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 different proton to neutron ratios are considered as possible targets of the neutrinos in the detector, the lightest being $^{12}$C and the heaviest $^{208}$Pb. The effects generated by the uncertainties of the nuclear model are much smaller than those due to the supernova neutrino flux models. This makes the coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering a reliable tool to investigate the details of the neutrino sources, the neutrino-nucleus interaction, and, eventually, also to extract information about neutron distributions in nuclei.
In order to clear up the sensitivity of the nucleus-nucleus scattering to the nuclear matter distributions of exotic halo nuclei, we have calculated differential cross sections for elastic scattering of the $^6$He and $^{11}$Li nuclei on several nuclear targets at the energy of 0.8 GeV/nucleon with different assumed nuclear density distributions in $^6$He and $^{11}$Li.
The quasi-elastic neutrino-nucleus cross section has been calculated by using a Fermi gas model corrected to consider the re-scattering between the emitted nucleon and the rest nucleus. As an example of the relevance of this effect we show results for the muon production cross section on 16O target.
The effects of nuclear re-interactions in the quasi-elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering are investigated with a phenomenological model. We found that the nuclear responses are lowered and their maxima are shifted towards higher excitation energies. This is reflected on the total neutrino-nucleus cross section in a general reduction of about 15% for neutrino energies above 300 MeV.
A relativistic distorted-wave impulse-approximation model is applied to neutral-current and charged-current quasi-elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering. The effects of final state interactions are investigated and the sensitivity of the results to the strange nucleon form factors is discussed in view of their possible experimental determination
A relativistic distorted-wave impulse-approximation model is applied to quasi-elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering. The bound state is obtained in the framework of the relativistic mean field theory and the final state interaction is taken into account in the scattering state. Results for the charged- and neutral-current neutrino (antineutrino) reactions on $^{12}$C target nucleus are presented and the sensitivity of various quantities to the strange quark content of the nucleon weak current is discussed.
A previous model on inclusive charged-current quasi-elastic nuclear reactions is extended to include neutral- and charged-current nucleon emission reactions. The problem of outgoing nucleon propagation is treated by means of a Monte Carlo simulation.
A microscopic optical potential (OP) is derived from NN chiral potentials at the first-order term within the spectator expansion of the multiple scattering theory and adopting the impulse approximation. The performances of our OP are compared with those of a phenomenological OP in the description of elastic proton scattering data on different isotopic chains. An analogous scheme is adopted to construct a microscopic OP for elastic antiproton-nucleus scattering. The results of our OPs are in reasonably good agreement with the experimental data, for both elastic proton and antiproton-nucleus sca…
The role of the sea quarks to ground state nucleon properties with electroweak probes is discussed. A relativistic Green's function approach to parity violating electron scattering and a distorted-wave impulse-approximation applied to charged- and neutral-current neutrino-nucleus quasi-elastic scattering are presented in view of the possible determination of the strangeness content of the nucleon.
In the scattering of positive pions by nuclei the double-charge-exchange (DCX) reaction creates the possibility of formation of pionic atom states in the vicinity of the threshold of this reaction. These quasi stationary states can manifest themselves as resonances in the elastic scattering cross section. The strength and shape of these resonances is strongly affected by an instability of the nucleus created in the DCX channel. It is shown that this mechanism can explain oscillation structures in the excitation function observed in scattering of low-energy positive pions from $^{12}\text{C}$.
Optical model potentials for elastic nucleon nucleus scattering are calculated for a number of target nuclides from a full-folding integral of two different realistic target density matrices together with full off-shell nucleon-nucleon t-matrices derived from two different Bonn meson exchange models. Elastic proton and neutron scattering observables calculated from these full-folding optical potentials are compared to those obtained from `optimum factorized' approximations in the energy regime between 65 and 400 MeV projectile energy. The optimum factorized form is found to provide a good appr…
The theory of the elastic scattering of a nucleon from a nucleus is presented in the form of a Spectator Expansion of the optical potential. Particular attention is paid to the treatment of the free projectile$\,-\,$nucleus propagator when the coupling of the struck target nucleon to the residual target must be taken into consideration. First order calculations within this framework are shown for neutron total cross-sections and for proton scattering for a number of target nuclides at a variety of energies. The calculated values of these observables are in very good agreement with measurement.
