FUNFACT Poster

FUNFACT

 

Final State Nucleons for Neutrino-Nucleus Interactions
May 14-15, 2015
Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility
Newport News, VA

Circular

Within the last few years the focus of the US domestic experimental high-energy physics program has shifted from the Energy Frontier to the Intensity Frontier. In order to build a vital program DOE is committed to make very significant investments into new experiments at the Intensity Frontier over the next decade at the level of roughly a billion dollars and this plan recently has been endorsed by the report of the P5 sub-panel of HEPAP. Any experimental program of this size and scope will require a commensurate level of activity on the theory side to ensure that this investment results in a corresponding return in science. The interpretation of the signals detected by current and future neutrino experiments calls for an accurate description of neutrino-nucleus cross-sections, and the achievement of this goal will require a multidisciplinary effort. In particular at a technical level, many of the planned experiments (for example LBNE/LBNF) could not succeed without better understanding of neutrino-nucleus interactions. Neutrino physics requires nuclear physics input in order to properly constrain its leading systematics. Jefferson Lab is in a unique position to contribute this essential input within the relevant kinematic coverage. A major focus in the neutrino interactions community is on how to model contributions from 2-body currents to include final state nucleons and not double count the inclusive strength from nucleons in short-range correlation (SRC) pairs that are already included in a properly normalized spectral function. A number of techniques to derive systematic approximations exist, but many calculations so far cover only parts of the relevant kinematic regions. A considerable effort is currently being made to develop theoretical models capable of providing a fully quantitative description of neutrino-nucleus interactions in the kinematical regime relevant to intensity frontier experiments such as MicroBooNE, NOvA, T2K, and LBNE. This will eventually require a two-pronged approached of better neutrino scattering experiments and better theory to interpret the results of those measurements and to allow extrapolating to LBNE/LBNF.

This 2-day workshop intends to discuss these problems and to organize a coherent effort to move forward in addressing systematic issues due to limited understanding of the neutrinonucleus interactions. The goal is to further develop the synergy between the electron and neutrino scattering communities. This will also build on the INT meeting held in December 2013. http://www.int.washington.edu/PROGRAMS/13-54w/ Some limited travel support will be provided, with preference given to students and post-docs who otherwise might not be able to participate. The goals are to stimulate theoretical development and develop methodology to correctly model the contributions from final state nucleons for spectral functions.

This workshop is in line with the effort current undergoing at Jefferson Labs that have allowed funding for the Electron-Nucleus Scattering XIII conference in Italy at Isola D'Elba and that has supported the organization of the first NuSTEC training in Neutrino Nucleus Scattering physics. Jefferson Lab has pursued very successfully in the past electron scattering measurements on a variety of targets. This workshop will be an attempt of bringing the knowledge acquired by those measurements to neutrino scattering experiments. The workshop will consist of talks and long discussion sessions. We are planning to invite leading theorists and experimentalists in neutrinonucleus scattering. We would like the discussion to focus on a description of the various efforts that are currently ongoing to describe many-body nuclear interactions and what the path forward would be. The discussion will focus on a description of the various on-going efforts to describe many-body nuclear interactions and the path forward, including the need for future experimental measurements (both with electrons and neutrinos) to further elucidate this physics.

Organizing Committee

E. Christy (Hampton Univ.)
D. Higinbotham (JLab)
N. Kalantarians (Hampton Univ.)
C. Mariani (VA Tech)
R. Schiavilla (ODU/JLab)