A new measurement of the ratio of the cross sections of muon-neutrino and muon-antineutrino scattering on electrons

A new experimental determination of the electro-weak mixing angle θ_W is reported based on a second exposure of the CHARM calorimeter to the CERN-SPS wide-band beam. The ratio R of muon-neutrino- and muon-antineutrino-electron scattering cross section has been determined from a sample of 37 ± 10 and 35 ± 10 events. The experimental result is R = 1.26_?0.45^+0.72, corresponding to a value of sin²θ_W = 0.216 ± 0.055. The total sample of events collected in the CHARM calorimeter during the two exposures is $\text{(83 ± 16)ν}{}_{\mathrm{\mu }}\text{e}\text{events and}\text{(112 ± 21)}\text{ν}{}_{\mathrm{\mu }}\text{e}$ events, leadint to the final result sin²θ_W = 0.215 ± 0.032. The systematic error is estimated to be ± 0.012.