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L. Alvarez-Ruso

Publications and source records attributed to L. Alvarez-Ruso.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Progress and open questions in the physics of neutrino cross sections

New and more precise measurements of neutrino cross sections have renewed the interest in a better understanding of electroweak interactions on nucleons and nuclei. This effort is crucial to achieve the precision goals of the neutrino oscillation program, making new discoveries, like the CP violation in the leptonic sector, possible. We review the recent progress in the physics of neutrino cross sections, putting emphasis on the open questions that arise in the comparison with new experimental data. Following an overview of recent neutrino experiments and future plans, we present some details about the theoretical development in the description of (anti)neutrino-induced quasielastic scattering and the role of multi-nucleon quasielastic-like mechanisms. We cover not only pion production in nucleons and nuclei but also other inelastic channels including strangeness production and photon emission. Coherent reaction channels on nuclear targets are also discussed. Finally, we briefly describe some of the Monte Carlo event generators, which are at the core of all neutrino oscillation and cross section measurements.

hep-ph↗

The nucleon mass and pion-nucleon sigma term from a chiral analysis of Nf = 2+1 lattice QCD world data

Fits of the p^4 covariant SU(2) baryon chiral perturbation theory to lattice QCD nucleon mass data from several collaborations for 2 and 2+1 flavors are presented. We consider contributions from explicit Delta(1232) degrees of freedom, finite volume and finite spacing corrections. We emphasize here our Nf=2+1 study. We obtain low-energy constants of natural size that are compatible with the rather linear pion-mass dependence of the nucleon mass observed in lattice QCD. We report a value for the pion-nucleon sigma term of 41(5)(4) MeV for the 2 flavor case and 52(3)(8) MeV for 2+1 flavors.

hep-ph↗

The nucleon mass and pion-nucleon sigma term from a chiral analysis of Nf=2 lattice QCD world data

We investigate the pion-mass dependence of the nucleon mass within the covariant SU(2) baryon chiral perturbation theory up to order p4 with and without explicit Delta(1232) degrees of freedom. We fit lattice QCD data from several collaborations for 2 and 2+1 flavor ensembles. Here, we emphasize our Nf=2 study where the inclusion the Delta(1232) contributions stabilizes the fits. We correct for finite volume and spacing effects, set independently the lattice QCD scale by a Sommer-scale of r0 = 0.493(23) fm and also include one sigma pi-N lQCD data point near Mpi = 290 MeV. We obtain low-energy constants of natural size which are compatible with the rather linear pion-mass dependence observed in lattice QCD. We report a value of 41(5)(4) MeV for the sigma pi-N term in the 2 flavor case and 52(3)(8) MeV in the 2+1 flavors case.

hep-ph↗

Photon emission in neutral current interactions at intermediate energies

Neutral current photon emission reactions with nucleons and nuclei are studied. These processes are important backgrounds for nu_mu to nu_e (bar(nu)_mu to bar(nu)_e) appearance oscillation experiments where electromagnetic showers instigated by electrons (positrons) and photons are not distinguishable. At intermediate energies, these reactions are dominated by the weak excitation of the Delta(1232) resonance and its subsequent decay into Ngamma There are also non-resonant contributions that, close to threshold, are fully determined by the effective chiral Lagrangian of strong interactions. In addition, we have also included mechanisms mediated by nucleon excitations (N*) from the second resonance region above the Delta(1232). From these states, the contribution of the D13 N*(1520) turns out to be sizable for (anti)neutrino energies above 1.5 GeV. We have extended the model to nuclear targets taking, into account Pauli blocking, Fermi motion and the in-medium Delta resonance broadening. We present our predictions for both the incoherent and coherent channels, showing the relevance of the nuclear corrections. We also discuss the target mass dependence of the cross sections. This study is important in order to reduce systematic effects in neutrino oscillation experiments.

nucl-th↗

The nucleon mass and pion-nucleon sigma term from a chiral analysis of lattice QCD world data

The pion-mass dependence of the nucleon mass within the covariant SU(2) baryon chiral perturbation theory both without and with explicit Delta(1232) degrees of freedom up to order p^4 is investigated. By fitting to lattice QCD data in 2 and 2+1 flavors from several collaborations, for pion masses M_pi < 420 MeV, we obtain low energy constants of natural size and compatible with pion nucleon scattering data. Our results are consistent with the rather linear pion-mass dependence showed by lattice QCD. In the 2 flavor case we have also performed simultaneous fits to the nucleon mass and pion-nucleon sigma-term data. As a result of our analysis, which encompasses the study of finite volume corrections and discretization effects, we report a value for the pion-nucleon sigma-term of 41(5)(4) MeV in the 2 flavor case and 52(3)(8) MeV for 2+1 flavors, where the inclusion of the Delta(1232) resonance changes the results by around 9 MeV. In the 2 flavor case we are able to set independently the scale for lQCD data, given by a Sommer scale of r_0=0.493(23) fm.

