Electron Scattering and Neutrino Scattering from Light Nuclei

最近发现的中微子振荡-中微子从一种类型到另一种类型的变化-已经确定中微子有质量。这一显著的结果引发了许多关于中微子及其相互作用的新问题。下一代中微子实验试图更详细地了解中微子，精确地了解中微子-核反应对于计划和解释这些实验是必要的。这些反应与PI过去成功研究的电子-核反应非常相似。在这个项目中，PI将把为电子-核散射开发的方法应用于中微子实验。除了它们在回答关于中微子本身的问题方面的作用外，中微子-核反应反应还可能揭示更多关于轻核的信息，特别是关于它们的组成部分质子和中子的奇异含量。PI将改进电子和中微子散射的计算，以确定最有前途的未来实验。该项目将为在美国进行的中微子和电子散射实验提供理论支持。PI将继续在俄亥俄州西北部的农村地区开展推广活动，并邀请感兴趣的本科生参与这一研究项目。轻核的电子散射提供了对核基态结构的见解。PI和她的合作者已经开发了一种高精度的电子-氘散射描述。电子散射反应机制的所有元素都是描述中微子在同一核上散射反应所必需的。有许多令人兴奋的中微子散射实验正在运行或将在不久的将来运行。为了正确地解释中微子数据，需要对所涉及的核物理学有精确的理解。实验组使用的事件发生器的理论现状是相当基本的。PI将采用电子散射反应机制的知识来计算中微子散射。她将研究中性流中微子从氘核散射。微分截面取决于核子的奇异含量。使用氘核靶可以获得中子中包含的信息。PI将调查对描述核子奇异含量的三个相关参数的敏感性，并将讨论如何在这些值上设置理论误差条。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The recent discovery of neutrino oscillations -- the change of neutrinos from one type to another -- has established that neutrinos have mass. This remarkable result has led to a lot of new questions about neutrinos and their interactions. The next-generation neutrino experiments seek to understand neutrinos in greater detail and a precise understanding of neutrino-nucleus reactions is necessary to plan and interpret these experiments. These reactions are very similar to electron-nucleus reactions that the PI has investigated successfully in the past. In this project, the PI will apply the approach developed for electron-nucleus scattering to the neutrino experiments. Beside their role in answering questions about the neutrinos themselves, neutrino-nucleus reactions reactions have the potential to reveal more information about light nuclei, in particular about the strangeness content of their building blocks, protons and neutrons. The PI will refine the calculation of electron and neutrino scattering in order to identify the most promising future experiments. This project will provide theoretical support to both neutrino and electron scattering experiments performed in the US. The PI will continue to do outreach in rural northwestern Ohio and involve interested undergraduate students in this research project.Electron scattering from light nuclei provides insights on the structure of the nuclear ground state. The PI and her collaborators have developed a high precision description of electron-deuteron scattering. All elements of the electron scattering reaction mechanism are necessary to describe neutrino scattering reactions on the same nuclei. There are many exciting neutrino scattering experiments that are running now or will run in the near future. In order to correctly interpret the neutrino data, a precise understanding of the nuclear physics involved is necessary. The current state of theory in the event generators used by experimental groups is fairly basic. The PI will adapt the knowledge of the electron scattering reaction mechanism to calculate the neutrino scattering. She will investigate neutral current neutrino scattering from the deuteron. The differential cross section depends on the strangeness content of the nucleons. Using a deuteron target allows one to access the information contained in the neutron. The PI will investigate the sensitivity to the three relevant parameters describing the strangeness content of the nucleon, and will discuss ways to put a theoretical error bar on these values.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.