We review some recent progress in the study of electroweak interactions in nuclei within the SuSAv2-MEC model. The model has the capability to predict (anti)neutrino scattering observables on different nuclei. The theoretical predictions are compared with the recent T2K $ν_μ-^{16}$O data and good agreement is found at all kinematics. The results are very similar to those obtained for $ν_μ-^{12}$C scattering, except at low energies, where some differences emerge. The role of meson-exchange currents in the two-particle two-hole channel is analyzed in some detail. In particular it is shown that the density dependence of these contributions is different from what is found for the quasielastic response.
We evaluate quasielastic double-differential antineutrino cross sections obtained in a phenomenological model based on the superscaling behavior of electron scattering data and estimate the contribution of the vector meson-exchange currents in the 2p-2h sector. We show that the impact of meson-exchange currents for charge-changing antineutrino reactions is much larger than in the neutrino case.
We perform a systematic study on the surface property of nucleus-nucleus potential in heavy-ion reactions using large-angle quasielastic scattering at energies well below the Coulomb barrier. At these energies, the quasielastic scattering can be well described by a single-channel potential model. Exploiting this fact, we point out that systems which involve spherical nuclei require the diffuseness parameter of around 0.60 fm in order to fit the experimental data, while systems with a deformed target between 0.8 fm and 1.1 fm.
We illustrate and discuss the role of meson-exchange currents in quasielastic neutrino-nucleus scattering induced by charged currents, comparing the results with the recent MiniBooNE data for differential and integrated cross sections.
We review the theoretical status of the models including the multinucleon emission channel in the calculation of quasielastic neutrino cross sections at MiniBooNE kinematics.
A model based on the relativistic impulse approximation for quasielastic lepton-nucleus scattering is presented. The effects of the final-state interactions (FSI) between the emitted nucleon and the residual nucleus are described by the relativistic Green's function model where FSI are treated consistently with the exclusive scattering and using the same complex optical potential. The results of the model are compared with the results of different descriptions of FSI and with available data for neutrino-nucleus scattering.
The present study is focused on the superscaling behavior of electron-nucleus cross sections in the region lying above the quasielastic peak, especially the region dominated by electroexcitation of the Delta. Non-quasielastic cross sections are obtained from all available high-quality data for Carbon 12 by subtracting effective quasielastic cross sections based on the superscaling hypothesis. These residuals are then compared with results obtained within a scaling-based extension of the relativistic Fermi gas model, including an investigation of violations of scaling of the first kind in the r…
The analysis of the recent charged-current neutrino-nucleus scattering cross sections measured by the MiniBooNE Collaboration requires relativistic theoretical descriptions also accounting for the role of final-state interactions. In this work, we evaluate differential antineutrino-nucleus cross sections with the relativistic Green's function model, where the final-state interactions are described in the inclusive scattering consistently with the exclusive scattering using a complex optical potential. The sensitivity to the parameterization adopted for the phenomenological optical potential is…
The superscaling approach is applied to studies of neutral current neutrino reactions in the quasielastic regime. Using input from scaling analyses of electron scattering data, predictions for high-energy neutrino and antineutrino cross sections are given and compared with results obtained using the relativistic Fermi gas model. The influence of strangeness content inside the nucleons in the nucleus is also explored.
Models developed within the framework of the relativistic impulse approximation for quasielastic (QE) electron and neutrino-nucleus scattering are discussed. Different descriptions of final-state interactions (FSI) in the inclusive scattering are compared: the relativistic Green's function (RGF) and the relativistic mean field (RMF).The results of the models are compared with the recently measured double-differential charged-current QE (CCQE) neutrino MiniBooNE cross sections.
We investigate the MiniBooNE recent data on the antineutrino nucleus interaction, using the same theoretical description with the same parameters as in previous works on neutrino interactions. The double differential quasielastic cross section, which is free from the energy reconstruction problem, is well reproduced by our model once the multinucleon excitations are incorporated. A similar agreement is achieved for the Q^2 distribution.
We evaluate the quasielastic and multinucleon contributions to the antineutrino nucleus scattering cross section and compare our results with the recent MiniBooNE data. We use a local Fermi gas model that includes RPA correlations and gets the multinucleon part from a systematic many body expansion of the $W$ boson selfenergy in the nuclear medium. The same model had been quite successful for the neutrino cross section and contains no new parameters. We have also analysed the relevance of 2p2h events for the antineutrino energy reconstruction.
