Effects due to Resonant and Continuum States on the Neutrino-Nucleus Cross Section

TL;DR

This paper investigates how resonant and continuum nuclear states influence the neutrino-208Pb interaction cross section, highlighting the importance of resonant states while deeming continuum effects negligible.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive nuclear structure model including bound, resonant, and continuum states to improve neutrino-nucleus cross section estimates.

Findings

Resonant states significantly increase the cross section.

Continuum states have negligible impact.

The model reproduces the observed spectrum of 208Bi.

Abstract

Estimates of the neutrino-nucleus cross section, for the charged-current process nu+208Pb-> e+208Bi, are presented. The nuclear structure calculations have been performed by considering bound, resonant, and continuum states in the single-particle basis used to construct correlated proton-particle neutron-hole configurations. The observed features of the spectrum of 208Bi have been reproduced, as accurately as possible, by diagonalizing a phenomenological multipole-multipole interaction. Calculations of the cross section, for values of q 200 $ MeV, were performed, and the dependence of the results upon the choice of the residual proton-neutron interaction was investigated. It is found that the inclusion of resonant states in the calculation of the nuclear wave functions increases the neutrino-nucleus cross section, and that the contribution of the continuum is negligible.