In the quasielastic region, we investigate the effect of neutrino electromagnetic properties constrained from the recent experiments on the electroweak neutral current reaction process of the neutrino-$^{12}$C scattering. For a relativistic description of the nuclear dynamics, we employ the relativistic mean-field model, which has been proven to describe the data nicely in the quasielastic region. In the present work, we analyze the influence beyond the Standard Model by considering the neutrino magnetic and electric dipole form factors and charge radius on the neutrino electroweak interactions within $^{12}$C. To this end, we use the values of the neutrino charge radius and the magnetic moment at the squared four momentum transfer $Q^2=0$ obtained from the recent experiments and calculate the neutrino differential cross section of the neutrino-$^{12}$C scattering. We find that the effect of the charge radius and the electric dipole form factor is very small, but the role of the magnetic dipole form factor is sensitive to $Q^2$ and becomes sizable at small momentum transfer.
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.
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 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.
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…
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…
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
In this work, we have studied (anti)neutrino induced charged current quasielastic scattering from some nuclear targets in the energy region of $E_ν< 1~GeV$. Our aim is to confront electron and muon production cross sections relevant for $ν_μ\leftrightarrow ν_e$ or $\barν_μ\leftrightarrow \barν_e$ oscillation experiments. The effects due to lepton mass and its kinematic implications, radiative corrections, second class currents and uncertainties in the axial and pseudoscalar form factors are calculated for (anti)neutrino induced reaction cross sections on free nucleon as well as the nucleons bo…
The superscaling analysis is extended to include quasielastic (QE) scattering via the weak neutral current of neutrinos and antineutrinos from nuclei. The scaling function obtained within the coherent density fluctuation model (used previously in calculations of QE inclusive electron and charge-changing (CC) neutrino scattering) is applied to neutral current neutrino and antineutrino scattering with energies of 1 GeV from $^{12}$C with a proton and neutron knockout (u-channel inclusive processes). The results are compared with those obtained using the scaling function from the relativistic Fer…
Numerical computations of cross sections for quasielastic charge current scattering of neutrino on Oxygen, Argon and Iron in Local Density Approximation (LDA) are presented. We consider processes for a few GeV neutrino energy. We include corrections from nucleon re-interaction in nucleus described by relativistic Random Phase Approximation (RPA). We adopt the relativistic Fermi gas model of nucleus with and without taking into account the effective mass of nucleons.
Charged-current neutrino-nucleus scattering is studied in the quasielastic region with the KIDS (Korea-IBS-Daegu-SKKU) nuclear energy density functional. We focus on the uncertainties stemming from the axial mass and the in-medium effective mass of the nucleon. Comparing the result of theory to the state-of-the-art data from MiniBooNE, T2K, and MINER$ν$A, we constrain the axial mass and the effective mass that are compatible with the data. We find that the total cross section is insensitive to the effective mass, so the axial mass could be determined independently of the uncertainty in the eff…
The quasielastic scattering kaon-nucleus experiment performed at BNL is analyzed in a finite nucleus continuum random phase approximation framework, treating the reaction mechanism in Glauber theory 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.
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 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.
Within the framework of the relativistic plane wave impulse approximation (RPWIA), complete sets of quasielastic $(\vec{p}, \vec{p}^{'})$ and $(\vec{p}, \vec{n})$ spin observables are calculated employing a general Lorentz invariant representation of the NN scattering matrix (referred to as the IA2 representation). The use of a complete representation eliminates the arbitrariness of a previously-used five-term parameterization (commonly called the IA1 representation) and allows for the correct incorporation of effective-mass-type medium effects within the RPWIA framework and within the context…
We study the sensitivity of neutral-current neutrino-nucleus scattering to the strange-quark content of the axial-vector form factor of the nucleon. A model-independent formalism for this reaction is developed in terms of eight nuclear structure functions. Taking advantage of the insensitivity of the ratio of proton $(ν,ν' p)$ to neutron $(ν,ν' n)$ yields to distortion effects, we compute all structure functions in a relativistic plane wave impulse approximation approach. Further, by employing the notion of a bound-state nucleon propagator, closed-form, analytic expressions for all nuclear-str…
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.
