MINERvA Detector: Description and Performance

Abstract: The MINERvA experiment is aimed at precisely measuring the cross-sections for various neutrino interaction channels. It is located at Fermilab in the underground cavern in front of MINOS near detector. MINERvA is a fine-grained scintillator with electromagnetic and hadronic calorimetry regions. There are various nuclear targets located inside and in front of the detector for studying nuclear medium effects in neutrino-induced interactions. The installation was completed in March 2010 and since then the detector has been collecting data. In this paper, the method for determining the neutrino flux is described in detail with the associated uncertainties as well as the techniques for their reduction. The general structure of the detector is given with the emphasis on the nuclear targets region. Preliminary results related to nuclear effects studies are presented followed by their discussion and future plans.