We analyze available experimental data on the total and differential charged-current cross sections for quasielastic neutrino and antineutrino scattering off nucleons, measured with a variety of nuclear targets in the accelerator experiments at ANL, BNL, FNAL, CERN, and IHEP, dating from the end of sixties to the present day. The data are used to adjust the poorly known value of the axial-vector mass of the nucleon.
We estimate the theoretical uncertainties of the model developed in Phys. Rev. C70 055503 for inclusive quasielastic charged-current neutrino-nucleus reactions at intermediate energies. Besides we quantify the deviations of the predictions of this many body framework from those obtained within a simple Fermi gas model. An special attention has been paid to the ratio σ(μ)/σ(e) of interest for experiments on atmospheric neutrinos. We show that uncertainties affecting this ratio are likely smaller than 5%
We present a covariant extension of the relativistic Fermi gas model which incorporates correlation effects in nuclei. Within this model, inspired by the BCS descriptions of systems of fermions, we obtain the nuclear spectral function and from it the superscaling function for use in treating high-energy quasielastic electroweak processes. Interestingly, this model has the capability to yield the asymmetric tail seen in the experimental scaling function.
The quasielastic scattering of muon neutrinos on oxygen 16 is studied for neutrino energies between 200 MeV and 1 GeV using a relativistic shell model. Final state interactions are included within the distorted wave impulse approximation, by means of a relativistic optical potential, with and without imaginary part, and of a relativistic mean field potential. For comparison with experimental data the inclusive charged--current quasielastic cross section for $ν_μ$--$^{12}C$ scattering in the kinematical conditions of the LSND experiment at Los Alamos is also presented and briefly discussed.
We discuss the observed disagreement between the Q^2 distributions of neutrino-nucleus quasielastic events, measured by a number of recent experiments, and the predictions of Monte Carlo simulations based on the relativistic Fermi gas model. The results of our analysis suggest that these discrepancies are likely to be ascribable to both the breakdown of the impulse approximation and the limitations of the Fermi gas description. Several issues related to the extraction of the Q^2 distributions from the experimental data are also discussed, and new kinematical variables, which would allow for an…
The analysis of quasielastic neutrino and antineutrino-nucleus scattering cross sections requires relativistic theoretical descriptions also accounting for the role of final-state interactions (FSI). In the relativistic Green's function (RGF) model FSI are described by a complex optical potential where the imaginary part recovers the contribution of final-state channels that are not included in other models based on the impulse approximation. The RGF results are compared with the data recently published by the MiniBooNE and MINER$ν$A Collaborations. The model is in general able to give a good …
We evaluate the quasielastic double differential neutrino cross sections obtained in a phenomenological model based on the superscaling behavior of electron scattering data. We compare our results with the recent experimental data for neutrinos of MiniBooNE and estimate the contribution of the vector meson-exchange currents in the 2p-2h sector.
We apply the GiBUU model to questions relevant for current and future neutrino long-baseline experiments, we address in particular the relevance of charged-current reactions for neutrino disappearance experiments. A correct identification of charged-current quasielastic (CCQE) events - which is the signal channel in oscillation experiments - is relevant for the neutrino energy reconstruction and thus for the oscillation result. We show that about 20% of the quasielastic cross section is misidentified in present-day experiments and has to be corrected for by means of event generators. Furthermo…
Relativistic models developed within the framework of the impulse approximation for quasielastic (QE) electron scattering and successfully tested in comparison with electron-scattering data have been extended to neutrino-nucleus scattering. Different descriptions of final-state interactions (FSI) in the inclusive scattering are compared. In the relativistic Green's function (RGF) model FSI are described consistently with the exclusive scattering using a complex optical potential. In the relativistic mean field (RMF) model FSI are described by the same RMF potential which gives the bound states…
A relativistic Green's function and a distorted-wave impulse-approximation approach to charged- and neutral-current neutrino-nucleus quasielastic scattering are developed. Results for the neutrino (antineutrino) reactions on $^{16}$O and $^{12}$C target nuclei are presented and discussed.
