Nucl ear Physi cs AZ87 ( 1977) 501- 505;

Nor t k- BoUandP~l i f ht y Co. , Mut er dant

Not t o be r epr odaoed by phot opsl nt or mi or ol mwI t hont wr t mpar mi ~l onf r omt he pabl i sher
A
STATI STI CAL
THEORY
OF
NUCLEAR
NEUTRI NO
CAPTURE
NAOKI I TOH, YASUHARU
KOHYAMAand AKI HI KOFUJ I I
Depar t ment of Physi cs, Sophi a Uni ver si t y, 7 Ki oi cho, Chi yoda- ku, Tokyo 102, J apan
Recei ved 31 J anuar y 1977
( Revi sed 15 Mar ch 1977)
Ahst r act : Ast at i st i cal t heor y i s pr oposed
f or
t he cal wl at i on
of
t he t ot al capt ur e
cr oss sect i on
of aneut r i no
by a nucl eus . Cl ose
r ef er ences ar e made t o t he st at i st i cal t heor y of decay andel ect r on capt ur e
devel oped by Yamada andhi s col l abor at or s . As a t est of t he t heor y, we cal cul at e t he t ot al cr oss
sect i on f or t he capt ur e of a sol ar
neut r i no
by a "CI nucl eus.
1. I nt r oduct i on
Pr ocesses of neut r i no capt ur e by nucl ei pl ay i mpor t ant r ol es i n ast r ophysi cs . A
wel l - known exampl e i s t he capt ur e of a sol ar neut r i no by a 3 ' Cl nucl eus :
v~+3' Cl - ~3' Ar +e- . I n t hi s case, t he t ot al r apt ur e cr oss sect i on has been
obt ai ned
"al most exper i ment al l y"
by ahcal l ' ) who not i ced t he use of t he exper i ment al
f t
val ues
of
t he mi r r or +decays 3' Ca - " 3
' K+e+
+v~. Anot her i mpor t ant exampl e
i s a neut r i no capt ur e pr ocess i n a dense st el l ar cor e whi ch under goes a super nova
expl osi on
z
) "
Al t hough i t s t ot al cr oss sect i on i s smal l compar ed wi t h t he neut r i no
scat t er i ng cr oss
sect i ons,
t he neut r i no
capt ur e pr ocess
pl ays an i mpor t ant r ol e i n
est abl i shi ng t hechemi cal equi l i br i umvi aweaki nt er act i oni nt hedense st el l ar mat t er ,
as not ed by Sat o 3) .
Even apar t f r omt he ast r ophysi cal appl i cat i ons, t he st udy of neut r i no capt ur e
pr ocesses i s an i nt er est i ng t heor et i cal subj ect by i t sel f However , r at her f ewwor ks
have so f ar been done i n
t hi s
f i el d One of t he most f r equent l y
r ef er r ed
t o,
among
ot her s, i s t he wor kby l 3ahcal l andFr aut schi ~) . I n t hei r paper , however , t hei r i nt er est
was
mai nl y i n
neut r i nos
wi t h r at her
hi gh
ener gy ( E
z 15 MeV~For t he nucl ear
capt ur e of l ow ener gy neut r i nos, t he st at i st i cal t heor y of - decay
devel oped
by
Yamada and hi s col l abor at or s'
- 8)
i s
appl i cabl e
.
I nt hi s paper , weshal l ext endt hest at i st i cal met hodt o t henucl ear neut r i nocapt ur e.
I n set r t. 2 we f or mul at e t he t heor y. I n sect . 3 we cal cul at e t he t ot al capt ur e cr oss
sect i on of a sol ar neut r i noby a "Cl nucl eus andmake a compar i son wi t h Bahcal l ' s
al most exper i ment al val ue.
2. For mul at i on
The t ot al cr oss sect i on f or t he capt ur e of a neut r i no by a nucl eus v~+( A, Z) -.
501
502

N. ITOHet al .
(A,
Z+
1) +e- i s gi ven by
9)
n
~
C\s
~CI
fl ~
Iz +CCv/ ZI
fa~
IZJ
mc mc2
F(Z'
E~) ,
wher e Gi s t he Fer r ai coupl i ng cons t ant ,
G=(3. 001 f0. 002)
x
10, 1
a,

(2. 2)
mi s t he el ect r on mas s ,
f
1~and
f
a~ar e t he Fenmi andGamow- Tel l er nucl ear mat r i x
el ement s cor r es pondi ng t o t he t r ans i t i on t o t hej t h nucl ear s t at e,
p1
andE~ar e t he
moment umandener gy of t he emi t t ed el ect r on, r es pect i vel y, and F(Z, E~) i s t he
Fer r ai funct i on
wi t h a bei ng t he fi ne s t r uct ur e cons t ant . The fi r s t poi nt oft he s t at i s t i cal t heor y l i es
i n t heappr oxi mat i on t hat t hes ummat i on over many fi nal s t at es i n eq. (2. 1) i s r epl aced
byan i nt egr al . For t hi s pur pos el et us l abel t he fi nal s t at es byt hei r exci t at i on ener gi es
E, andi nt r oduce a s t r engt h funct i on defi nedby
IMd~712 =I ~~I2~~,

