon neutrino scattering data off the SciBar polystyrene (C[subscript 8]H[subscript 8]) target in the SciBooNE detector. The K[superscript +] mesons are produced by 8 GeV protons striking a beryllium target in Fermilab Booster Neutrino Beam line (BNB). Using observed neutrino and antineutrino events in SciBooNE, we measure d[superscript 2]σ/dpdΩ=(5.34±0.76) mb/(GeV/c×sr) for p+Be→K[superscript +]+X at mean K[superscript +] energy of 3.9 GeV and angle (with respect to the proton beam direction) of 3.7 degrees, corresponding to the selected K[superscript +] sample. Compared to Monte Carlo predictions using previous higher energy K[superscript +] production measurements, this measurement, which uses the NUANCE neutrino interaction generator, is consistent with a normalization factor of 0.85±0.12. This agreement is evidence that the extrapolation of the higher energy K[superscript +] measurements to an 8 GeV beam energy using Feynman scaling is valid. This measurement reduces the error on the K[superscript +] production cross section from 40% to 14%.