The results of two relativistic models with different descriptions of the final-state interactions are compared with the MiniBooNE data of charged-current quasielastic cross sections. The relativistic mean field model uses the same potential for the bound and ejected nucleon wave functions. In the relativistic Green's function (RGF) model the final-state interactions are described in the inclusive scattering consistently with the exclusive scattering using the same complex optical potential. The RGF results describe the experimental data for total cross-sections without the need to modify the …
We have studied quasielastic charged current hyperon production induced by $\barν_μ$ on free nucleon and the nucleons bound inside the nucleus. The calculations are performed for several nuclear targets like $^{12}C$, $^{40}Ar$, $^{56}Fe$ and $^{208}Pb$ which are presently being used in various oscillation experiments using accelerator neutrinos. The inputs are the hyperon-nucleon transition form factors determined from neutrino-nucleon scattering as well as from semileptonic decays of neutron and hyperons using SU(3) symmetry. The calculations for the nuclear targets are done in local density…
We reanalyze the scaling properties of inclusive quasielastic electron scattering from $^{12}$C by subtracting from the data the effects of two-particle emission. A model of relativistic meson-exchange currents (MEC) is employed within the mean field theory of nuclear matter, with scalar and vector potentials that induce an effective mass and a vector energy to the nucleons. A new phenomenological quasielastic scaling function is extracted from a selection of the data after the subtraction of the 2p-2h contribution. The resulting superscaling approach with relativistic effective mass (SuSAM*) …
The role of isospin in quasielastic electron scattering and charge-changing neutrino reactions is investigated in the relativistic impulse approximation. We analyze proton and neutron scaling functions making use of various theoretical descriptions for the final-state interactions, focusing on the effects introduced by the presence of strong scalar and vector terms in the relativistic mean field approach. An explanation for the differences observed in the scaling functions evaluated from $(e,e')$ and $(ν,μ)$ reactions is provided by invoking the differences in isoscalar and isovector contribut…
Nuclear model effects in neutrino-nucleus quasielastic scattering are studied within the distorted wave impulse approximation, using a relativistic shell model to describe the nucleus, and comparing it with the relativistic Fermi gas. Both charged-current and neutral-current processes are considered and, for the neutral-current case, the uncertainties that nuclear effects may introduce in measurements of the axial strange form-factor of the nucleon are investigated.
A relativistic distorted-wave impulse-approximation model to quasielastic neutral-current neutrino-nucleus scattering is developed, using the relativistic mean field theory for the bound state and taking into account the final state interaction in the relativistic scattering state. Results for the neutrino (antineutrino) reaction on 12C target nucleus are presented in an energy range between 500 and 1000 MeV. The sensitivity to the strange quark content of the axial-vector form factor is discussed.
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…
The charged-current double differential neutrino cross section, measured by the MiniBooNE Collaboration, has been analyzed using a microscopical model that accounts for, among other nuclear effects, long range nuclear (RPA) correlations and multinucleon scattering. We find that MiniBooNE data are fully compatible with the world average of the nucleon axial mass in contrast with several previous analyses which have suggested an anomalously large value. We also discuss the reliability of the algorithm used to estimate the neutrino energy.
The algebraic solution of RPA equations nucleon re-interactions in the case of quasi elastic charged current neutrino - nucleus scattering is presented. Abelian algebra of matrices allows to extract four independent corrections to cross section separatly.Results of numerical computations are shown.
Developed earlier concept of quasielastic knock out of pions from nucleons by high-energy electrons is propounded as a tool for checking microscopical model ($^3P_0$ - fluctuation) for decay of N to different channels $π+B$ and Preparata model of nucleus structure.
The nucleon final-state interaction in inclusive electron-nucleus quasielastic scattering is studied. Based on the unitarity equation satisfied by the scattering-wave operators, a doorway model is developed to take into account the final-state interaction including the Pauli blocking of nucleon knockout. The model uses only experimental form factors as the input and can be readily applied to light- and medium-mass nuclei. Pauli blocking effects in these latter nuclei are illustrated with the case of the Coulomb interaction. Significant effects are noted for beam energies below ~ 350 MeV and fo…
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…
The application of superscaling ideas to predict neutral-current (NC) quasielastic (QE) neutrino cross sections is investigated. Results obtained within the relativistic impulse approximation (RIA) using the same relativistic mean field potential (RMF) for both initial and final nucleons -- a model that reproduces the experimental (e,e') scaling function -- are used to illustrate the ideas involved. While NC reactions are not so well suited for scaling analyses, to a large extent the RIA-RMF predictions do exhibit superscaling. Independence of the scaled response on the nuclear species is very…
We provide integrated cross sections for quasielastic charged-current neutrino-nucleus scattering. Results evaluated using the phenomenological scaling function extracted from the analysis of experimental $(e,e')$ data are compared with those obtained within the framework of the relativistic impulse approximation. We show that very reasonable agreement is reached when a description of final-state interactions based on the relativistic mean field is included. This is consistent with previous studies of differential cross sections which are in accord with the universality property of the supersc…
