Relativistic analyses of quasielastic neutrino cross sections at MiniBooNE kinematics

TL;DR

This paper compares two relativistic models for calculating quasielastic neutrino-nucleus cross sections at MiniBooNE energies, incorporating nuclear dynamics, final-state interactions, and meson-exchange currents, and compares results with experimental data.

Contribution

It introduces and compares two relativistic approaches, one based on impulse approximation and nuclear mean field theory, and the other on superscaling, for analyzing neutrino scattering.

Findings

Both models successfully describe the MiniBooNE data.

Inclusion of meson-exchange currents improves agreement with measurements.

Superscaling approach demonstrates universal applicability across different reactions.

Abstract

Two relativistic approaches are considered to evaluate the quasielastic double-differential and integrated neutrino-nucleus cross sections. One, based on the relativistic impulse approximation, relies on the microscopic description of nuclear dynamics using relativistic mean field theory, and incorporates a description of the final-state interactions. The second is based on the superscaling behavior exhibited by electron scattering data and its applicability, due to the universal character of the scaling function, to the analysis of neutrino scattering reactions. The role played by the vector meson-exchange currents in the two-particle two-hole sector is also incorporated and the results obtained are compared with the recent data for neutrinos measured by the MiniBooNE Collaboration.