The availability of the double-differential charged-current neutrino cross section, measured by the MiniBooNE collaboration using a carbon target, allows for a systematic comparison of nuclear effects in quasi-elastic electron and neutrino scattering. The results of theoretical studies based on the impulse approximation scheme and state-of-the-art models of the nuclear spectral functions suggest that the electron cross section and the flux averaged neutrino cross sections corresponding to the same target and seemingly comparable kinematical conditions can not be described within the same theoretical scheme using the value ofthe nucleon axial mass obtained from deuterium measurements. I analyze the assumptions underlying the treatment of electron scattering data, and argue that the development of a new {\em paradigm}, suitable for application to processes in which the lepton kinematics is not fully determined, will be required.
I discuss the near-degeneracy between models of neutrino-nucleus interactions based on diverse assumptions, and analyze a specific example illustrating how the different reaction mechanisms taken into account, as well as the approximations associated with their implementation, may conspire to make the prediction of two models look similar. I argue that the relevant reaction mechanisms may be unambiguously identified exploiting the availability of electron-nucleus scattering data other than inclusive cross sections, providing detailed information on the nuclear spectral function.
We present a detailed study of a continuum random phase approximation approach to quasielastic electron-nucleus and neutrino-nucleus scattering. The formalism is validated by confronting ($e,e'$) cross-section predictions with electron scattering data for the nuclear targets $^{12}$C, $^{16}$O, and $^{40}$Ca, in the kinematic region where quasielastic scattering is expected to dominate. We examine the longitudinal and transverse contributions to $^{12}$C($e,e'$) and compare them with the available data. Further, we study the $^{12}$C($ν_μ,μ^{-}$) cross sections relevant for accelerator-based n…
In this paper we study the influence of nuclear medium effects on quasi-elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering processes. We focus on effects provided by the nuclear mean field and random phase correlations and pay special attention to differences between neutrino- and antineutrino-induced reactions. We confront our results with the T2K and MiniBooNE data for both neutrinos and antineutrinos and the neutrino-antineutrino asymmetry. In view of the recently published ab initio results we provide a careful comparison between our cross section predictions and the ab-initio calculations.
We present a detailed study of charged-current (CC) neutrino-nucleus reactions in a fully relativis- tic framework and comparisons with recent experiments spanning an energy range from hundreds of MeV up to 100 GeV within the SuperScaling Approach, which is based on the analysis of electron- nucleus scattering data and has been recently improved with the inclusion of Relativistic Mean Field theory effects. We also evaluate and discuss the impact of two-particle two-hole meson-exchange currents (2p-2h MEC) on neutrino-nucleus interactions through the analysis of two-particle two-hole axial and …
The effects of the nuclear structure uncertainties on the description of processes induced by coherent scattering of neutrinos on nuclei are investigated. A reference calculation based on a specific nuclear model is defined and the cross sections and also the expected number of events produced by neutrinos generated by the explosion of a supernova in our galaxy, and by a spallation neutron source are evaluated. By changing the input parameters of the reference calculation their relevance on cross sections and on the number of the detected events is estimated. Seven spherical nuclei with differ…
High intensity monoenergetic muon neutrinos of energy 236 MeV from kaon decay at rest (KDAR) at the medium energy proton accelerator facilities like J-PARC and Fermilab are proposed to be used for making precision measurements of neutrino-nucleus cross sections in $^{12}C$ and $^{40}Ar$ and perform neutrino oscillation experiments in $ν_μ\to ν_μ$ and $ν_μ\to ν_e$ modes. In view of these developments, we study the theoretical uncertainties arising due to the nuclear medium effects in the neutrino-nucleus cross sections as well as in the angular and energy distributions of the charged leptons pr…
We report the results of a study of neutrino-carbon interactions at beam energies ranging between few hundreds MeV and few tens of GeV, carried out within the framework of the impulse approximation using a realistic spectral function. The contributions of quasi elastic scattering, resonance production and deep inelastic scattering---consistently obtained, for first time, from a model based on a realistic description of the nuclear ground state---are compared and analyzed.