We investigate the use of proton-nucleus elastic scattering experiments using secondary beams of 6He and 8He to determine the physical structure of these nuclei. The sensitivity of these experiments to nuclear structure is examined by using four different nuclear structure models with different spatial features using a full-folding optical potential model. The results show that elastic scattering at intermediate energies (<100 MeV per nucleon) is not a good constraint to be used to determine features of structure. Therefore researchers should look elsewhere to put constraints on the ground sta…
We theoretically investigate the elastic scattering of 50-MeV $Σ^-$ hyperons from $^{28}$Si and $^{208}$Pb in order to clarify the radial distribution of $Σ$-nucleus (optical) potentials. The angular distributions of differential cross sections are calculated using several potentials that can explain experimental data of the $Σ^-$ atomic X-ray and ($π^-$, $K^+$) reaction spectra simultaneously. The magnitude and oscillation pattern of the angular distributions are understood by the use of nearside/farside decompositions of their scattering amplitudes. It is shown that the resultant angular dis…
The sensitivity of nucleon-nucleus elastic scattering observables to the off-shell structure of nucleon-nucleon t-matrices, derived from realistic NN potentials, is investigated within the context of a full-folding model based on the impulse approximation. Our study uses recently developed NN potential models, which describe a subset of the NN data base with a $χ^2$ per datum $\sim$1, which means that the NN t-matrices are essentially on-shell equivalent. We calculate proton-nucleus elastic scattering observables for $^{16}$O, $^{40}$Ca, and $^{208}$Pb between 100 and 200 MeV laboratory energy…
The differential elastic cross sections of $^{12}$C -- $^{12}$C and $^{11}$Li -- $^{12}$C nuclei are calculated in the complete Glauber theory. The role of the possible correlations connected to the shell effects in $^{11}$Li nucleus is considered.
Background: A recent coupled reaction channel (CRC) study shows that the enhanced oscillation of the elastic $^{16}$O+$^{12}$C cross section at backward angles is due mainly to the elastic $α$ transfer or the core exchange. Such a process gives rise to a parity-dependent term in the total elastic $S$-matrix, an indication of the parity dependence of the $^{16}$O+$^{12}$C optical potential (OP). Purpose: To explicitly determine the core exchange potential (CEP) induced by the symmetric exchange of the two $^{12}$C cores in the elastic $^{16}$O+$^{12}$C scattering at $E_{\rm lab}= 132$ and 300 M…
We develop for the first time a microscopic global nucleon-nucleus optical potential with quantified uncertainties suitable for analyzing nuclear reaction experiments at next-generation rare-isotope beam facilities. Within the improved local density approximation and without any adjustable parameters, we begin by computing proton-nucleus and neutron-nucleus optical potentials from a set of five nuclear forces from chiral effective field theory for 1800 target nuclei in the mass range 12 $\leq$ A $\leq$ 242 for energies between 0 MeV $<$ E $\lesssim$ 150 MeV. We then parameterize a global optic…
Analytical expressions for the elastic and dynamic form factors (FFs) are derived in the shell model (SM) with a potential well of finite depth. The consideration takes into account the motion of the target-nucleus center of mass (CM). Explanation is suggested for a simultaneous shrinking of the density and momentum distributions of nucleons in nuclei. The convenient working formulae are given to handle the expectation values of relevant multiplicative operators in case of the 1s-1p shell nuclei.
