Study of neutrino interactions with the electronic detectors of the OPERA experiment

The OPERA experiment is based on a hybrid technology combining electronic detectors (EDs) and nuclear emulsions. OPERA collected muon-neutrino interactions during the 2008 and 2009 physics runs of the CNGS neutrino beam, produced at CERN with an energy range of about 5-35 GeV. A total of 5.3 × 1019 protons on target equivalent luminosity have been analysed with the OPERA EDs: scintillator strips target trackers and magnetic muon spectrometers equipped with resistive plate gas chambers and drift tubes, allowing a detailed reconstruction of muon-neutrino interactions. Charged current (CC) and neutral current (NC) interactions are identified, using the measurements in the EDs, and the NC/CC ratio is computed. The momentum distribution and the charge of the muon tracks produced in CC interactions are analysed. Calorimetric measurements of the visible energy are performed for both the CC and NC samples. For CC events, the Bjorken-y distribution and the hadronic shower profile are computed. The results are compared with a detailed Monte Carlo simulation of the response of EDs. © IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft.