Final-State Interactions in the Superscaling Analysis of Neutral-Current Quasielastic Neutrino Scattering

Effects of strong final-state interactions in the superscaling properties of neutral-current quasielastic neutrino cross sections are investigated using the Relativistic Impulse Approximation as guidance. First- and second-kind scaling are analyzed for neutrino beam energies ranging from 1 to 2 GeV for the cases of 12C, 16O and 40Ca. Different detection angles of the outgoing nucleon are considered in order to sample various nucleon energy regimes. Scaling of the second kind is shown to be very robust. Validity of first-kind scaling is found to be linked to the kinematics of the process. Superscaling still prevails even in the presence of very strong final-state interactions, provided that some kinematical restrains are kept, and the conditions under which superscaling can be applied to predict neutral-current quasielastic neutrino scattering are determined.Comment: 39 pages, 16 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Relativistic descriptions of quasielastic charged-current neutrino-nucleus scattering: application to scaling and superscaling ideas

The analysis of the recent experimental data on charged-current neutrino-nucleus scattering cross sections measured at MiniBooNE requires fully relativistic theoretical descriptions also accounting for the role of final state interactions. In this work we evaluate inclusive quasielastic differential neutrino cross sections within the framework of the relativistic impulse approximation. Results based on the relativistic mean field potential are compared with the ones corresponding to the relativistic Green function approach. An analysis of scaling and superscaling properties provided by both models is also presented.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, version accepted for publication in Physical Review

Relativistic descriptions of final-state interactions in charged-current quasielastic neutrino-nucleus scattering at MiniBooNE kinematics

The results of two relativistic models with different descriptions of the final-state interactions are compared with the MiniBooNE data of charged-current quasielastic cross sections. The relativistic mean field model uses the same potential for the bound and ejected nucleon wave functions. In the relativistic Green's function (RGF) model the final-state interactions are described in the inclusive scattering consistently with the exclusive scattering using the same complex optical potential. The RGF results describe the experimental data for total cross-sections without the need to modify the nucleon axial mass.Comment: 5 pages 3 figure

Relativistic Models for Quasi-Elastic Neutrino-Nucleus Scattering

Two relativistic approaches to charged-current quasielastic neutrino-nucleus scattering are illustrated and compared: one is phenomenological and based on the superscaling behavior of electron scattering data and the other relies on the microscopic description of nuclear dynamics in relativistic mean field theory. The role of meson exchange currents in the two-particle two-hole sector is explored. The predictions of the models for differential and total cross sections are presented and compared with the MiniBooNE data.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures, Proceedings of PANIC 2011, MIT, Cambridge, MA, July 201

Final-state interactions and superscaling in the semi-relativistic approach to quasielastic electron and neutrino scattering

The semi-relativistic approach to electron and neutrino quasielastic scattering from nuclei is extended to include final-state interactions. Starting with the usual non-relativistic continuum shell model, the problem is relativized by using the semi-relativistic expansion of the current in powers of the initial nucleon momentum and relativistic kinematics. Two different approaches are considered for the final-state interactions: the Smith-Wambach 2p-2h damping model and the Dirac-equation-based potential extracted from a relativistic mean-field plus the Darwin factor. Using the latter the scaling properties of $(e,e')$ and $(\nu_\mu,\mu^-)$ cross sections for intermediate momentum transfers are investigated.Comment: 36 pages, 17 figure

A(e⃗,e′p⃗)(\vec{e},e'\vec{p})B responses: from bare nucleons to complex nuclei

We study the occurrence of factorization in polarized and unpolarized observables in coincidence quasi-elastic electron scattering. Starting with the relativistic distorted wave impulse approximation, we reformulate the effective momentum approximation and show that the latter leads to observables which factorize under some specific conditions. Within this framework, the role played by final state interactions and, in particular, by the spin-orbit term is explored. Connection with the nonrelativistic formalism is studied in depth. Numerical results are presented to illustrate the analytical derivations and to quantify the differences between factorized and unfactorized approaches.Comment: 26 pages, 5 figures. Improved and extended version. To be published in Phys. Rev.