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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2013

THE INFLUENCE OF INELASTIC NEUTRINO REACTIONS WITH LIGHT NUCLEI ON THE STANDING ACCRETION SHOCK INSTABILITY IN CORE-COLLAPSE SUPERNOVAE

We perform numerical experiments to investigate the influence of inelastic neutrino reactions with light nuclei on the standing accretion shock instability (SASI). The time evolution of shock waves is calculated with a simple light-bulb approximation for the neutrino transport and a multi-nuclei equation of state. The neutrino absorptions and inelastic interactions with deuterons, tritons, helions, and alpha particles are taken into account in the hydrodynamical simulations. In addition, the effects of ordinary charged-current interactions with nucleons is addressed in the simulations. Axial symmetry is assumed but no equatorial symmetry is imposed. We show that the heating rates of deuterons reach as high as {approx}10% of those of nucleons around the bottom of the gain region. On the other hand, alpha particles are heated near the shock wave, which is important when the shock wave expands and the density and temperature of matter become low. It is also found that the models with heating by light nuclei evolve differently in the non-linear phase of SASI than do models that lack heating by light nuclei. This result is because matter in the gain region has a varying density and temperature and therefore sub-regions appear that are locally rich in deuterons and alpha particles. Although the light nuclei are never dominant heating sources and they work favorably for shock revival in some cases and unfavorably in other cases, they are non-negligible and warrant further investigation.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Neutrino-induced reactions and neutrino scattering with nuclei in low and high neutrino energy

We reviewed present status regarding theoretical approaches for neutrino-induced reactions and neutrino scattering. With a short introduction of relevant data, our recent calculations by distorted-wave Born approximation (DWBA) for quasielastic region are presented for MiniBooNE data. We also discussed that one step-process estimated by the DWBA is comparable to the two-step process, which has been usually used in the neutrino-nucleosynthesis. For much higher energy neutrino data, such as NOMAD data, elementary process approach was shown to be useful instead of using complicated nuclear models. But, in the low energy region, detailed nuclear structure model, such as QRPA and shell model, turn out to be inescapable to explain the reaction data.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2014

The in-medium effects on the neutrino reaction in dense matter

The nucleon form factors in free space are usually thought to be modified when a nucleon is bound in a nucleus or immersed in a nuclear medium. We investigated effects of the density-dependent axial and weak-vector form factors on the electro-neutrino (ν{sub e}) and anti-electro-neutrino (¯ν{sub e}) reactions with incident energy E{sub v} ≤ 80 MeV via neutral current (NC) and charged current (CC) for a nucleon in a nuclear medium or ¹²C. For the density-dependent form factors, we exploited the quark-meson-coupling (QMC) model, and apply them to the ν{sub e} and ¯ν{sub e} induced reactions by NC and CC. In CC reaction, about 5 % decrease of the electro neutrino (ν{sub e}) reaction cross section on the nucleon is shown to be occurred in normal density, ρ=ρ{sub 0}~0.15fm⁻³, and also about 5 % reduction of total ν{sub e} cross section on ¹²C is obtained by the modification of the weak form factors for bound nucleons. Density effects for both cases are relatively small, but they are as large as the effect by the Coulomb distortion of outgoing leptons in the ν-reaction. However, density effects in the anti-electro neutrino (¯ν{sub e}) reaction reduced significantly about 30 % the cross sections for both the nucleon and ¹²C cases. For NC, about 12 % decrease of the total cross section by the ν{sub e} reaction on the nucleon is obtained at normal density, ρ=ρ₀~0.15fm⁻³, as well as about 18 % reduction of the total ν{sub e} cross section on ¹²C, by the modification of the weak form factors of the bound nucleon. However, similarly to the CC reaction, effects of the nucleon property change in the ¯ν{sub e} reaction reduce significantly the cross sections about 30 % for the nucleon in matter and ¹²C cases. In this talk, we address that such a large asymmetry in the ¯ν{sub e} cross sections in both reactions is originated from the different helicities of ¯ν{sub e} and ν{sub e}.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Chiral effective field theory calculation of neutrino reactions in warm neutron-rich matter

Neutrino scattering and absorption rates of relevance to supernovae and neutron star mergers are obtained from nuclear matter dynamical structure functions that encode many-body effects from nuclear mean fields and correlations. In this study, we employ nuclear interactions from chiral effective field theory to calculate the density, spin, isospin, and spin-isospin response functions of warm β-equilibrium nuclear matter. We include corrections to the single-particle energies in the mean field approximation as well as vertex corrections resummed in the random phase approximation (RPA), including both direct and exchange diagrams. We find that correlations included through the RPA redistribute the strength of the response to higher energy for neutrino absorption and lower energy for antineutrino absorption. This tends to suppress the absorption rate of electron neutrinos across all relevant energy scales. In contrast, the inclusion of RPA correlations enhances the electron antineutrino absorption rate at low energy and suppresses the rate at high energy. These effects are especially important at high-density and in the vicinity of the neutrino decoupling region. Implications for heavy element nucleosynthesis, electromagnetic signatures of compact object mergers, supernova dynamics, and neutrino detection from galactic supernovae are discussed briefly.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Open-source library for performance-portable neutrino reaction rates: Application to neutron star mergers

