Using electron scattering superscaling to predict charge-changing neutrino cross sections in nuclei

Abstract

Superscaling analyses of few-GeV inclusive electron scattering from nuclei are extended to include not only quasielastic processes, but also the region where excitation dominates. With reasonable assumptions about the basic nuclear scaling function extracted from data and information from other studies of the relative roles played by correlation and meson-exchange-current effects, it is shown that the residual strength in the resonance region can be accounted for through an extended scaling analysis. One observes scaling upon assuming that the elementary cross section by which one divides the residual to obtain a new scaling function is dominated by the N→ transition and employing a new scaling variable suited to the resonance region. This yields a good representation of the electromagnetic response in both the quasielastic and regions. The scaling approach is then inverted and predictions are made for charge-changing neutrino reactions at energies of a few GeV, with focus placed on nuclei that are relevant to neutrino oscillation measurements. For this, a relativistic treatment of the required weak interaction vector and axial-vector currents for both quasielastic and -excitation processes is presented.