Weak Response of Nuclear Matter at low Momentum transfer

TL;DR

This paper develops a many-body theoretical framework to accurately compute weak nuclear responses at low energies, crucial for astrophysical simulations like supernovae and neutron star cooling.

Contribution

It introduces a consistent approach to incorporate both short and long-range correlations in weak nuclear response calculations.

Findings

Weak response of nuclear matter is notably suppressed at low momentum transfer.

The framework reduces systematic uncertainties in neutrino interaction rates.

Inclusion of correlations improves the accuracy of astrophysical models.

Abstract

A quantitative understanding of the weak nuclear response is a prerequisite for the computer simulations of astrophysical phenomena like supernov$\ae$ explosions and neutron star cooling. In order to reduce the systematic uncertainties associated with the simulations, a consistent framework, able to take into account dynamical correlation effects, is needed to compute neutrino-nucleon and neutrino-nucleus reaction rates. In this paper we describe the many-body theory of the weak nuclear response at low energy regime. We show how to include both short and long correlations effects in a consistent fashion.