Quasielastic Neutrino Cross Research Articles

Effect of the charged-lepton's mass on the quasielastic neutrino cross sections

Martini et al. [Phys. Rev. C 94, 015501 (2016)] recently observed that when the produced-lepton's mass plays an important role, the charged-current quasielastic cross section for muon neutrinos can be higher than that for electron neutrinos. Here I argue that this effect appears solely in the theoretical descriptions of nuclear effects in which nucleon knockout requires the energy and momentum transfers to lie in a narrow range of the kinematically allowed values.

Meson-exchange currents and quasielastic predictions for charged-current neutrino-C12scattering in the superscaling approach

We evaluate and discuss the impact of meson-exchange currents (MECs) on charged-current quasielastic neutrino cross sections. We consider the nuclear transverse response arising from two-particle two-hole states excited by the action of electromagnetic, purely isovector meson-exchange currents in a fully relativistic framework based on the work by the Torino Collaboration [A. D. Pace, M. Nardi, W. M. Alberico, T. W. Donnelly, and A. Molinari, Nucl. Phys. A726, 303 (2003)]. An accurate parametrization of this MEC response as a function of the momentum and energy transfers involved is presented. Results of neutrino-nucleus cross sections using this MEC parametrization together with a recent scaling approach for the one-particle one-hole contributions (named SuSAv2) are compared with experimental data (MiniBooNE, MINERvA, NOMAD and T2K Collaborations).

Two particle-two hole excitations in charged current quasielastic neutrino-nucleus interactions

We review the theoretical status of the models including the multinucleon emission channel in the calculation of quasielastic neutrino cross sections at MiniBooNE kinematics.

Neutral current (anti)neutrino scattering: Relativistic mean field and superscaling predictions

We evaluate the neutral current quasi-elastic neutrino cross section within two nuclear models: the SuSA model, based on the superscaling behavior of electron scattering data, and the RMF model, based on relativistic mean field theory. We also estimate the ratio (νp→νp)/(νN→νN) and compare with the MiniBooNE experimental data, performing a fit of the parameters MA and gA(s) within the two models. Finally, we present our predictions for antineutrino scattering.

Models for quasielastic electron and neutrino-nucleus scattering

Models developed for the exclusive and inclusive quasielastic electron-nucleus scattering have been extended to quasielastic neutrino-nucleus scattering. Different descriptions of final-state interactions are compared. For the inclusive electron scattering the relativistic Green's function model is compared with a model 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 electron and neutrino scattering are presented and discussed in different conditions and kinematics. The results of the relativistic Green's function and of the relativistic mean field models are compared with the double-differential charged-current quasielastic neutrino cross sections recently measured by the MiniBooNE collaboration using a carbon target.

Meson-exchange currents and quasielastic neutrino cross sections in the superscaling approximation model

We evaluate the quasielastic double differential neutrino cross sections obtained in a phenomenological model based on the superscaling behavior of electron scattering data. We compare our results with the recent experimental data for neutrinos of MiniBooNE and estimate the contribution of the vector meson-exchange currents in the 2p–2h sector.

A study of quasi-elastic muon neutrino and antineutrino scattering in the NOMAD experiment

We have studied the muon neutrino and antineutrino quasi-elastic (QEL) scattering reactions ( ν μ n→ μ - p and bar{ν }_{μ}ptoμ+n ) using a set of experimental data collected by the NOMAD Collaboration. We have performed measurements of the cross-section of these processes on a nuclear target (mainly carbon) normalizing it to the total ν μ ( bar{ν}_{μ} ) charged-current cross section. The results for the flux-averaged QEL cross sections in the (anti)neutrino energy interval 3-100 GeV are < σ_{qel}rangle_{ν_{μ}}=(0.92±0.02(stat)±0.06(syst))×10^{-38} cm2 and <σ_{qel}rangle_{bar{ν}_{μ}}=(0.81±0.05(stat)±0.09(syst))×10^{-38} cm2 for neutrino and antineutrino, respectively. The axial mass parameter M A was extracted from the measured quasi-elastic neutrino cross section. The corresponding result is M A =1.05±0.02(stat)±0.06(syst) GeV. It is consistent with the axial mass values recalculated from the antineutrino cross section and extracted from the pure Q 2 shape analysis of the high purity sample of ν μ quasi-elastic 2-track events, but has smaller systematic error and should be quoted as the main result of this work. Our measured M A is found to be in good agreement with the world average value obtained in previous deuterium filled bubble chamber experiments. The NOMAD measurement of M A is lower than those recently published by K2K and MiniBooNE Collaborations. However, within the large errors quoted by these experiments on M A , these results are compatible with the more precise NOMAD value.

Final-state interactions in the superscaling analysis of neutral-current quasielastic neutrino scattering

Effects of strong final-state interactions in the superscaling properties of neutral-current quasielastic neutrino cross sections are investigated by 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 $^{12}\mathrm{C}$, $^{16}\mathrm{O}$, and $^{40}\mathrm{Ca}$. Different detection angles of the outgoing nucleon are considered to sample various nucleon energy regimes. Scaling of the second kind is shown to be very robust. The validity of first-kind scaling is found to be linked to the kinematics of the process. Superscaling still prevails even in the presence of very strong final-state interactions, provided that some kinematical restrains are kept, and the conditions under which superscaling can be applied to predict neutral-current quasielastic neutrino scattering are determined.