Building Precision for DUNE: From GeV-Scale Cross-Section Measurements to MeV-Scale Detector Innovations

Abstract: The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE), a next-generation long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment, aims to make precision measurements of fundamental neutrino properties, including leptonic CP violation and the neutrino mass ordering. Achieving the percent-level precision required for these goals demands an accurate understanding of neutrino-nucleus interactions. In this talk, I will present new measurements of multi-differential cross sections for charged-current muon-neutrino interactions on argon without final-state pions, performed with the MicroBooNE liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) detector. These results probe the GeV-scale regime relevant to DUNE's oscillation program and provide important constraints for refining models of neutrino-nucleon interactions and nuclear effects. While DUNE's primary focus lies at GeV energies, its physics program can extend to lower energies thanks to the low threshold of LArTPCs. In this region, supernova neutrinos and other low-energy phenomena could be studied. I will briefly discuss ongoing R&D aimed at improving LArTPC performance at these energies. Using a small prototype detector, TinyTPC (2.5 kg active mass), the use of photosensitive dopants is explored to enhance charge collection and energy resolution. Collectively, these efforts, from precise GeV-scale cross-section measurements to novel approaches for improving energy resolution at the MeV scale, support DUNE's broader mission to advance our understanding of the fundamental nature of neutrinos.