hep-ph↗

Photon emission in neutral current interactions with nucleons and nuclei

We report on our study of photon emission induced by Enu ~ 1 GeV (anti)neutrino neutral current interactions with nucleons and nuclei. This process is an important background for nu_e appearance oscillation experiments. At the relevant energies, the reaction is dominated by the excitation of the Delta (1232) resonance but there are also non-resonant contributions that, close to threshold, are fully determined by the effective chiral Lagrangian of strong interactions. We have obtained differential and integrated cross section for the (anti)neutrino-nucleon scattering and compare them with previous results. Furthermore, we have extended the model to nuclear targets taking into account Fermi motion, Pauli blocking and the in-medium modifications of the Delta properties. This study is important in order to reduce systematic effects in neutrino oscillation experiments.

nucl-th↗

Weak production of strange particles off the nucleon

The strange particle production off the nucleon induced by neutrinos and antineutrinos is investigated at low and intermediate energies. We develop a microscopic model based on the SU(3) chiral Lagrangian. The studied mechanisms are the main source of single kaon production for (anti)neutrino energies up to 1.5 GeV. Using this model we have also studied the associated production of kaons and hyperons. The cross sections are large enough to be measured by experiments such as MINER$ν$A, T2K and NO$ν$A.

hep-ph↗

Weak $η$ production off the nucleon

The weak $η$-meson production off the nucleon induced by (anti)neutrinos is studied at low and intermediate energies, the range of interest for several ongoing and future neutrino experiments. We consider Born diagrams and the excitation of $N^\ast (1535)S_{11}$ and $N^\ast(1650)S_{11}$ resonances. The vector part of the N-$S_{11}$ transition form factors has been obtained from the MAID helicity amplitudes while the poorly known axial part is constrained with the help of the partial conservation of the axial current (PCAC) and assuming the pion-pole dominance of the pseudoscalar form factor.

hep-ph↗

Masses and magnetic moments of ground-state baryons in covariant baryon chiral perturbation theory

We report on some recent developments in our understanding of the light-quark mass dependence and the SU(3) flavor symmetry breaking corrections to the magnetic moments of the ground-state baryons in a covariant formulation of baryon chiral perturbation theory, the so-called EOMS formulation. We show that this covariant ChPT exhibits some promising features compared to its heavy-baryon and infrared counterparts.

nucl-th↗

Charged kaon production by coherent scattering of neutrinos and antineutrinos on nuclei

With the aim of achieving a better and more complete understanding of neutrino interactions with nuclear targets, the coherent production of charged kaons induced by neutrinos and antineutrinos is investigated in the energy range of some of the current neutrino experiments. We follow a microscopic approach which, at the nucleon level, incorporates the most important mechanisms allowed by the chiral symmetry breaking pattern of QCD. The distortion of the outgoing (anti)kaon is taken into account by solving the Klein-Gordon equation with realistic optical potentials. Angular and momentum distributions are studied, as well as the energy and nuclear dependence of the total cross section.

nucl-th↗

Relativistic chiral representation of the πN scattering amplitude

We have analyzed pion-nucleon scattering using the manifestly relativistic covariant frameworks of Infrared Regularization (IR) and Extended-On-Mass-Shell (EOMS) up to O(q^3) in the chiral expansion, where q is a generic small momentum. We describe the low-energy phase shifts with a similar quality as previously achieved with Heavy Baryon Chiral Perturbation Theory, being the EOMS description better than the IR one. The Goldberger-Treiman discrepancy is extracted from data of partial wave analyses using both schemes, obtaining an unacceptable large value for the case of IR due to the loop contribution. On the other hand, EOMS gives small values compatible with other phenomenological approaches. Finally, we have unitarized the amplitudes provided by both schemes to extend the range of our description obtaining a good agreement with the data up to energies of \sqrt{s}\approx 1.3 GeV for the EOMS scheme while IR can not go beyond energies of \sqrt{s}\approx 1.25 GeV due to the unphysical cut that this scheme introduces.

nucl-th↗

πN scattering in relativistic baryon chiral perturbation theory revisited

We have analyzed pion-nucleon scattering using the manifestly relativistic covariant framework of Infrared Regularization up to {\cal O}(q^3) in the chiral expansion, where q is a generic small momentum. We describe the low-energy phase shifts with a similar quality as previously achieved with Heavy Baryon Chiral Perturbation Theory, \sqrt{s}\lesssim1.14 GeV. New values are provided for the {\cal O}(q^2) and {\cal O}(q^3) low-energy constants, which are compared with previous determinations. This is also the case for the scattering lengths and volumes. Finally, we have unitarized the previous amplitudes and as a result the energy range where data are reproduced increases significantly.