A realistic and detailed description of neutrinos in binary neutron star (BNS) mergers is essential to build reliable models of such systems. To this end, we present bns_nurates, a novel open-source numerical library designed for the efficient on-the-fly computation of neutrino interactions, with particular focus on regimes relevant to BNS mergers. bns_nurates targets a higher level of accuracy and realism in the implementation of commonly employed reactions by accounting for relevant microphysics effects on the interactions, such as weak magnetism and mean field effects. It also includes the contributions of inelastic neutrino scattering off electrons and positrons and (inverse) nucleon decays. Finally, it offers a way to reconstruct the neutrino distribution function in the framework of moment-based transport schemes. As a first application, we compute both energy-dependent and energy-integrated neutrino emissivities and opacities for conditions extracted from a BNS merger simulation with m1 transport scheme. We find some qualitative differences in the results when considering the impact of the additional relevant reactions and of microphysics effects. For example, neutrino-electron/positron scattering reactions are important for the energy exchange of heavy-type neutrinos as they do not undergo semileptonic charged-current processes, when μ± are not accounted for. Moreover, weak magnetism and mean field effects can significantly modify the contribution of β processes for electron-type (anti)neutrinos, increasing at the same time the importance of (inverse) neutron decays. Here, the improved treatment for the reaction rates also modifies the conditions at which neutrinos decouple from matter in the system, potentially affecting their emission spectra.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Nuclear theory and event generators for charge-changing neutrino reactions

Semi-inclusive $CC\nu$ cross sections based on factorized cross sections are studied for a selection of spectral function models with the objective of facilitating the choice of models for use as input into event generators. The basic formalism for such cross sections is presented along with an introduction to constructing spectral functions for simple models based on the independent particle shell model (IPSM), the relativistic Fermi gas model (RFG) and a local density approximation (LDA) based on the RFG. Spectral functions for these models are shown for $^{16}$O along with a more sophisticated model which includes nucleon-nucleon interactions.. Inclusive and semi-inclusive cross sections are calculated for these models. Although the inclusive cross sections are all of similar size and shape, the semi-inclusive cross sections are subtantially different depending upon whether the spectral functions contain some features associated with the nuclear shell model or are based on the RFG and LDA models. Here, calculations of average values and standard deviations of the initial neutrino energy using the semi-inclusive cross section for the various models are presented and indicate that there may be simple kinematical descriptions of the average neutrino energy which is common to all of these models.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Hyperon production from neutrino-nucleon reaction

The neutrino induced hyperon production processes ν¯ e/μ + p → e + /μ + + π + Λ/Σ may provide a unique clean place for studying low energy πΛ/Σ interaction and hyperon resonances below KN threshold. The production rates for some neutrino induced hyperon production processes are estimated with theoretical models. Lastly, suggestions are made for the study of hyperon production from neutrino–nucleon reaction at present and future neutrino facilities.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Neutrino-nucleus reactions based on recent structure studies

Neutrino-nucleus reactions are studied with the use of new shell model Hamiltonians, which have proper tensor components in the interactions and prove to be successful in the description of Gamow-Teller (GT) strengths in nuclei. The new Hamiltonians are applied to obtain new neutrino-nucleus reaction cross sections in {sup 12}C, {sup 13}C, {sup 56}Fe and {sup 56}Ni induced by solar and supernova neutrinos. The element synthesis by neutrino processes in supernova explosions is discussed with the new cross sections. The enhancement of the production yields of {sup 7}Li, {sup 11}B and {sup 55}Mn is obtained while fragmented GT strength in {sup 56}Ni with two-peak structure is found to result in smaller e-capture rates at stellar environments. The monopole-based universal interaction with tensor force of π+ρ meson exchanges is used to evaluate GT strength in {sup 40}Ar and ν-induced reactions on {sup 40}Ar. It is found to reproduce well the experimental GT strength in {sup 40}Ar.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Semi-inclusive charged-current neutrino-nucleus reactions

The general, universal formalism for semi-inclusive charged-current (anti)neutrino-nucleus reactions is given for studies of any hadronic system, namely, either nuclei or the nucleon itself. The detailed developments are presented with the former in mind and are further specialized to cases where the final-state charged lepton and an ejected nucleon are presumed to be detected. General kinematics for such processes are summarized and then explicit expressions are developed for the leptonic and hadronic tensors involved and for the corresponding responses according to the usual charge, longitudinal and transverse projections, keeping finite the masses of all particles involved. In the case of the hadronic responses, general symmetry principles are invoked to determine which contributions can occur. As a result, the general leptonic-hadronic tensor contraction is given as well as the cross section for the process.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Hybrid method to resolve the neutrino mass hierarchy by supernova (anti)neutrino induced reactions

