High-energy neutrino-nucleus interactions

¹ KEK Theory Center, Institute of Particle and Nuclear Studies, KEK, 1-1, Ooho, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0801, Japan
² J-PARC Branch, KEK Theory Center, Institute of Particle and Nuclear Studies, KEK, and Theory Group, Particle and Nuclear Physics Division, J-PARC Center, 203-1, Shirakata, Tokai, Ibaraki, 319-1106, Japan

^* e-mail: shunzo.kumano@kek.jp

Published online: 10 May 2019

Abstract

High-energy neutrino-nucleus interactions are discussed by considering neutrino-oscillation experiments and ultra-high-energy cosmic neutrino interactions. The largest systematic error for the current neutrino oscillation measurements comes from the neutrino-nucleus interaction part, and its accurate understanding is essential for high-precision neutrino physics, namely for studying CP violation in the lepton sector. Depending on neutrino beam energies, quasi-elastic, resonance, Regge, or/and deep inelastic scattering (DIS) processes contribute to the neutrino cross section. It is desirable to have a code to calculate the neutrino-nucleus cross section in any kinematical range by combining various theoretical descriptions. On the other hand, the IceCube collaboration started obtaining cross section data up to the 10¹⁵ eV range, so that it became necessary to understand ultra-high-energy neutrino interactions beyond the artificial lepton-accelerator energy range. For future precise neutrino physics including the CP measurement, it is also necessary to understand accurate nuclear corrections. The current status is explained for nuclear corrections in DIS structure functions. The possibility is also discussed to find gravitational sources within nucleons and nuclei, namely matrix elements of quark-gluon energy-momentum tensor. They could be probed by neutrino interactions without replying on direct ultra-weak “gravitational interactions” with high-intensity neutrino beams, possibly at a future neutrino factory, by using techniques of hadron tomography.