~=F,
GT,
wher e c denot es ei t her a Fer ml (1) or a Gamow- Tel l er
(Q)
oper at or , Ifl i h i s t he
aver age oft he nucl ear mat r i x el ement at t heexci t at i on ener gy
E,
andn(E) t he dens i t y
of
t he
fi nal s t at es at
t he ener gy E. Byus i ng t heabove s t r engt h funct i on, wewr i t e t he
expr es s i on for t he t ot al cr os s s ect i on as
(2
. s )
wher e E~i s
t he neut r i no ener gy, and
Q
t he Q- val ue of t he capt ur e r eact i on. Her e
we have as s umed t hat t he par ent nucl eus i s unpol ar i z ed, s o t hat
J
Q
I2

3
I
f~~
I2~

(2- ~
The s econd poi nt of t he s t at i s t i cal t heor y i s t o fact or i ~e t he s t r engt h funct i on
IMn(E) I Zi nt o t he s i ngl e- nucl eon s t r engt h funct i on Dr, (E, s ) :
IMn(E7I2
-
~~
,
. =
Dn(E,
e) W(E,
s ) ~
de,

(2. 8)
~n
NEUTRINOCAPTURE

503
wher e Ei s t he ener gy of t he s i ngl e- nucl eon s t at e
.
The f unct i on
Dr, ( E, E) des cr i bes
t he s quar e of t he t r ans i t i on mat r i x el ement by t he oper at or Qof
a
s i ngl e
neut r on
wi t h ener gy Ei mbedded i n t hei ni t i al nucl eus i nt o a s i ngl e pr ot on i n t he f i nal nucl eus
wi t h exci t at i on ener gy E, i r r es pect i ve of t he Paul i excl us i on pr i nci pl e. In t he Fer mi
gas model , t he excl us i on pr i nci pl e i s mani f es t ed by t he cons t r ai nt f act or W( E,
E) ,
wher e
~
bei ng t he Fer t ni l evel
of
t he i ni t i al
neut r on aggr egat e. Her e we r emar k t hat
Q+~
cor r es ponds t o t he Fer mi l evel
of
t he f i nal
pr ot on aggr egat e. We denot e by dN/ ds
t he dens i t y of t he s i ngl e- nucl eon s t at es i n t he i ni t i al
nucl eus . Fur t her mor e, we
as s ume t hat t he f unct i on Dr, ( E, E) does not depend on Ei n t he s pi r i t of t he i mpul s e
appr oxi mat i on, and us e t he Fer mi gas model f or t he nucl eon aggr egat e. Then we
obt ai n i mmedi at el y
f or E<Q
f or QSE<EF+Q( 2. 10)
f or eF
+Q
5
E.
The t hi r d poi nt of t he s t at i s t i cal t heor y i s t he char ader i 7at i on of
Da
( E) by a s et
of s umr ul es . Theener gy wei ght ed moment s of Dc( E) r ead as ' " 6 )
wher e d~and Q
n
r epr es ent t he peak pos i t i on andt hewi dt h of t hes t r engt h f unct i on,
r es pect i vel y. Thes e
par amet er s ar e t he expect at i on val ues of cer t ai n oper at or s i n
t he i ni t i al nucl ear s t at e. Thes e oper at or s depend
al s o on
t he char act er i s t i cs
of
t he
nucl ear Hami l t oni an. In t hes i mpl es t model wher et he nucl ear f or cei s as s umed t o be
i s os pi n i ndependent ( except t he Coul omb f or ce and t he neut r on- pr ot on mas s
di 6 er ence) t hes e expect at i on val ues can be eval uat ed wi t h t he
ai d
of
a uni f or ml y
char ged s pher e mot el wi t h r adi us R=1 . 3 A}f m,
dF
=
( 1 . 33 ZA- ~- 0. 7825) MeV,

( 2. 14)
oF =0. 145ZA' ~MeV.