Effects of strong final-state interactions in the superscaling properties of neutral-current quasielastic neutrino cross sections are investigated using the Relativistic Impulse Approximation as guidance. First- and second-kind scaling are analyzed for neutrino beam energies ranging from 1 to 2 GeV for the cases of 12C, 16O and 40Ca. Different detection angles of the outgoing nucleon are considered in order to sample various nucleon energy regimes. Scaling of the second kind is shown to be very robust. Validity of first-kind scaling is found to be linked to the kinematics of the process. Super…
The Coulomb sum rule for inclusive quasielastic electron scattering in $^{12}$C, $^{40}$Ca and $^{56}$Fe is analyzed based on scaling and superscaling properties. Results obtained in the relativistic impulse approximation with various descriptions of the final state interactions are shown. A comparison with experimental data measured at Bates and Saclay is provided. The theoretical description based on strong scalar and vector terms present in the relativistic mean field, which has been shown to reproduce the experimental asymmetric superscaling function, leads to results that are in fair agre…
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 formulate $K^+$-nucleus quasielastic scattering in a manner which closely parallels standard treatments of $e^-$-nucleus quasielastic scattering. For $K^+$ scattering, new responses involving scalar contributions appear in addition to the Coulomb (or longitudinal) and transverse $(e,e')$ responses which are of vector character. We compute these responses using both nuclear matter and finite nucleus versions of the Relativistic Hartree Approximation to Quantum Hadrodynamics including RPA correlations. Overall agreement with measured $(e,e')$ responses and new $K^+$ quasielastic scattering da…
We present a systematic study of the sensitivity of quasielastic neutrino-nucleus cross sections at intermediate energies to the strange quark sea of the nucleon. To this end, we investigate the impact of the weak strangeness form factors on the ratio of proton-to-neutron knockout, the ratio of neutral-to-charged current cross sections, on the Paschos-Wolfenstein relation, and on the longitudinal helicity asymmetry. The influence of axial as well as vector strangeness effects is discussed. For the latter, we introduce strangeness parameters from various hadron models and from a recent fit to d…
We report on a calculation of cross sections for charged-current quasielastic antineutrino scattering off $^{12}$C in the energy range of interest for the MiniBooNE experiment. We adopt the impulse approximation (IA) and use the nonrelativistic continuum random phase approximation (CRPA) to model the nuclear dynamics. An effective nucleon-nucleon interaction of the Skyrme type is used. We compare our results with the recent MiniBooNE antineutrino cross-section data and confront them with alternate calculations. The CRPA predictions reproduce the gross features of the shape of the measured doub…
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.
We review the theoretical status of the models including the multinucleon emission channel in the calculation of quasielastic neutrino cross sections at MiniBooNE kinematics.
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 …
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…
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…
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.
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…
Neutral current quasielastic (anti)neutrino scattering cross sections on a $^{12}$C target are analyzed using a realistic spectral function $S(p,E)$ that gives a scaling function in accordance with the ($e,e'$) scattering data. The spectral function accounts for the nucleon-nucleon (NN) correlations by using natural orbitals (NOs) from the Jastrow correlation method and has a realistic energy dependence. The standard value of the axial mass $M_A= 1.032$ GeV is used in all calculations. The role of the final-state interaction (FSI) on the spectral and scaling functions, as well as on the cross …
Charged current inclusive neutrino-nucleus cross sections are evaluated using the superscaling model for quasielastic scattering and its extension to the pion production region. The contribution of two-particle-two-hole vector meson-exchange current excitations is also considered within a fully relativistic model tested against electron scattering data. The results are compared with the inclusive neutrino-nucleus data from the T2K and SciBooNE experiments. For experiments where $\langle E_ν\rangle \sim 0.8$ GeV, the three mechanisms considered in this work provide good agreement with the data.…
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.
Inclusive quasielastic response functions are calculated for electron scattering in a relativistic model including momentum dependent scalar and vector mean fields. The momentum dependence of the mean fields is taken from Dirac optical fits to proton nucleus scattering and is important in describing data at momentum transfers of 1 GeV/c or larger. Our simple model is applicable for quasielastic scattering over a large range of momentum transfers.
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…