We investigate the sensitivity of the medium effect in the high-density region on the nucleus-nucleus elastic scattering in the framework of the double-folding (DF) model with the complex $G$-matrix interaction. The medium effect including three-body-force (TBF) effect is investigated with two methods. In the both methods, the medium effect is clearly seen on the potential and the elastic cross section. Finally, we make clear the crucial role of the TBF effect up to $k_F =$ 1.6 fm$^{-1}$ in the nucleus-nucleus elastic scattering.
The optical model potentials for nucleon-nucleus elastic scattering at $65$~MeV are calculated for $^{12}$C, $^{16}$O, $^{28}$Si, $^{40}$Ca, $^{56}$Fe, $^{90}$Zr and $^{208}$Pb in first order multiple scattering theory, following the prescription of the spectator expansion, where the only inputs are the free NN potentials, the nuclear densities and the nuclear mean field as derived from microscopic nuclear structure calculations. These potentials are used to predict differential cross sections, analyzing powers and spin rotation functions for neutron and proton scattering at 65 MeV projectile …
The He-4 d elastic scattering at the momentum of 19.8 GeV/c is analyzed in the framework of the Glauber theory. The scattering amplitude was evaluated using different sets of values of the nucleon-nucleon amplitude parameters and the He-4 density function as a superposition of the Gaussian functions. It is shown that it is impossible to describe simultaneously the pHe-4 and dHe-4 elastic scattering cross sections using the same set of the NN-amplitude parameters. Inclusion of the twelve quark bag admixture to the ground state of the He-4 nucleus in the calculations allows one to reproduce the …
The influence of the energy dependence of the free NN t-matrix on the optical potential of nucleon-nucleus elastic scattering is investigated within the context of a full-folding model based on the impulse approximation. The treatment of the pole structure of the NN t-matrix, which has to be taken into account when integrating to negative energies is described in detail. We calculate proton-nucleus elastic scattering observables for $^{16}$O, $^{40}$Ca, and $^{208}$Pb between 65 and 200 MeV laboratory energy and study the effect of the energy dependence of the NN t-matrix. We compare this resu…
Strange quark contributions to the neutral current reaction in the neutrino scattering are investigated on the nucleon level and extended to the $^{12}$C target nucleus through the neutrino-induced knocked-out nucleon process in the quasi-elastic region within the framework of a relativistic single particle model. The incident energy range between 500 MeV and 1.0 GeV is used for the neutrino(antineutrino) scattering. Effects of the final state interaction for the knocked-out nucleon are included by a relativistic optical potential. We found that the sensitivity of the strange quark contents co…
We investigate theoretical approaches to pion--nucleus elastic scattering at high energies (300 $\le T_π\le$ 1 GeV). A ``model--exact'' calculation of the lowest--order microscopic optical model, carried out in momentum space and including the full Fermi averaging integration, a realistic off--shell pion--nucleon scattering amplitude and fully covariant kinematics, is used to calibrate a much simpler theory. The simpler theory utilizes a local optical potential with an eikonal propagator and includes the Coulomb interaction and the first Wallace correction, both of which are found to be import…
The $K^{+}$ meson properties in the nuclear medium are investigated by considering the wavefunction renormalization as a first step to reveal the in-medium properties of the $K^{+}$ meson in the context of partial restoration of chiral symmetry. The $K^{+}N$ elastic scattering amplitude is constructed using chiral perturbation theory up to the next-to-leading order. Using the constructed amplitude, we calculate the wavefunction renormalization in the Thomas-Fermi approximation. We obtained a good description of the $K^{+}N$ elastic scattering amplitude. The obtained wavefunction renormalizatio…
Calculations are made of the $K^{+}+^{12}$C, $^{40}$Ca differential elastic scattering cross sections at the beam momenta 0.635, 0.715, and 0.8 GeV/c. To this end the microscopic optical potential derived in the high-energy approximation was used where existing data on the kaon-nucleon amplitude and on the point-like density distributions of target-nuclei were utilized. The effect of different methods of relativization was studied and shown to play an important role. A good agreement with the experimental data on differential elastic cross sections was obtained.
