Neutrino-Nucleus Cross Section Impacts on Neutrino Oscillation Measurements

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Coyle, Nina M., Li, Shirley Weishi, Machado, Pedro A. N.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866912249775390720
author Coyle, Nina M.
Li, Shirley Weishi
Machado, Pedro A. N.
author_facet Coyle, Nina M.
Li, Shirley Weishi
Machado, Pedro A. N.
contents The challenges in neutrino-nucleus cross section modeling and its impact on neutrino oscillation experiments are widely recognized. However, a comprehensive and theoretically robust estimation of cross section uncertainties has been lacking, and few studies have quantitatively examined their impact on oscillation measurements. In this work, we evaluate the effect of cross section uncertainties on oscillation parameters using setups inspired by NOvA and DUNE. To characterize these uncertainties, we adopt multiple neutrino-nucleus event generators and simulate a realistic experimental procedure that incorporates near-detector data and near-to-far-detector extrapolation. Our results confirm that cross section uncertainties cannot significantly bias oscillation results in current statistics-dominated experiments like NOvA. However, they could lead to substantial bias for future systematics-dominated experiments like DUNE, even when near-detector data are employed to mitigate uncertainties. These findings underscore the need for further studies on the quantitative impacts of cross section modeling, improved strategies to utilize near-detector data and the PRISM concept, and more robust cross section models to optimize the success of future experiments.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2502_19467
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Neutrino-Nucleus Cross Section Impacts on Neutrino Oscillation Measurements
Coyle, Nina M.
Li, Shirley Weishi
Machado, Pedro A. N.
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
The challenges in neutrino-nucleus cross section modeling and its impact on neutrino oscillation experiments are widely recognized. However, a comprehensive and theoretically robust estimation of cross section uncertainties has been lacking, and few studies have quantitatively examined their impact on oscillation measurements. In this work, we evaluate the effect of cross section uncertainties on oscillation parameters using setups inspired by NOvA and DUNE. To characterize these uncertainties, we adopt multiple neutrino-nucleus event generators and simulate a realistic experimental procedure that incorporates near-detector data and near-to-far-detector extrapolation. Our results confirm that cross section uncertainties cannot significantly bias oscillation results in current statistics-dominated experiments like NOvA. However, they could lead to substantial bias for future systematics-dominated experiments like DUNE, even when near-detector data are employed to mitigate uncertainties. These findings underscore the need for further studies on the quantitative impacts of cross section modeling, improved strategies to utilize near-detector data and the PRISM concept, and more robust cross section models to optimize the success of future experiments.
title Neutrino-Nucleus Cross Section Impacts on Neutrino Oscillation Measurements
topic High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.19467