arXiv subjects

Natalie Jachowicz

Publications and source records attributed to Natalie Jachowicz.

27 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2018

Modeling neutrino-induced charged pion production on water at T2K kinematics

Pion production is a significant component of the signal in accelerator-based neutrino experiments. Over the last years, the MiniBooNE, T2K and MINERvA collaborations have reported a substantial amount of data on (anti)neutrino-induced pion production on the nucleus. However, a comprehensive and consistent description of the whole data set is still missing. We aim at improving the current understanding of neutrino-induced pion production on the nucleus. To this end, the comparison of experimental data with theoretical predictions, preferably based on microscopic models, is essential to disentangle the different reaction mechanisms involved in the process. To describe single-pion production (SPP) we use a hybrid model that combines a low- and a high-energy approach. The low-energy model (LEM) contains resonances and background terms. At high invariant masses, a high-energy model based on a Regge approach is employed. The model is implemented in the nucleus using the relativistic plane wave impulse approximation (RPWIA). We present a comparison of the hybrid-RPWIA and LEM with the recent neutrino-induced charged current $1π^+$ production cross section on water reported by T2K. In order to judge the impact of final-state interactions (FSI) we confront our results with those of the NuWro Monte Carlo generator. The hybrid-RPWIA model and NuWro compare favorably to the data, albeit that FSI are not included in the former. These results complement our previous work [Phys. Rev. D 97, 013004 (2018)] where we compared the models to the MINERvA and MiniBooNE $1π^+$ data. The hybrid-RPWIA model tends to overpredict both the T2K and MINERvA data in kinematic regions where the largest suppression due to FSI is expected, and agrees remarkably well with the data in other kinematic regions. On the contrary, the MiniBooNE data is underpredicted over the whole kinematic range.

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arXiv2016

Influence of short-range correlations in neutrino-nucleus scattering

Background: Nuclear short-range correlations (SRCs) are corrections to mean-field wave functions connected with the short-distance behavior of the nucleon-nucleon interaction. These SRCs provide corrections to lepton- nucleus cross sections as computed in the impulse approximation (IA). Purpose: We want to investigate the influence of SRCs on the one-nucleon (1N) and two-nucleon (2N) knockout channel for muon-neutrino induced processes on a $^{12}$C target at energies relevant for contemporary measurements. Method: The model adopted in this work, corrects the impulse approximation for SRCs by shifting the com- plexity induced by the SRCs from the wave functions to the operators. Due to the local character of the SRCs, it is argued that the expansion of these operators can be truncated at a low order. Results: The model is compared with electron-scattering data, and two-particle two-hole responses are presented for neutrino scattering. The contributions from the vector and axial-vector parts of the nuclear current as well as the central, tensor and spin-isospin part of the SRCs are studied. Conclusions: Nuclear SRCs affect the 1N knockout channel and give rise to 2N knockout. The exclusive neutrino-induced 2N knockout cross section of SRC pairs is shown and the 2N knockout contribution to the QE signal is calculated. The strength occurs as a broad background which extends into the dip region.

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arXiv2016

Correlations in neutrino-nucleus scattering

We present a detailed study of charged-current quasielastic neutrino-nucleus scattering and of the influence of correlations on one- and two-nucleon knockout processes. The quasielastic neutrino-nucleus scattering cross sections, including the influence of long-range correlations, are evaluated within a continuum random phase approximation approach. The short-range correlation formalism is implemented in the impulse approximation by shifting the complexity induced by the correlations from the wave functions to the operators. The model is validated by confronting $(e,e^\prime)$ cross-section predictions with electron scattering data in the kinematic region where the quasielastic channel is expected to dominate. Further, the $^{12}$C$(ν,μ^-)$ experiments are studied. Double differential cross sections relevant for neutrino-oscillation $^{12}$C$(ν,μ^-)$ cross sections, accounting for long- and short-range correlations in the one-particle emission channel and short-range correlations in the two-particle two-hole channel, are presented for kinematics relevant for recent neutrino-nucleus scattering measurements.

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arXiv2013

New composition dependent cooling and heating curves for galaxy evolution simulations

In this paper, we present a new calculation of composition-dependent radiative cooling and heating curves of low-density gas, intended primarily for use in numerical simulations of galaxy formation and evolution. These curves depend on only five parameters: temperature, density, redshift, [Fe/H], and [Mg/Fe]. They are easily tabulated and can be efficiently interpolated during a simulation. The ionization equilibrium of 14 key elements is determined for temperatures between 10K and 10^9K and densities up to 100 amu/cm^3 taking into account collisional and radiative ionization, by the cosmic UV background and an interstellar radiation field, and by charge-transfer reactions. These elements, ranging from H to Ni, are the ones most abundantly produced and/or released by SNIa, SNII, and intermediate-mass stars. Self-shielding of the gas at high densities by neutral Hydrogen is taken into account in an approximate way by exponentially suppressing the H-ionizing part of the cosmic UV background for HI densities above a threshold density of n_HI,crit=0.007 cm^-3. We discuss how the ionization equilibrium, and the cooling and heating curves depend on the physical properties of the gas. The main advantage of the work presented here is that, within the confines of a well-defined chemical evolution model and adopting the ionization equilibrium approximation, it provides accurate cooling and heating curves for a wide range of physical and chemical gas properties, including the effects of self-shielding. The latter is key to resolving the formation of cold, neutral, high-density clouds suitable for star formation in galaxy simulations.

