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Single pion production and pion propagation in achilles

Joshua Isaacson1,2,*, William Jay3,†, Alessandro Lovato4,5,6,‡, Pedro Machado2,§, Alexis Nikolakopoulos7,∥, Noemi Rocco2,¶, and Noah Steinberg4,2,**

  • *Contact author: isaacs21@msu.edu
  • †Contact author: william.jay@colostate.edu
  • ‡Contact author: lovato@anl.gov
  • §Contact author: pmachado@fnal.gov
  • ∥Contact author: anikolak@uw.edu
  • Contact author: nrocco@fnal.gov
  • **Contact author: nsteinberg@anl.gov
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Phys. Rev. D 113, 036005 – Published 4 February, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/13bh-22lm

Abstract

We extend the applicability of achilles (A CHIcagoLand Lepton Event Simulator) by incorporating the single pion production mechanism in a fully exclusive fashion. The electroweak interaction vertex is modeled by combining the state-of-the-art dynamical coupled-channels approach with realistic hole spectral functions, which account for correlations in both the initial target state and the residual spectator system. Final-state interactions are treated using a semiclassical intranuclear cascade that leverages nuclear configurations to determine the correlated spatial distribution of protons and neutrons. The meson-baryon scattering amplitudes used in the cascade are computed within the dynamical coupled-channels framework, consistent with the electroweak vertex. To model pion absorption, we employ the optical potential approach of Oset and Salcedo [Nucl. Phys. A484, 557 (1988).]. As an alternative approach, we explicitly model the production and propagation of resonances which mediate pion-nucleon scattering and pion absorption. We validate our approach against pion-nucleon and pion-nucleus scattering data, and present comparisons with electron- and neutrino-nucleus measurements from e4ν, T2K, MINERνA, and MicroBooNE.

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Phys. Rev. D 113, 036005– Published 4 February, 2026
  • Received 19 September 2025
  • Accepted 8 December 2025
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