Reducing Hadronic Uncertainty in Low-Energy Neutral-Current Processes

Abstract

We analyze the hadronic uncertainty from light-quark loops coupled to (anti)neutrino in low-energy neutral-current (anti)neutrino scattering, estimated at the $3$-$4$ permille level. This uncertainty arises from limited knowledge of the charge-isospin correlation function of quark currents. We study the charge-charge and charge-isospin correlators within $\mathrm{SU}(2)$ and $\mathrm{SU}(3)$ chiral perturbation theory (ChPT). In $\mathrm{SU}(2)$ ChPT, the two correlators are identical to all orders in the chiral and electromagnetic expansions. We further perform a leading-order $\mathrm{SU}(3)$ ChPT calculation and discuss the relevant counterterms. Our findings reduce the hadronic uncertainty in neutral-current processes such as (anti)neutrino-electron and coherent elastic (anti)neutrino-nucleus scattering by a factor $\sim 35$.