Quasielastic electron- and neutrino-nucleus scattering in a continuum random phase approximation approach

TL;DR

This paper develops a continuum random phase approximation method to accurately model quasielastic electron and neutrino scattering on nuclei, validating it against data and applying it to neutrino experiments.

Contribution

It introduces a novel continuum RPA approach for electron and neutrino scattering, emphasizing low-energy nuclear excitations relevant for neutrino oscillation experiments.

Findings

Validated the formalism with ($e,e'$) data

Calculated flux-folded cross sections for $^{12}$C

Highlighted the role of low-energy nuclear excitations

Abstract

We present a continuum random phase approximation approach to study electron- and neutrino-nucleus scattering cross sections, in the kinematic region where quasielastic scattering is the dominant process. We show the validity of the formalism by confronting inclusive ($e,e'$) cross sections with the available data. We calculate flux-folded cross sections for charged-current quasielastic antineutrino scattering off $^{12}$C and compare them with the MiniBooNE cross-section measurements. We pay special emphasis to the contribution of low-energy nuclear excitations in the signal of accelerator-based neutrino-oscillation experiments.