This thesis explores the electron-neutrino and antineutrino cross section on argon using the MicroBooNE liquid argon time projection chamber detector.
With only a handful of electron neutrino cross section measurements in the hundred MeV to GeV range to date and only one of them on argon as the target nucleus: the result from the ArgoNeuT experiment, there is a need for new, large statistics, electron-neutrino cross section measurements.
The measurements in this thesis utilize the NuMI neutrino beamline which is highly off-axis to the MicroBooNE detector but provides a rich source of electron-neutrinos. Critical to the measurement of the cross section is a detailed understanding of the flux of neutrinos at MicroBooNE and the uncertainties associated with it. The neutrino flux prediction tools used for the on-axis NuMI experiments are described and studied in detail for their implementation in the case of MicroBooNE. These tools willform the foundation for many future measurements using the NuMI beam at MicroBooNE.
The author compares the electron-neutrino argon cross section to several neutrino generators with differing physics models. These comparisons provide important information for the modelling of neutrino interactions with nuclei such as argon.
