Inelastic neutrino–nucleus reaction cross sections at low neutrino-energies

Abstract

Differential and integrated inelastic neutrino–nucleus reaction cross sections are studied, focusing on the neutral current processes of even–even nuclear systems. Contributions coming from all types of interactions, both for the vector and axial-vector components of the corresponding hadronic currents, have been included. The necessary nuclear wave-functions for J -projected final states have been deduced in the context of Quasi-particle Random Phase Approximation (QRPA), and tested on the reproducibility of the low-lying energy spectrum (up to about 5 MeV), and the nuclear magnetic moments (by calculating separately the orbital angular momentum and spin parts) of the studied nucleus. Subsequently, the corresponding total cross sections are evaluated by summing-over-partial-rates and the results are compared with those obtained by other methods. The results presented refer to the nuclei 40Ar, the target of the ICARUS neutrino-experiment at Gran Sasso, and 56Fe, which, among others, plays a significant role in supernova neutrino phenomena.