Neutrino scattering off the stable cadmium isotopes: II. Charged-current processes

Abstract

The present study is a continuation of our previous work (2015 J. Phys. G: Nucl. Part. Phys. 42 025106) on neutral-current supernova-neutrino processes in the stable cadmium isotopes. Here we concentrate on the charged-current scattering processes of neutrinos off the stable cadmium isotopes covering an energy range characteristic of supernova neutrinos. As a theory framework we adopt the quasiparticle random-phase approximation in its charge-changing mode (pnQRPA) and the microscopic quasiparticle-phonon model to construct the required nuclear wave functions of the odd–odd and odd–even isobars of the stable even–even reference cadmium isotopes, respectively. The cross sections of the charged-current neutrino and antineutrino scatterings off the stable cadmium isotopes are subsequently computed. The nuclear responses to supernova neutrinos are also estimated by folding the cross sections with neutrino-energy spectra including the effects of matter oscillations within an effective two-neutrino framework. The calculations indicate that the folded cross sections have mass-number dependencies that are different for neutrinos and antineutrinos, and that odd-mass nuclei have relatively large cross sections. The matter oscillations affect the cross sections strongly and it is found that the computed averaged cross sections for antineutrinos differ notably for the normal/inverted mass hierarchy. This could have interesting consequences for the experimental solution of the mass-hierarchy problem in future large-scale neutrino telescopes.