Comparisons are made between results of calculations for intermediate energy nucleon-nucleus scattering for 12C, 16O, 40Ca, 90Zr, and 208Pb, using optical potentials obtained from global Dirac phenomenology and from a microscopic Schrödinger model. Differential cross sections and spin observables for scattering from the set of five nuclei at 65 MeV and 200 MeV have been studied to assess the relative merits of each approach. Total reaction cross sections from proton-nucleus and total cross sections from neutron-nucleus scattering have been evaluated and compared with data for those five target…
We analyze the prospect of measuring the neutron form factor of a nucleus through the detection of neutrino-nucleus coherent elastic scattering. We predict numbers of events in a liquid noble nuclear recoil detector at a stopped pion neutrino source. We discuss the precision required to distinguish between different theoretical models for the form factor.
We investigate the property of the high-density nuclear matter probed by the nucleus-nucleus elastic scattering in the framework of the double-folding (DF) model with the complex $G$-matrix interaction. The medium effect including three-body-force (TBF) effect is investigated with present two methods based on the frozen density approximation (FDA). The medium effect is clearly seen on the potential and the elastic cross section for the $^{16}$O + $^{16}$O system at $E/A =$ 70 MeV. The crucial role of the medium effect is also confirmed with other effective nucleon-nucleon ($NN$) interactions. …
We investigate $K^{+}$-nucleus elastic scattering at intermediate energies within a microscopic optical model approach. To this effect we use the current $K^{+}$-nucleon {\it (KN)} phase shifts from the Center for Nuclear Studies of the George Washington University as primary input. First, the {\it KN} phase shifts are used to generate Gel'fand-Levitan-Marchenko real and local inversion potentials. Secondly, these potentials are supplemented with a short range complex separable term in such a way that the corresponding unitary and non-unitary {\it KN} $S$ matrices are exactly reproduced. These…
The vector analyzing power A_n is calculated for elastic electron scattering from a variety of spin zero nuclei at energies from 14 MeV to 3 GeV. Time reversal symmetry insures that A_n vanish in first Born approximation. Therefore A_n depends on Coulomb distortions and can be large for scattering from heavy nuclei. The vector analyzing power is a potential source of systematic error for parity violation experiments. We find that A_n=-0.361 ppm for the kinematics of the Parity Radius Experiment (PREX) involving 850 MeV electrons scattering at six degrees from 208Pb. This is comparable to the p…
We present the first study to examine the validity of the relativistic impulse approximation (RIA) for describing elastic proton-nucleus scattering at incident laboratory kinetic energies lower than 200 MeV. For simplicity we choose a $^{208}$Pb target, which is a spin-saturated spherical nucleus for which reliable nuclear structure models exist. Microscopic scalar and vector optical potentials are generated by folding invariant scalar and vector scattering nucleon-nucleon (NN) amplitudes, based on our recently developed relativistic meson-exchange model, with Lorentz scalar and vector densiti…
We present quasi-elastic neutrino-nucleus cross sections in the energy range from 150 MeV up to 5 GeV for the target nuclei 12C and 56Fe. A relativistic description of the nuclear dynamics and the neutrino-nucleus coupling is adopted. For the treatment of final-state interactions (FSI) we rely on two frameworks succesfully applied to exclusive electron-nucleus scattering: a relativistic optical potential and a relativistic multiple-scattering Glauber approximation. At lower energies, the optical-potential approach is considered to be the optimum choice, whereas at high energies a Glauber appro…
Nucleus-nucleus optical potentials are constructed from an energy density functional approach first outlined by Brueckner et al. The interaction term of the energy density functional comes from the complex nucleon self-energy computed in nuclear matter with two- and three-body chiral nuclear forces. Nuclear density distributions are calculated from Skyrme functionals constrained to the equations of state calculated from the same chiral forces used for the self-energy. Predictions for elastic scattering cross sections and fusion cross sections are compared to experimental data. Very good agreem…
This work addresses the question of precisely what features of few body models of halo nuclei are probed by elastic scattering on protons at high centre-of-mass energies. Our treatment is based on a multiple scattering expansion of the proton-projectile transition amplitude in a form which is well adapted to the weakly bound cluster picture of halo nuclei. In the specific case of $^{11}$Li scattering from protons at 800 MeV/u we show that because core recoil effects are significant, scattering crosssections can not, in general, be deduced from knowledge of the total matter density alone. We ad…
