Radiative corrections to low-energy neutrino reactions

Abstract

We show that the radiative corrections to charged current (CC) nuclear reactions with an electron(positron) in the final state are described by a universal function. The consistency of our treatment of the radiative corrections with the procedure used to extract the value of the axial coupling constant $g_A$ is discussed. To illustrate we apply our results to (anti)neutrino deuterium disintegration and to $pp$ fusion in the sun. The limit of vanishing electron mass is considered, and a simple formula valid for $E_{obs}\gsim 1$ MeV is obtained. The size of the nuclear structure-dependent effects is also discussed. Finally, we consider CC transitions with an electron(positron) in the initial state and discuss some applications to electron capture reactions.