Quasielastic K^+ - nucleus scattering data at q=290, 390 and 480 MeV/c are analyzed in a finite nucleus continuum random phase approximation framework, using a density-dependent particle-hole interaction. The reaction mechanism is consistently treated according to Glauber theory, keeping up to two-step inelastic processes. A good description of the data is achieved, also providing a useful constraint on the strength of the effective particle-hole interaction in the scalar-isoscalar channel at intermediate momentum transfers. We find no evidence for the increase in the effective number of nucle…
The analysis of the recent experimental data on charged-current neutrino-nucleus scattering cross sections measured at MiniBooNE requires fully relativistic theoretical descriptions also accounting for the role of final state interactions. In this work we evaluate inclusive quasielastic differential neutrino cross sections within the framework of the relativistic impulse approximation. Results based on the relativistic mean field potential are compared with the ones corresponding to the relativistic Green function approach. An analysis of scaling and superscaling properties provided by both mo…
A relativistic Green's function approach to inclusive quasielastic charged-current neutrino-nucleus scattering is developed. The components of the hadron tensor are written in terms of the single-particle Green's function, which is expanded on the eigenfunctions of the nuclear optical potential, so that final state interactions are accounted for by means of a complex optical potential but without a loss of flux. Results for the (neutrino_mu, mu-) reaction on 16O and 12C target nuclei are presented and discussed. A reasonable agreement of the flux-averaged cross section on 12C with experimental…
The neutral-current neutrino-nucleus scattering is calculated through the neutrino-induced knocked-out nucleon process in the quasielastic region by using a relativistic single particle model for the bound and continuum states. The incident energy range between 500 MeV and 1.0 GeV is used for the neutrino (antineutrino) scattering on ^{12}C target nucleus. The effects of the final state interaction of the knocked-out nucleon are studied not only on the cross section but also on the asymmetry due to the difference between neutrinos and antineutrinos, within a relativistic optical potential. We …
After a short review of the recent developments in studies of neutrino-nucleus interactions, the predictions for double-differential and integrated charged current-induced quasielastic cross sections are presented within two different relativistic approaches: one is the so-called SuSA method, based on the superscaling behavior exhibited by electron scattering data; the other is a microscopic model based on relativistic mean field theory, and incorporating final-state interactions. The role played by the meson-exchange currents in the two-particle two-hole sector is explored and the results are…
We show that the quasielastic (QE) response calculated with the SuSAv2 (superscaling approach) model, that relies on the scaling phenomenon observed in the analysis of (e,e') data and on the relativistic mean-field theory, is very similar to that from a relativistic distorted wave impulse approximation model when only the real part of the optical potentials is employed. The coincidence between the results from these two completely independent approaches, which satisfactorily agree with the inclusive data, reinforces the reliability of the quasielastic predictions stemming from both models and …
Relativistic models developed for the exclusive and inclusive quasielastic (QE) electron scattering have been extended to charged-current (CC) and neutral-current (NC) neutrino-nucleus scattering. Different descriptions of final-state interactions (FSI) are compared. For the inclusive electron scattering the relativistic Green's function approach is compared with calculations based on the use of relativistic purely real mean field potentials in the final state. Both approaches lead to a redistribution of the strength but conserving the total flux. Results for the differential cross section at …
We have analyzed the consequences of introducing the local density approximation combined with an effective nuclear momentum-dependent potential into the CC quasi-elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering. We note that the distribution of the recoil nucleons momenta becomes smooth for low momentum values and the sharp threshold is removed. Our results may be relevant for Sci-Fi detector analysis of K2K experiments. The total amount of observed recoil protons is reduced because some of them remain bound inside the nucleus. We compare theoretical predictions for a probability of such events with the r…
Models developed for the exclusive and inclusive quasielastic (QE) electron-nucleus scattering have been extended to QE neutrino-nucleus scattering. Different descriptions of final-state interactions (FSI) are compared. For the inclusive electron scattering the relativistic Green's function model (RGF) is compared with a model based on the use of relativistic purely real mean field (RMF) potentials in the final state. Both approaches lead to a redistribution of the strength but conserving the total flux. Results for electron and neutrino scattering are presented and discussed in different cond…
We develop an asymmetric relativistic Fermi gas model for the study of the electroweak nuclear response in the quasielastic region. The model takes into account the differences between neutron and proton densities in asymmetric (N > Z) nuclei, as well as differences in the neutron and proton separation energies. We present numerical results for both neutral and charged current processes, focusing on nuclei of interest for ongoing and future neutrino oscillation experiments. We point out some important differences with respect to the commonly employed symmetric Fermi gas model.
