Parametrized uncertainties in the spectral function model of neutrino charged-current quasielastic interactions for oscillation analyses

TL;DR

This paper introduces a parameterized approach to quantify uncertainties in nuclear spectral function models for neutrino interactions, validated with experimental data to improve oscillation analysis accuracy.

Contribution

It develops a set of parameters constrained by electron scattering data, applicable to nuclear models, and tests their effectiveness with neutrino cross-section measurements.

Findings

Parameters effectively model nuclear uncertainties in neutrino interactions.

Near-detector data can constrain nuclear model parameters.

Validated approach improves systematic uncertainty coverage.

Abstract

A substantial fraction of systematic uncertainties in neutrino oscillation experiments stem from the lack of precision in modeling the nuclear target in neutrino-nucleus interactions. Whilst this has driven significant progress in the development of improved nuclear models for neutrino scattering, it is crucial that the models used in neutrino data analyses be accompanied by parameters and associated uncertainties that allow the coverage of plausible nuclear physics. Based on constraints from electron scattering data, we develop such a set of parameters, which can be applied to nuclear shell models, and test their application to the Benhar et al spectral function model. The parametrization is validated through a series of maximum likelihood fits to cross-section measurements made by the T2K and MINERvA experiments, which also permit an exploration of the power of near-detector data to provide constraints on the parameters in neutrino oscillation analyses.