MINERvA s Open Data Product: A First for Neutrino Data Preservation
Access to information on neutrino nucleus interactions is critical to the success of all neutrino oscillation experiments. MINERvA's rich dataset covers a range of energies and nuclei unique amongst experiments, and as such is critical to the community in building the important shared knowledge needed to unravel the mysteries of the neutrino. In particular, its dataset provides the greatest statistical coverage in in the range of neutrino energies pertinent for DUNE until DUNE's near detector begins operation. Historically, such significant datasets in neutrino physics have been preserved primarily through their published results. While meaningful and useful, this limits the ability to explore the data to its fullest extent as new perspectives continue to form. MINERvA has undertaken a major effort to break this trend and preserve its data in a format to be as analyzable as possible from outside the collaboration. This has culminated in the officially-released MINERvA Open Data Product for the community to take advantage of and utilize. Maintaining direct access to the dataset in an analyzable form will allow new insights to continue to be extracted indefinitely. This talk will cover the contents of this product, the information included (and excluded), the tools provided to utilize the product effectively, the support MINERvA intends to provide in its use, and some lessons learned through the process.