Theoretical uncertainties of various types are discussed for the nucleon-deuteron elastic scattering observables at the incoming nucleon laboratory energies up to 200 MeV. We are especially interested in the statistical errors arising from uncertainties of parameters of a nucleon-nucleon interaction. The obtained uncertainties of the differential cross section and numerous scattering observables are in general small, grow with the reaction energy and amount up to a few percent at 200 MeV. We compare these uncertainties with the other types of theoretical errors like truncation errors, numerica…
This article presents a review of the field of inclusive quasi-elastic electron-nucleus scattering. It discusses the approach used to measure the data and includes a compilation of data available in numerical form. The theoretical approaches used to interpret the data are presented. A number of results obtained from the comparison between experiment and calculation are then reviewed. The analogies and differences to other fields of physics exploiting quasi-elastic scattering from composite systems are pointed out.
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%
Nucleon density distributions and nucleus-nucleus interaction potentials for the reactions $^{16}$O+$^{40}$Ca, $^{16}$O+$^{56}$Fe and $^{16}$O+$^{90}$Zr have been calculated in the framework of the modified Thomas-Fermi method and considering all terms up to the second order in $\hbar$ in the quasi-classical expansion of the kinetic energy. Skyrme forces dependent on the nucleon density are used as the nucleon-nucleon interaction. A parametrization of the nucleus-nucleus interaction potential, which well describes the potential value calculated within the modified Thomas-Fermi approach with de…
Self-consistent single-nucleon potential at positive energy produced by semi-realistic interaction and its examination via nucleon-nucleus elastic scattering
\noindent{\bf Background:} Deuteron-induced nuclear reactions are an essential tool for probing the structure of nuclei as well as astrophysical information such as $(n,γ)$ cross sections. The deuteron-nucleus system is typically described within a Faddeev three-body model consisting of a neutron ($n$), a proton ($p$), and the target nucleus ($A$) interacting through pairwise phenomenological potentials. While Faddeev techniques enable the exact description of the three-body dynamics, their predictive power is limited in part by the omission of irreducible neutron-proton-nucleus three-body for…
The microscopic eikonal phase shifts with its first and second corrections for pi nucleus collision are calculated by using the expression previously derived for the local Kisslinger potential. A physical description to different forms of targets density distributions, are implemented. The roles of the Ericson Ericson Lorentz Lorentz EELL parameter and the adjustable scattering amplitude parameters are discussed.The calculated differential cross sections include the second order corrections of eikonal phase shift.The need for modifying the effective interaction to account for higher order corr…
The elastic and large-angle quasi-elastic scattering reactions were studied with the same nucleus-nucleus potential proposed for describing fusion reactions. The elastic scattering angle distributions of some reactions are reasonably well reproduced by the proposed Woods-Saxon potential with fixed parameters at energies much higher than the Coulomb barrier. With an empirical barrier distribution based on the modified Woods-Saxon potential and taking into account the influence of nucleons transfer, the calculated quasi-elastic scattering cross sections of a series of reactions are in good agree…
Elastic scattering of alpha-particle and some tightly-bound light nuclei has shown the pattern of rainbow scattering at medium energies, which is due to the refraction of the incident wave by a strongly attractive nucleus-nucleus potential. This review gives an introduction to the physics of the nuclear rainbow based essentially on the optical model description of the elastic scattering. Since the realistic nucleus-nucleus optical potential (OP) is the key to explore this interesting process, an overview of the main methods used to determine the nucleus-nucleus OP is presented. The refractive …
We analyze $^{16}$O-$^{16}$O and $^{12}$C-$^{12}$C scattering with the microscopic coupled-channels method and investigate the coupled-channels and three-nucleon-force (3NF) effects on elastic and inelastic cross sections. In the microscopic coupled-channels calculation, the Melbourne g-matrix interaction modified according to the chiral 3NF effects is used. It is found that the coupled-channels and 3NF effects additively change both the elastic and inelastic cross sections. As a result, the coupled-channels calculation including the 3NF effects significantly improves the agreement between the…
The change of the transverse spin asymmetry in the scattering of highly-relativistic spin-polarized electrons from nuclei by vacuum polarization effects is calculated within the Uehling approximation. Results are provided for 1 - 100 MeV electrons scattering from 31P, 64Zn, 152Sm, 197Au and 207,208Pb at backward angles.
