A Measurement of the Total Hadronic π⁻ on Argon Cross Section in the Kinetic Energy Range from 0.2–1 Giga-Electron Volts in a Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber

The liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) technology offers fine-grained tracking along with excellent calorimetric and particle identification capabilities, making it a powerful tool for experimental neutrino physics. Thus, the LArTPC has become the technology of choice for studying neutrino oscillations over short (< 1 km) and long (> 1000 km) baselines by experiments such as MicroBooNE, SBND, ICARUS, and DUNE. The LArIAT (Liquid Argon in a Test-beam) experiment exposes a LArTPC to a controlled beam of charged particles at the Fermilab Test Beam Facility to perform calibration studies and measurements of charged hadron–argon cross sections, with the goal of helping to reduce systematic uncertainties in LArTPC-based neutrino experiments. This work presents a measurement of the total hadronic π⁻–Ar cross section in the kinetic energy range from 0.2 GeV to 1 GeV, using data from the LArIAT experiment.