Estimate of the theoretical uncertainty of the cross sections for nucleon knockout in neutral-current neutrino-oxygen interactions

TL;DR

This paper assesses the theoretical uncertainties in nucleon knockout cross sections caused by neutral-current neutrino-oxygen interactions, crucial for background modeling in neutrino detection experiments.

Contribution

It provides a quantitative estimate of the uncertainties in nuclear cross section predictions by comparing different theoretical models.

Findings

Discrepancies between models quantify the uncertainty in cross section predictions.

Uncertainty estimates aid in improving background simulations for neutrino experiments.

Abstract

Free nucleons propagating in water are known to produce gamma rays, which form a background to the searches for diffuse supernova neutrinos and sterile neutrinos carried out with Cherenkov detectors. As a consequence, the process of nucleon knockout induced by neutral-current quasielastic interactions of atmospheric (anti)neutrinos with oxygen needs to be under control at the quantitative level in the background simulations of the ongoing and future experiments. In this paper, we provide a quantitative assessment of the uncertainty associated with the theoretical description of the nuclear cross sections, estimating it from the discrepancies between the predictions of different models.