Nuclear Effects on the UHE Neutrino-Nucleon Deep Inelastic Scattering Cross Section

Abstract

Using a recent parametrization of nuclear effects in parton distribution functions we calculate the neutrino-nucleon cross section at energies relevant for ultra high energy neutrino telescopes. The modification of the cross section in comparison with the calculation using parton densities in free nucleons is of the order of few per cent for the parameter range of interest in neutrino telescopes (A=10 and E=10$^6$ GeV) and it reaches 20 % at the highest energies (E=10$^{12}$ GeV) and for the largest nuclear size (A=190) considered.