Neutrino Insights: Peering into the Subatomic Universe

A special issue of Universe (ISSN 2218-1997). This special issue belongs to the section "High Energy Nuclear and Particle Physics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2025 | Viewed by 2105

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Departamento de Fisica Atomica, Molecular y Nuclear, Universidad de Sevilla, 41080 Seville, Spain
Interests: electroweak interactions; superscaling; relativistic mean field; nuclear reactions; neutrino-nucleus cross section; nucleon form factors; neutrino oscillations; event generators

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Despite being the least understood elementary particle, the interest in neutrinos extends nowadays to a large variety of fields in Astrophysics, Nuclear Physics and Particle Physics. In particular, neutrinos are essential for studying astrophysical processes such as solar energy production or supernovae explosions and are also a powerful tool to study hadronic and nuclear properties. Specifically, neutrino-weak interactions allow for the study of QCD properties such as the axial structure and the strangeness content of the nucleons, which are hardly decipherable using electron or photon scattering.

Nevertheless, neutrinos are still elusive particles. They only interact through weak forces and are hardly detectable, so they can only be clearly observed through the detection of the secondary particles produced in the process. For this reason, different nuclear targets are often employed in neutrino experiments in order to increase their detection probability. Thus, a precise study of neutrinos requires an adequate description of their interactions with nuclei and nucleons which constitute one of the largest sources of experimental uncertainties.

One of the most relevant features of neutrinos is the flavor oscillation phenomenon. Neutrino oscillations, which imply that neutrinos are not massless, have brought some limits on the validity of the Standard Model, which does not take proper account of the baryonic matter–antimatter asymmetry of the Universe. In this context, neutrino oscillations have proved their relevance in explaining the violation of CP-symmetry (charge conjugation parity symmetry) in the leptonic sector, though further studies are still required for a clear determination of the neutrino CP-violation (CPV) parameter that would shed light on the evolution of the universe in its early stages.

Accordingly, recent years have witnessed an intense experimental and theoretical activity in connection with accelerator long-baseline neutrino facilities and neutrino observatories for astrophysical events in order to determine the properties of neutrinos and their interaction with matter. The outcomes of these collaborations will be a crucial input towards an accurate determination of CPV and neutrino oscillation parameters and, subsequently, the understanding the matter–antimatter asymmetry of the Universe, as well as for other open questions in Physics, such as the search for dark matter through sterile neutrinos, the proton decay and the analysis of supernovae explosions.

Thus, the present Special Issue aims to provide a melting pot for the discussion of theoretical and experimental analyses in the context of neutrino physics as well as to review the recent progress in the field.

Dr. Guillermo D. Megias
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • neutrino physics
  • neutrino oscillations
  • electroweak interactions
  • CP violation
  • solar and atmospheric neutrinos
  • long-baseline accelerators
  • neutrino-nucleus reactions
  • low and high energy neutrinos

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 432 KiB  
Article
Inclusive Neutrino and Antineutrino Scattering on the 12C Nucleus Within the Coherent Density Fluctuation Model
by Martin V. Ivanov and Anton N. Antonov
Universe 2025, 11(4), 119; https://doi.org/10.3390/universe11040119 - 4 Apr 2025
Viewed by 243
Abstract
We investigate quasielastic (anti)neutrino scattering on the 12C nucleus utilizing a novel scaling variable, ψ*. This variable is derived from the interacting relativistic Fermi gas model, which incorporates both scalar and vector interactions, leading to a relativistic effective mass for [...] Read more.
We investigate quasielastic (anti)neutrino scattering on the 12C nucleus utilizing a novel scaling variable, ψ*. This variable is derived from the interacting relativistic Fermi gas model, which incorporates both scalar and vector interactions, leading to a relativistic effective mass for the interacting nucleons. For inclusive lepton scattering from nuclei, we develop a new scaling function, denoted as fQE(ψ*), based on the coherent density fluctuation model (CDFM). This model serves as a natural extension of the relativistic Fermi gas (RFG) model applicable to finite nuclei. In this study, we compute theoretical predictions and compare them with experimental data from Minerνa and T2K for inclusive (anti)neutrino cross-sections. The scaling function is derived within the CDFM framework, employing a relativistic effective mass of mN*=0.8mN. The findings demonstrate a high degree of consistency with experimental data across all (anti)neutrino energy ranges. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Neutrino Insights: Peering into the Subatomic Universe)
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14 pages, 494 KiB  
Article
Consistency of Histories of Neutrino Oscillation in the Presence of Normal Matter and Continuous Non-Selective Measurement
by Fazeel Ahmed Khan and Jerzy Dajka
Universe 2025, 11(2), 57; https://doi.org/10.3390/universe11020057 - 10 Feb 2025
Viewed by 412
Abstract
Two-flavor neutrino oscillation is analyzed using the consistent histories approach. We identify the properties of neutrinos and the oscillation conditions, such as the presence of matter or the impact of measurement, that ensure the consistency of three-time neutrino histories. The connection between the [...] Read more.
Two-flavor neutrino oscillation is analyzed using the consistent histories approach. We identify the properties of neutrinos and the oscillation conditions, such as the presence of matter or the impact of measurement, that ensure the consistency of three-time neutrino histories. The connection between the consistency of these histories and the well-known CP violation explored in this study serves as a specific example. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Neutrino Insights: Peering into the Subatomic Universe)
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6 pages, 653 KiB  
Article
Neutral-Current Single π0 Production on Argon
by Marco Martini, Magda Ericson and Guy Chanfray
Universe 2024, 10(10), 399; https://doi.org/10.3390/universe10100399 - 16 Oct 2024
Viewed by 849
Abstract
We interpret the recent MicroBooNE data on neutral-current single π0 production on argon with the hypothesis that this process occurs via Delta excitation. We calculate the flux-integrated total cross section with our RPA-based model which allows for a simultaneous description of Delta-mediated [...] Read more.
We interpret the recent MicroBooNE data on neutral-current single π0 production on argon with the hypothesis that this process occurs via Delta excitation. We calculate the flux-integrated total cross section with our RPA-based model which allows for a simultaneous description of Delta-mediated resonant and coherent pion production. We also discuss the ratio between the two exclusive measurements with one proton and zero protons in the final state. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Neutrino Insights: Peering into the Subatomic Universe)
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