[Tufts-Nu] potential group meeting paper to discuss

[Jeremy Wolcott <jeremy wolcott tufts edu>]

Hello Tufts-nu members!

Hope you had a wonderful winter break and are rested up for the spring semester.  In skimming the emails that accumulated over the break I ran across the following paper, for which I admit some serious skepticism.  It's right up our group's collective alley, so to speak, and might make for a good Friday meeting discussion:

https://www.arxiv.org/abs/2412.16303

Neutrino-nucleus scattering cross sections are critical theoretical inputs for long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiments. However, robust modeling of these cross sections remains challenging. For a simple but physically motivated toy model of the DUNE experiment, we demonstrate that an accurate neural-network model of the cross section -- leveraging Standard Model symmetries -- can be learned from near-detector data. We then perform a neutrino oscillation analysis with simulated far-detector events, finding that the modeled cross section achieves results consistent with what could be obtained if the true cross section were known exactly. This proof-of-principle study highlights the potential of future neutrino near-detector datasets and data-driven cross-section models.

Jessie is slated to give a practice colloquium at our first meeting of the year (probably 1/17), but if people are interested, maybe this could be a good candidate for the one after.  Speak up if you're interested in leading the discussion :)

-Jeremy