π0 and the T2K Experiment

Abstract: The Tokai to Kamioka neutrino oscillation experiment aims to determine the third and final lepton mixing angle $\theta_{13}$, through a measurement of the sub-dominant oscillation $\nu_{\mu}\rightarrow\nu_{e}$. The oscillation is a maximum as $\nu_{\mu}$ travel 295~km from the near detectors to the far Super-Kamiokande detector. Single $\pi^{0}$ production from neutral current (NC1$\pi^{0}$) neutrino interactions are a significant background to $\nu_{e}$ events in water Cherenkov detectors such as Super-Kamiokande. To reduce this background, the off-axis ND280 near detector contains water target regions to determine the cross-section of such NC1$\pi^{0}$ events. Here, I discuss the status of the detectors and tools in preparation for physics data taking.