nucl-th↗

Hadron resonances generated from the dynamics of the lightest scalar ones

We have studied the interactions of the scalar resonances f_0(980) and a_0(980) with the vector resonance ϕ(1020) and with the lightest pseudoscalars π, K, ηand η'. We first obtain the interaction kernels without including any new free parameter. Afterwards, the interaction kernels are unitarized and the final S-wave amplitudes result. We find that these interactions are very rich and generate a large amount of pseudoscalar resonances including the K(1460), π(1300), π(1800), η(1475) and X(1835) resonances. The f_0(980)ϕ(1020) self-interactions give rise to the ϕ(2170) resonance. For realistic choices of the parameters we also obtain an isovector companion in the same mass region from the a_0(980) ϕ(1020) interactions.

hep-ph↗

On the nature of the Roper resonance

The lightest N* state, N(1440) P11, also known as Roper resonance, has puzzled physicists for decades. A large variety of theoretical models aimed to understand its properties have been proposed. Some of them are briefly reviewed here, together with the hadronic processes where the Roper resonance is revealed or plays an important role.

nucl-th↗

The phi(1020) a0(980) S-wave scattering and hints for a new vector-isovector resonance

We have studied the phi(1020)a0(980) S-wave scattering at threshold energies employing chiral Lagrangians coupled to vector mesons by minimal coupling. The interaction is described without new free parameters by considering the scalar isovector a0(980) resonance as dynamically generated in coupled channels, and demanding that the recently measured e+ e- -> phi(1020) f0(980) cross section is reproduced. For some realistic choices of the parameters, the presence of a dynamically generated isovector companion of the Y(2175) is revealed. We have also investigated the corrections to the e+ e- -> phi(1020) pi0 eta reaction cross section that arise from phi(1020)a0(980) re-scattering in the final state. They are typically large and modify substantially the cross section. For a suitable choice of parameters, the presence of the resonance would manifest itself as a clear peak at sqrt{s}~2.03 GeV in e+ e- -> phi(1020) pi0 eta.

hep-ph↗

The lowest-lying spin-1/2 and spin-3/2 baryon magnetic moments in chiral perturbation theory

We review some recent progress in our understanding of the lowest-lying spin-1/2 and spin-3/2 baryon magnetic moments (MMs) in terms of Chiral Perturbation Theory (ChPT). In particular, we show that at next-to-leading-order ChPT can describe the MMs of the octet baryons quite well. We also make predictions for the decuplet MMs at the same chiral order. Among them, the MMs of the $Δ^{++}$ and $Δ^+$ are found to agree well with data within the experimental uncertainties.

hep-ph↗

Properties of hyperons in chiral perturbation theory

The development of chiral perturbation theory in hyperon phenomenology has been troubled due to power-counting subtleties and to a possible slow convergence. Furthermore, the presence of baryon-resonances, e.g. the lowest-lying decuplet, complicates the approach, and the inclusion of their effects may become necessary. Recently, we have shown that a fairly good convergence is possible using a renormalization prescription of the loop-divergencies which recovers the power counting, is covariant and consistent with analyticity. Moreover, we have systematically incorporated the decuplet resonances taking care of both power-counting and $consistency$ problems. A model-independent understanding of diferent properties including the magnetic moments of the baryon-octet, the electromagnetic structure of the decuplet resonances and the hyperon vector coupling $f_1(0)$, has been successfully achieved within this approach. We will briefly review these developments and stress the important role they play for an accurate determination of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix element $V_{us}$ from hyperon semileptonic decay data.

hep-ph↗

Pion production in neutrino interactions with nuclei

Neutrino-induced pion production on nuclear targets is the major inelastic channel in all present-day neutrino-oscillation experiments. It has to be understood quantitatively in order to be able to reconstruct the neutrino-energy at experiments such as MiniBooNE or K2K and T2K. We report here results of cross section calculations for both this channel and for quasielastic scattering within the semiclassical GiBUU method. This methods contains scattering, both elastic and inelastic, absorption and side-feeding of channels all in a unitary, common theoretical framework and code. We find that charged current quasielastic scattering (CCQE) and $1 π$ production are closely entangled in actual experiments, due to final state interactions of the scattered nucleons on one hand and of the $Δ$ resonances and pions, on the other hand. We discuss the uncertainties in the elementary pion production cross sections from ANL and BNL. We find the surprising result that the recent $1 π$ production cross section data from MiniBooNE are well described by calculations without any FSI. For higher energies we study the validity of the Bloom-Gilman quark-hadron duality for both electron- and neutrino-induced reactions. While this duality holds quite well for nucleon targets, for nuclear targets the average resonance contributions to the structure function $F_2$ are always lower than the DIS values. This result indicates a significant impact of nuclear effects on observables, reducing the cross section and structure functions by at least 30-40% and changing the form of various distributions.

nucl-th↗