We present a detailed study of charged-current quasielastic neutrino-nucleus scattering and of the influence of correlations on one- and two-nucleon knockout processes. The quasielastic neutrino-nucleus scattering cross sections, including the influence of long-range correlations, are evaluated within a continuum random phase approximation approach. The short-range correlation formalism is implemented in the impulse approximation by shifting the complexity induced by the correlations from the wave functions to the operators. The model is validated by confronting $(e,e^\prime)$ cross-section pr…
Open neutrino physics issues require precision studies, both theoretical and experimental ones, and towards this aim coherent neutral current neutrino-nucleus scattering events are expected to be observed soon. In this work, we explore $ν$-nucleus processes from a nuclear theory point of view and obtain results with high confidence level based on accurate nuclear structure cross sections calculations. Besides cross sections, the present study includes simulated signals expected to be recorded by nuclear detectors, differential event rates as well as total number of events predicted to be measu…
The Thermal Quasiparticle Random-Phase Approximation is combined with the Skyrme energy density functional method (Skyrme-TQRPA) to study the response of a hot nucleus to an external perturbation. For the sample nuclei, $^{56}$Fe and $^{82}$Ge, the Skyrme-TQRPA is applied to analyze thermal effects on the strength function of charge-neutral Gamow-Teller transitions which dominate neutrino-nucleus reactions at $E_ν\lesssim 20$~MeV. For the relevant supernova temperatures we calculate the cross sections for inelastic neutrino scattering. We also apply the method to examine the rate of neutrino-a…
We present a continuum random phase approximation approach to study electron- and neutrino-nucleus scattering cross sections, in the kinematic region where quasielastic scattering is the dominant process. We show the validity of the formalism by confronting inclusive ($e,e'$) cross sections with the available data. We calculate flux-folded cross sections for charged-current quasielastic antineutrino scattering off $^{12}$C and compare them with the MiniBooNE cross-section measurements. We pay special emphasis to the contribution of low-energy nuclear excitations in the signal of accelerator-ba…
In this article, we present the charged and neutral current coherent pion production in the neutrino-nucleus interaction in the resonance region using the formalism based on the partially conserved axial current (PCAC) theorem which relates the neutrino-nucleus cross section to the pion-nucleus elastic cross section. The pion nucleus elastic cross section is calculated using the Glauber model approach. We calculate the integrated cross sections for neutrino-carbon, neutrino-iron and neutrino-oxygen scattering. The results of integrated cross-section calculations are compared with the measured …
Different approaches to the calculation of neutrino-nucleus cross sections are summarized. Potential impact of improving the nuclear physics input into neutrino interactions and cross section calculations on uncovering new physics is discussed using the example of reactor anomaly. Importance of a thorough understanding of neutrino interactions in astrophysics and cosmology is highlighted.
The description of nuclear reactions induced by supernova neutrinos has witnessed significant progress during the recent years. At the energies and momentum transfers relevant for supernova neutrinos neutrino-nucleus cross sections are dominated by allowed transitions, however, often with non-negligible contributions from (first) forbidden transitions. For several nuclei allowed Gamow-Teller strength distributions could be derived from charge-exchange reactions and from inelastic electron scattering data. Importantly the diagonalization shell model has been proven to accurately describe these …
In this article, we study the coherent pion production in neutrino-nucleus interaction in the resonance region using the formalism based on partially conserved axial current (PCAC) theorem which relates the neutrino-nucleus cross section to the pion-nucleus elastic cross section. The pion nucleus elastic cross section is calculated using the Glauber model in terms of pion-nucleon cross sections obtained by parameterizing the experimental data. We calculate the differential and integrated cross sections for charged current coherent pion production in neutrino carbon scattering. The results of i…
Distributions of transverse kinematic imbalance in neutrino-nucleus interactions in the few GeV regime are sensitive to nuclear effects. We present a study comparing the latest predictions of transverse kinematic imbalance from the interaction simulations, NuWro and GENIE. We dis- cuss the differences between the model predictions.
