First search for the EMC effect and nuclear shadowing in neutrino nucleus deep inelastic scattering at MINERVA

Decades of research in electron-nucleus deep inelastic scattering (DIS) have provided a clear picture of nuclear physics at high momentum transfer. While these effects have been clearly demonstrated by experiment, the theoretical explanation of their origin in some kinematic regions has been lacking. Particularly, the effects in the intermediate regions of Bjorken-x, anti-shadowing and the EMC effect have no universally accepted quantum mechanical explanation. In addition, these effects have not been measured systematically with neutrino-nucleus deep inelastic scattering, due to experiments lacking multiple heavy targets.;The MINER&ngr;A (Main Injector Experiment &ngr;-A) experiment, located in the Neutrinos at the Main Injector (NuMI) facility at Fermilab, is designed explicitly to measure these kind of effects with neutrinos. MINE&ngr;A is equipped with solid targets of graphite, iron, lead and plastic scintillator. The plastic scintillator region provides excellent particle tracking capabilities, and the MINOS (Main Injector Neutrino Oscillation Search) near detector is used as a downstream muon spectrometer. The exposure of multiple nuclear targets to an identical neutrino beam allows for a systematic study of these nuclear effects.;An analysis of the MINER&ngr;A DIS data on carbon, iron, lead and plastic scintillator has been conducted in the energy region 5 ≤ E &ngr; < 50 GeV and thetamu < 17°. The data are presented as ratios of the total cross section (sigma(E &ngr;)) as well as the differential cross section with respect to Bjorken-x (dsigma/dxbj) of carbon, iron and lead to scintillator. The total cross section data is useful for deciphering gross nuclear effects which effect neutrino energy reconstruction. No significant differences between simulation and MIN&ngr;A DIS data are observed in the total cross section. The ratios of the xbj differential ratios however, may provide clues for decoding long standing questions about the EMC effect. The MINER&ngr;A data tend to support no difference in the strength of the EMC effect from charged lepton scattering. There is a suggestion of additional nuclear shadowing, not predicted by simulation, in the ratio of lead to scintillator.