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arXiv2013

Physics of a partially ionized gas relevant to galaxy formation simulations -- the ionization potential energy reservoir

Simulation codes for galaxy formation and evolution take on board as many physical processes as possible beyond the standard gravitational and hydrodynamical physics. Most of this extra physics takes place below the resolution level of the simulations and is added in a sub-grid fashion. However, these sub-grid processes affect the macroscopic hydrodynamical properties of the gas and thus couple to the on-grid physics that is explicitly integrated during the simulation. In this paper, we focus on the link between partial ionization and the hydrodynamical equations. We show that the energy stored in ions and free electrons constitutes a potential energy term which breaks the linear dependence of the internal energy on temperature. Correctly taking into account ionization hence requires modifying both the equation of state and the energy-temperature relation. We implemented these changes in the cosmological simulation code Gadget2. As an example of the effects of these changes, we study the propagation of Sedov-Taylor shock waves through an ionizing medium. This serves as a proxy for the absorption of supernova feedback energy by the interstellar medium. Depending on the density and temperature of the surrounding gas, we find that up to 50% of the feedback energy is spent ionizing the gas rather than heating it. Thus, it can be expected that properly taking into account ionization effects in galaxy evolution simulations will drastically reduce the effects of thermal feedback. To the best of our knowledge, this potential energy term is not used in current simulations of galaxy formation and evolution.

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arXiv2011

Modeling neutrino-nucleus interactions in the few-GeV regime

Detecting neutrinos and extracting the information they bring along is an ambitions task that requires a detailed understanding of neutrino-nucleus interactions over a broad energy range. We present calculations for quasi-elastic neutrino-induced nucleon knockout reactions on atomic nuclei and neutrino-induced pion production reactions. In our models, final-state interactions are introduced using a relativistic multiple-scattering Glauber approximation (RMSGA) approach. For interactions at low incoming neutrino energies, long-range correlations are implemented by means of a continuum random phase approximation (CRPA) approach. As neutrinos are the only particles interacting solely by means of the weak interaction, they can reveal information about e.g. the structure of nuclei or the strange quark content of the nucleon that is difficult to obtain otherwise. We investigated these effects and present results for the sensitivity of neutrino interactions to the influence of the nucleon's strange quark sea.

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arXiv2011

A doubly-periodic structure for the study of inhomogeneous bulk fermion matter with spatial localizations

We present a method that offers perspectives to perform fully antisymmetrized simulations for inhomogeneous bulk fermion matter. The technique bears resemblance to classical periodic boundary conditions, using localized single-particle states. Such localized states are an ideal tool to discuss phenomena where spatial localization plays an important role. The antisymmetrisation is obtained introducing a doubly-periodic structure in the many-body fermion wave functions. This results in circulant matrices for the evaluation of expectation values, leading to a computationally tractable formalism to study fully antisymmetrized bulk fermion matter. We show that the proposed technique is able to reproduce essential fermion features in an elegant and computationally advantageous manner.

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arXiv2010

Towards a quantal dynamical simulation of the neutron-star crust

We present a novel method to study the dynamics of bulk fermion systems such as the neutron-star crust. By introducing periodic boundary conditions into Fermionic Molecular Dynamics, it becomes possible to examine the long-range many-body correlations induced by antisymmetrisation in bulk fermion systems. The presented technique treats the spins and the fermionic nature of the nucleons explicitly and permits investigating the dynamics of the system. Despite the increased complexity related to the periodic boundary conditions, the proposed formalism remains computationally feasible.

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arXiv2008

Quark--hadron duality in lepton scattering off nuclei

A phenomenological study of quark--hadron duality in electron and neutrino scattering on nuclei is performed. We compute the structure functions $F_2$ and $xF_3$ in the resonance region within a framework that includes the Dortmund-group model for the production of the {f}{i}rst four lowest-lying baryonic resonances and a relativistic mean-field model for nuclei. We consider four-momentum transfers between 0.2 and 2.5 GeV$^2$. The results indicate that nuclear effects play a different role in the resonance and DIS region. We find that global but not local duality works well. In the studied range of four-momentum transfers, the integrated strength of the computed nuclear structure functions in the resonance region, is considerably lower than the DIS one.

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