Neutrino scattering with nuclei - Theory of low energy nuclear effects and its applications

TL;DR

This paper discusses the importance of understanding low-energy nuclear effects in neutrino-nucleus interactions to improve the accuracy of neutrino oscillation measurements, using the GiBUU transport model for analysis.

Contribution

It introduces the application of the coupled channel GiBUU transport model to analyze nuclear effects in neutrino interactions, with specific focus on MiniBooNE and K2K experiments.

Findings

Nuclear effects significantly alter particle yields in neutrino interactions.

The GiBUU model effectively simulates final-state interactions inside nuclei.

Application results help reduce systematic uncertainties in neutrino experiments.

Abstract

Current long baseline experiments aim at measuring neutrino oscillation parameters with a high precision. A critical quantity is the neutrino energy which can not be measured directly but has to be reconstructed from the observed hadrons. A good knowledge of neutrino-nucleus interactions is thus necessary to minimize the systematic uncertainties in neutrino fluxes, backgrounds and detector responses. In particular final-state interactions inside the target nucleus modify considerably the particle yields through rescattering, charge-exchange and absorption. Nuclear effects can be described with our coupled channel GiBUU transport model where the neutrino first interacts with a bound nucleon producing secondary particles which are then transported out of the nucleus. In this contribution, we give some examples for the application of our model focusing in particular on the MiniBooNE and K2K experiments.