Realistic nuclear structure calculations are presented for the event rates due to coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CE$ν$NS), assuming neutrinos from pion-decay at-rest, from nuclear reactors and from Earth's interior. We focus on the currently interesting Germanium isotopes, $^{70,73,76}$Ge, which constitute detector materials of the recently planned CE$ν$NS experiments. We study in addition the potential use of $^{64,70}$Zn and $^{28}$Si isotopes as promising CE$ν$NS detectors. From nuclear physics perspectives, recently, calculations have been carried out within the framework of…
The effects of charge symmetry breaking in nucleon electromagnetic form factors on parity- violating elastic electron-12C scattering is studied, and found to be much smaller than other known effects. The analysis of a planned experiment is discussed.
Background: Effective interactions for elastic nucleon-nucleus scattering from first principles require the use of the same nucleon-nucleon interaction in the structure and reaction calculations, as well as a consistent treatment of the relevant operators at each order. Purpose: Previous work using these interactions has shown good agreement with available data. Here, we study the physical relevance of one of these operators, which involves the spin of the struck nucleon, and examine the interpretation of this quantity in a nuclear structure context. Methods: Using the framework of the spectat…
The excitation of two particle-two hole final states in neutrino-nucleus scattering, not taken into account in Monte Carlo simulations for data analysis, has been advocated by many authors as the source of the excess cross section observed by the MiniBooNE collaboration in the quasi elastic channel. We analyse the mechanisms leading to the appearance of two particle-two hole states, and show that interference between the amplitudes involving one- and two-nucleon currents, not consistently included in existing calculations, plays a major role. A novel approach allowing to treat one- and two-nuc…
The observed cross sections of quasi-elastic scattering of 6He, 7Be, and 8B nuclei by 12C nuclei are described within the framework of the diffraction nuclear model and the model of nucleus-nucleus scattering in the high-energy approximation with a double folding potential, for intermediate energies of the incident particles. The calculations make use of realistic distributions of nucleon densities and take account of the Coulomb interaction and inelastic scattering with excitation of low-lying collective states of the target.
A new development in the antisymmetrization of the first-order nucleon-nucleus elastic microscopic optical potential is presented which systematically includes the many-body character of the nucleus within the two-body scattering operators. The results reduce the overall strength of the nucleon-nucleus potential and require the inclusion of historically excluded channels from the nucleon-nucleon potential input. Calculations produced improve the match with neutron-nucleus total cross section, elastic proton-nucleus differential cross section, and spin observable data. A comparison is also done…
We calculate differential cross sections for proton-nucleus elastic scattering by using a Glauber theory in the optical limit approximation and nucleon distributions that can be obtained in the framework of macroscopic nuclear models in a way dependent on the equation of state of uniform nuclear matter near the saturation density. We find that the peak angle calculated for unstable neutron-rich nuclei in the small momentum transfer regime increases as the parameter L characterizing the density dependence of the symmetry energy decreases. This is a feature associated with the L dependence of th…
