2022/10/05 by Daniel J. Simons, Noah Steinberg, Simons, Daniel +9
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #High Energy Physics - Lattice (hep-lat) #High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph) #Neutrino Physics Research #Nuclear Theory (nucl-th) #Nuclear physics research studies #Particle accelerators and beam dynamics
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2210.02455
openalex publication_date 2022/10/05 · openalex created_date 2022/10/08 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
To achieve its design goals, the next generation of neutrino-oscillation accelerator experiments requires percent-level predictions of neutrino-nucleus cross sections supplemented by robust estimates of the theoretical uncertainties involved. The latter arise from both approximations in solving the nuclear many-body problem and in the determination of the single- and few-nucleon quantities taken as input by many-body methods. To quantify both types of uncertainty, we compute flux-averaged double-differential cross sections using the Green's function Monte Carlo and spectral function methods as well as different parameterizations of the nucleon axial form factors based on either deuterium bubble-chamber data or lattice quantum chromodynamics calculations. The cross-section results are compared with available experimental data from the MiniBooNE and T2K collaborations. We also discuss the uncertainties associated with N→ Δ transition form factors that enter the two-body current operator. We quantify the relations between neutrino-nucleus cross section and nucleon form factor uncertainties. These relations enable us to determine the form factor precision targets required to achieve a given cross-section precision.