The proposed program to support construction of nuclear targets and critical calibration systems for MINERvA will lead to significant improvements in the capabilities of the experimental detector, in the extension of the range of nuclei over which nuclear interactions can be studied and in the improved ability to reconstruct exclusive final states through an aggressive program of calibration culminating in a test beam run. The MINERvA physics program consists of high rate studies of exclusive final states in neutrino scattering, of the transition between the perturbative and the non-perturbative QCD regime, and of the axial current in the elastic, DIS and off-forward regimes. MINERvA proposes to carry out this program on various nuclei to systematically probe neutrino-induced nuclear effects. The measurements are of importance to other experimental programs, including those seeking to study neutrino oscillations. A strong program of education and outreach accompanies the proposed program including mini-Minerva and mobile-Minerva activities, which are built around the component technologies utilized in the experiment and which will bring the physics of cosmic-ray detection to secondary school classrooms and public and educational demonstration settings.
