Neutrino-nucleus cross section in the impulse approximation regime

In the impulse approximation regime the nuclear response to a weakly interacting probe can be written in terms of the measured nucleon structure fuctions and the target spectral function, yielding the energy and momentum distribution of the constituent nucleons. We discuss a calculation of charged current neutrino-oxygen interactions in the quasielastic channel, carried out within nuclear many body theory. The proposed approach, extensively and successfully employed in the analysys of electron-nucleus scattering data, allows for a parameter free prediction of the neutrino-nucleus cross section, whose quantitative understanding will be critical to the analysis of the next genaration of high precision neutrino oscillation experiments.Comment: 4 pages, 3 Figs. Presented in the poster session at NUINT04. To be published in the Proceeding

Electron- and neutrino-nucleus scattering

I review the main features of the nuclear response extracted from electron scattering data. The emerging picture clearly shows that the shell model does not provide a fully quantitative description of nuclear dynamics. On the other hand, many body approaches in which correlation effetcs are explicitely taken into account lead to a satisfactory account of electron scattering observables. The possibility of exploiting the knowledge acquired from electron scattering to reduce the systematic uncertainty of neutrino oscillation experiments is outlined.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures. Invited talk at NUINT04. To be published in the Proceedings (Nucl. Phys. B Proc. Suppl.

Hadron Multiplicity in Semi-Inclusive Lepton-Nucleon and Lepton-Nucleus Scattering

We discuss multi-hadron production in both inelastic neutrino-nucleon interactions in the current fragmentation region and neutrino-nucleus collisions in the target fragmentation region. Our analysis, carried out within the framework of the quark-gluon string model, is mainly focused on the difference between these two processes. We show that the $Q^2$ dependence of hadron multiplicity in the current and target fragmentation regions is indeed completely different. The study of inelastic $\nu-A$ scattering in the target fragmentation region also provides new information on nuclear structure at small $N-N$ distances. The results of the proposed approach are in satisfactory agreement with the data recently obtained at CERN by the NOMAD Collaboration.Comment: Talk delivered a the Fourth International Conference on Perspectives in Hadronic Physics (ICTP, Trieste, Italy, May 2003). To be published in the Proceedings (EPJA

Final state interactions in the electroweak nuclear response

I review the description of the electroweak nuclear response at large momentum transfer within nonrelativistic many-body theory. Special consideration is given to the effects of final state interactions, which are known to be large in both inclusive and semi-inclusive processes. The results of theoretical calculations of electron-nucleus scattering observables are compared to the data, and the generalization to charged current neutrino-nucleus interactions is discussed.Comment: Invited talk at NUINT05. To be published in Nucl. Phys. B Proceedings Supplemen

Spacelike and timelike response of confined relativistic particles

Basic theoretical issues relating to the response of confined relativistic particles are considered including the scaling of the response in spacelike and timelike regions of momentum transfer and the role of final state interactions. A simple single particle potential model incorporating relativity and linear confinement is solved exactly and its response is calculated. The response is studied in common approximation schemes and it is found that final state interactions effects persist in the limit that the three-momentum transferred to the target is large. The fact that the particles are bound leads to a non-zero response in the timelike region of four-momentum transfer equal to about 10% of the total strength. The strength in the timelike region must be taken into account to fulfill the particle number sum rule.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures; Invited talk at Electron-Nucleus Scattering, Elba, Italy 200

A different view of deep inelastic electron-proton scattering

Deep inelastic electron-proton scattering is analyzed in the target rest frame using a theoretical approach suitable to describe many-body systems of {\em bound} constituents subject to {\em interactions}. At large three-momentum transfer \magq, this approach predicts the onset of scaling in the variable \yt=\nu-\magq, where $\nu$ denotes the energy transfer. The present analysis shows that the data, plotted at constant \magq, exhibit a remarkable scaling behavior in \yt and manifestly display the presence of sizable interaction effects.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures. To appear in the Proceedings of the "VIII Convegno su Problemi di Fisica Nucleare Teorica" (World Scientific, Singapore

Correlation effects on the weak response of nuclear matter

The consistent description of the nuclear response at low and high momentum transfer requires a unified dynamical model, suitable to account for both short- and long-range correlation effects. We report the results of a study of the charged current weak response of symmetric nuclear matter, carried out using an effective interaction obtained from a realistic model of the nucleon-nucleon force within the formalism of correlated basis functions. Our approach allows for a clear identification of the kinematical regions in which different interaction effects dominate