Speaker
Description
Low-energy neutrino processes on nuclei are a fundamental tool for studying weak interactions and nuclear structure. The dominant process at these energies is Coherent and Elastic Neutrino-Nucleus Scattering (CE$\nu$NS), which was measured on argon in 2020 by the COHERENT collaboration. As well as this, inelastic neutrino interactions on nuclei can also occur, mediated by charged or neutral currents, leading to the excitation of low-energy nuclear states. The study of these processes in argon nuclei is particularly relevant, given the large number of neutrino and dark matter experiments using argon as a target material. However, there are currently no experimental measurements of inelastic neutrino processes on argon, which are difficult to describe even from a theoretical point of view, given the need for a deep understanding of the nuclear structure.
Therefore, I have revisited the calculation of inelastic cross sections for both neutral and charged current interactions, with a focus on estimating the nuclear matrix elements necessary to describe the transitions that occur within the nucleus following a neutrino interaction. To refine these estimates, I considered available measurements on argon mirror nuclei, which are expected to exhibit similar characteristics, and photon scattering measurements on argon.
Improvements in the calculation of cross sections for inelastic neutrino processes on argon are relevant in order to estimate the number of inelastic events expected in experiments such as the future 750 kg argon detector of the COHERENT collaboration and the DarkSide-20k dark matter experiment.