We present a model for electron- and neutrino-scattering off nucleons and nuclei focussing on the quasielastic and resonance region. The lepton-nucleon reaction is described within a relativistic formalism that includes, besides quasielastic scattering, the excitation of 13 N* and Delta resonances and a non-resonant single-pion background. Recent electron-scattering data is used for the state-of-the-art parametrizations of the vector form factors; the axial couplings are determined via PCAC and, in the case of the Delta resonance, the axial form factor is refitted using neutrino-scattering dat…
We present a discussion of models of nuclear effects used to describe an inclusive electron-nucleus scattering in the quasielastic (QE) peak region, aiming to compare them and draw conclusion of their reliability when applied in neutrino-nucleus interactions. A basic motivation is to reduce systematic errors in neutrino oscillation experiments. We concentrate on the neutrino energy profile of the T2K experiment, which provides us a region of the greatest importance in terms of the highest contribution to the charge-current quasielastic (CCQE) cross section. We choose only electron-nucleus data…
The axial form factor plays a crucial role in quasielastic neutrino-nucleus scattering, but the error of the theoretical cross section due to uncertainties of $G_A$ remains to be established. Reversely, the extraction of $G_A$ from the neutrino nucleus cross section suffers from large systematic errors due to nuclear model dependencies, while the use of single parameter dipole fits underestimates the errors and prevents an identification of the relevant kinematics for this determination. We propose to use a generalized axial-vector-meson-dominance (AVMD) in conjunction with large-$N_c$ and hig…
For the calculation of polarization transfer observables for quasielastic scattering of protons on nuclei, a formalism in the context of the Relativistic Plane Wave Impulse Approximation is developed, in which the interaction matrix is expanded in terms of a complete set of 44 independent invariant amplitudes. A boson-exchange model is used to predict the 39 amplitudes which were omitted in the formerly used five-term parameterization(the SPVAT form) of the nucleon-nucleon scattering matrix. Use of the complete set of amplitudes eliminates the arbitrariness of the five-term representation.
We study parity violation in quasielastic (QE) electron-nucleus scattering using the relativistic impulse approximation. Different fully relativistic approaches have been considered to estimate the effects associated with the final-state interactions. We have computed the parity-violating quasielastic (PVQE) asymmetry and have analyzed its sensitivity to the different ingredients that enter in the description of the reaction mechanism: final-state interactions, nucleon off-shellness effects, current gauge ambiguities. Particular attention has been paid to the description of the weak neutral cu…
We present a parametrization of the observed enhancement in the transverse electron quasielastic (QE) response function for nucleons bound in carbon as a function of the square of the four momentum transfer ($Q^2$) in terms of a correction to the magnetic form factors of bound nucleons. The parametrization should also be applicable to the transverse cross section in neutrino scattering. If the transverse enhancement originates from meson exchange currents (MEC), then it is theoretically expected that any enhancement in the longitudinal or axial contributions is small. We present the prediction…
K$^+$--nucleus quasielastic cross sections measured for a laboratory kaon beam momentum of 705 MeV/$c$ are presented for 3--momentum transfers of 300 and 500 MeV/$c$. The measured differential cross sections for C, Ca and Pb at 500 MeV/$c$ are used to deduce the effective number of nucleons participating in the scattering, which are compared with estimates based on the eikonal approximation. The long mean free path expected for K$^+$ mesons in nuclei is found. Double differential cross sections for C and Ca are compared to relativistic nuclear structure calculations.
We consider the charged-current quasielastic scattering of muon neutrinos on an Oxygen 16 target, described within a relativistic shell model and, for comparison, the relativistic Fermi gas. Final state interactions are described in the distorted wave impulse approximation, using both a relativistic mean field potential and a relativistic optical potential, with and without imaginary part. We present results for inclusive cross sections at fixed neutrino energies in the range $E_ν=$ 200 MeV - 1 GeV, showing that final state interaction effects can remain sizable even at large energies.
Recent high precision experimental data for heavy-ion fusion reactions at subbarrier energies systematically show that a surprisingly large surface diffuseness parameter for a Woods-Saxon potential is required in order to fit the data. We point out that experimental data for quasi-elastic scattering at backward angles also favor a similar large value of surface diffuseness parameter. Consequently, a double folding approach fails to reproduce the experimental excitation function of quasielastic scattering for the $^{16}$O + $^{154}$Sm system at energies around the Coulomb barrier. We also show …
A relativistic model for quasielastic (QE) lepton-nucleus scattering is presented. The effects of final-state interactions (FSI) between the ejected nucleon and the residual nucleus are described in the relativistic Green's function (RGF) model where FSI are consistently described with exclusive scattering using a complex optical potential. The results of the model are compared with experimental results of electron and neutrino scattering.
