First Measurement of νe and νμ Interaction Cross Sections at the LHC with FASER’s Emulsion Detector

Abstract

The first results of the study of high-energy electron neutrino (νe) and muon neutrino (νμ) charged-current interactions in the FASERν emulsion-tungsten detector of the FASER experiment at the LHC are presented. A 128.8 kg subset of the FASERν volume was analyzed after exposure to 9.5 fb−1 of s=13.6 TeV pp data. Four (eight) νe (νμ) interaction candidate events are observed with a statistical significance of 5.2σ (5.7σ). This is the first direct observation of νe interactions at a particle collider and includes the highest-energy νe and νμ ever detected from an artificial source. The interaction cross section per nucleon σ/Eν is measured over an energy range of 560–1740 GeV (520–1760 GeV) for νe (νμ) to be (1.2−0.7+0.8)×10−38 cm2 GeV−1 [(0.5±0.2)×10−38 cm2 GeV−1], consistent with standard model predictions. These are the first measurements of neutrino interaction cross sections in those energy ranges. Published by the American Physical Society 2024