We introduce a hybrid method to determine the neutrino mass hierarchy by simultaneous measurements of responses of at least two detectors to antineutrino and neutrino fluxes from accretion and cooling phases of core-collapse supernovae. The (anti)neutrino-nucleus cross sections for {sup 56}Fe and {sup 208}Pb are calculated in the framework of the relativistic nuclear energy density functional and weak interaction Hamiltonian, while the cross sections for inelastic scattering on free protons p(ν-bar {sub e},e{sup +})n are obtained using heavy-baryon chiral perturbation theory. The modelling of (anti)neutrino fluxes emitted from a protoneutron star in a core-collapse supernova include collective and Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein effects inside the exploding star. The particle emission rates from the elementary decay modes of the daughter nuclei are calculated for normal and inverted neutrino mass hierarchy. It is shown that simultaneous use of (anti)neutrino detectors with different target material allows to determine the neutrino mass hierarchy from the ratios of ν{sub e}- and ν-bar {sub e}-induced particle emissions. This hybrid method favors neutrinos from the supernova cooling phase and the implementation of detectors with heavier target nuclei ({sup 208}Pb) for the neutrino sector, while for antineutrinos the use of free protons in mineral oil or water is the appropriate choice.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2024

In-medium changes of nucleon cross sections tested in neutrino-induced reactions

Historically, studied in the context of heavy-ion collisions, the extent to which free nucleon-nucleon cross sections are modified in-medium remains undetermined by these data sets. Therefore, we investigate the impact of N N in-medium modifications on neutrino-nucleus cross section predictions using the GiBUU transport model. We find that including an in-medium lowering of the N N cross section and density dependence on Δ excitation improves agreement with MicroBooNE neutrino-argon scattering data. This is observed for both proton and neutral pion spectra in charged-current muon neutrino and neutral-current single pion production data sets. The impact of collision broadening of the Δ resonance is also investigated. The absence of Δ broadening is slightly favored, but the larger uncertainties on the pion production data prevent definitive conclusions. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Bogart, B. (ORCID:0000000305588934)↗
DOE OSTI2017

A Parametric Study of the Acoustic Mechanism for Core-collapse Supernovae

We investigate the criterion for the acoustic mechanism to work successfully in core-collapse supernovae. The acoustic mechanism is an alternative to the neutrino-heating mechanism. It was proposed by Burrows et al., who claimed that acoustic waves emitted by g -mode oscillations in proto-neutron stars (PNS) energize a stalled shock wave and eventually induce an explosion. Previous works mainly studied to which extent the g -modes are excited in the PNS. In this paper, on the other hand, we investigate how strong the acoustic wave needs to be if it were to revive a stalled shock wave. By adding the acoustic power as a new axis, we draw a critical surface, which is an extension of the critical curve commonly employed in the context of neutrino heating. We perform both 1D and 2D parametrized simulations, in which we inject acoustic waves from the inner boundary. In order to quantify the power of acoustic waves, we use the extended Myers theory to take neutrino reactions into proper account. We find for the 1D simulations that rather large acoustic powers are required to relaunch the shock wave, since the additional heating provided by the secondary shocks developed from acoustic waves is partially canceled by the neutrino cooling that is also enhanced. In 2D, the required acoustic powers are consistent with those of Burrows et al. Our results seem to imply, however, that it is the sum of neutrino heating and acoustic powers that matters for shock revival.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Effect of magnetic field on beta processes in a relativistic moderately degenerate plasma

The effect of a magnetic field of arbitrary strength on the beta decay and crossing symmetric processes is analyzed. A covariant calculation technique is used to derive the expression for the squares of S-matrix elements of these reactions, which is also valid in reference frames in which the medium moves as a single whole along magnetic field lines. Simple analytic expressions obtained for the neutrino and antineutrino emissivities for a moderately degenerate plasma fully characterize the emissivity and absorbability of the studied medium. It is shown that the approximation used here is valid for core collapse supernovae and accretion disks around black holes; beta processes in these objects are predominantly neutrino reactions. The analytic expressions obtained for the emissivities can serve as a good approximation for describing the interaction of electron neutrinos and antineutrinos with the medium of the objects in question and hold for an arbitrary magnetic field strength. Due to their simplicity, these expressions can be included in the magnetohydrodynamic simulation of supernovae and accretion disks to calculate neutrino and antineutrino transport in them. The rates of beta processes and the energy and momentum emitted in them are calculated for an optically transparent matter. It is shown that the macroscopic momentum transferred in the medium increases linearly with the magnetic field strength and can substantially affect the dynamics of supernovae and accretion disks in the regions of a degenerate matter. It is also shown that the rates of beta processes and the energy emission for a magnetic field strength of B ≲ 10{sup 15} G typical of supernovae and accretion disks are lower than in the absence of field. This suppression is stronger for reactions with neutrinos.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