Chris Marshall (Univ. of Rochester) "Measurement of $K^{+}$ production by neutrinos at MINERvA"

Abstract:
Charged kaon production by atmospheric neutrinos is a background in searches for the proton decay $p \rightarrow K^{+} \bar{\nu}$. Measurements of neutrino-induced $K^{+}$ production are important inputs for current and future proton decay searches at Super-K, Hyper-K and DUNE. The MINERvA neutrino-nucleus cross section experiment at Fermilab uses timing information to isolate a sample of $K^{+}$ decay-at-rest events. I will present the first differential cross section measurements for both charged- and neutral-current $K^{+}$ production by neutrinos, and discuss how these measurements can be used to constrain background predictions for proton decay. I will also show the first experimental evidence for coherent $K^{+}$ production by neutrinos.