The semiexclusive channel ${\nu }_{\mu }+\mathrm{CH}\to {\mu }^{-}{\pi }^0+\text{nucleon}(\mathrm{s})$ is analyzed using MINERvA exposed to the low-energy NuMI ${\nu }_{\mu }$ beam with spectral peak at $E_{\nu }\simeq 3\mathrm{GeV}$. Differential cross sections for muon momentum and production angle, ${\pi }^0$ kinetic energy and production angle, and for squared four-momentum transfer are reported, and the cross section $\sigma (E_{\nu })$ is obtained over the range $1.5\mathrm{GeV}\le E_{\nu }<20\mathrm{GeV}$. Results are compared to GENIE and NuWro predictions and to published MINERvA cross sections for charged-current ${\pi }^{+}({\pi }^0)$ production by ${\nu }_{\mu }({\overline{\nu }}_{\mu })$ neutrinos. Disagreements between data and simulation are observed at very low and relatively high values for muon angle and for $Q^2$ that may reflect shortfalls in modeling of interactions on carbon. For ${\pi }^0$ kinematic distributions, however, the data are consistent with the simulation and provide support for generator treatments of pion intranuclear scattering. Using signal-event subsamples that have reconstructed protons as well as ${\pi }^0$ mesons, the $p{\pi }^0$ invariant mass distribution is obtained, and the decay polar and azimuthal angle distributions in the rest frame of the $p{\pi }^0$ system are measured in the region of $\mathrm{\Delta }(1232{)}^{+}$ production, $W<1.4\mathrm{GeV}$.

• Received 15 August 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.96.072003