( 2. 15)
504

N.
I TOHet al .
For t he Gamow- Tel l er mat r i x el ement , t he assumpt i on of t he spi n i ndependence of
t he nucl ear f or ce i s cer t ai nl y f ar f r omr eal i t y . For t hesake
of si mpl i ci t y weassume t hat
t he spi n- dependent f or ce si mpl y br oadens t he st r engt h f unct i on but does
not shi f t
t he peak posi t i on,
wher e by exper i ence i n t he ~ecay case we may t ake Q
N
=6 MeV.
The moment s
do not uni quel y det er mi ne t he f unct i onal f or m. For pr act i cal
cal cul at i on we adopt t he expl i ci t f or m
as
( i )
Gaussi an ;
and( ) exponent i al :
The i nt egr at i on i n ( 2 . 6) has
t o be per f or mednumer i cal l y t o gi ve t he t ot al capt ur e
cr oss sect i on.
3. At est
of t he t heor y and
di sassi on
I n t he pr ecedi ng sect i on, we have gi ven t he gener al met hod of t he cal cul at i on of
t he t ot al cr oss sect i on i n t he f r amewor k of t he st t i st i cal model . I n t hi s sect i on, we
shal l cal cul at e t he t ot al cr oss sect i on f or t he capt ur e of a
sol ar neut r i no emi t t ed by
t he pr ocess BB - "
8
Be*+e+
+v e
by
a
3' Cl
nucl eus. The r apt ur e pr ocess of t he
neut r i nos of t hi s or i gi n pl ays a vi t al r ol e i n t heBr ookhaven sol ar neut r i no exper i ment
l ed by Davi s
l o) .
Bahcal l ' ) has cal cul at ed t he t ot al capt ur e cr oss sect i on aver aged over t he
neut r i no spect r umby usi ng t he exper i ment al l y known f t val ues f or t he decays
3' Ca - " 3' K+e++ve, whi ch ar e symmet r i c t o t he pr ocesses v e+3
' Cl ~3' Ar +e- .
He has obt ai ned an
al most exper i ment al val ue
( Q) ~_( 1 . 35f 0. 1) x 10
- ~z
cm2.

( 3. 1)
As t hi s i s "al most an exper i ment al val ue , one cannot cl ai many t heor et i cal est i mat e
t o be mor e accur at e t han t hi s Rat her , one may exami ne t he accur acy
of t he
t heor : t i cal cal cul at i ons by compar i ng wi t h t hi s al most exper i ment al cr oss sect i on.
We have appl i ed t he st at i st i cal t heor y t o t hi s pr ocess usi ng t he nucl eon ef f ect i ve
mass par amet er
M*l M
=
0
. 6 [ r ef s . s" 6) ] , and obt ai ned
t he r esul t s
( 6~G=1 . 50x
10
- ~s
cm2
,

f or t he Gaussi an DA( E) ,

( 3. 2)
<v~E =1 . 80
x
10- ` 2 cm~,

f or t he
exponent i al
Dn( ~.

( 3. 3)
NEUTRI NOCAPTURE

SOS
At f i r s t s i ght, the agr eement wi th the al mos t exper i mental val ue ( 3. 1) appear s to be
s ur pr i s i ngl y good, i f one takes due account of the s tati s ti cal natur e of the pr es ent
theor y . However , when one f ur ther anal ys es the r el ati ve Fer mi andGamow- Tel l er
contr i buti ons to the total captur e cr os s
s ecti on, one f i nds that the Fer mi contr i buti on
i n
the s tati s ti cal model i s about 30%, whi l e Bahcal l ' s es ti mate' " t l ) gi ves anappr ox-
i matel y 60~Fer mi contr i buti on. The r eas on f or thi s di s cr epancy mi ght be that
the peak of the Gamow- Tel l er s tr ength f uncti on i s l ocated at a hi gher ener gy than
the Fer mi peak i n the actual nucl eus 3 ' Ar , s o that a s mal l par t of the Gamow- Tel l er
s tr ength f uncti on par ti ci pates i n thi s neutr i no captur e pr oces s . When one takes i nto
account thi s s i tuati on, one concl udes that the s tati s ti cal theor y gi ves a total captur e
cr os s s ecti on whi ch i s i n agr eement wi th the al mos t exper i mental val ue wi thi n a
f actor of 2. Par t of
the di s cr epancy mi ght
be
due to the f ai l ur e of the uni f or ml y
char ged s pher e model .
Never thel es s , thi s agr eement i s much better than the
t
decay cas e
s
. 6)
. The
r eas on s eems to be that i n our cas e the neutr i no ener gy i s hi gh ( the maxi mumener gy
i s 14. 06 MeVf or the neutr i no emi tted by the pr oces s 8B
- "
eBe*+e++v
e
) andthe
thr es hol d ener gy i s l ow( 0. 81 MeV) , s o that many exci ted s tates i n the 3 ' Ar nucl eus
par ti ci pate i n the tr ans i ti on, whi l e i n the us ual
f
decays par ti ci pati ng f i nal s tates
ar e much l es s .
Thus ,
we
have s hown
that
the
pr es ent s tati s ti cal theor y, though s i mpl e enough,
can be a power f ul method of cal cul ati ng the total cr os s s ecti on f or the captur e of a
neutr i no by anucl eus , i f many f i nal s tates par ti ci pate i n the tr ans i ti on. Anappl i cati on
of the pr es ent theor y to the neutr i no captur e pr oces s es i n dens e s tar s i s i n pr ogr es s .
The author s thank H. Tans ei and T. Taguchi f or thei r hel p i n numer i cal computa-
ti on
.
Ref er ences
1) J . N. >~hcal l , Phys . Rev. Lef t .
17
( 1966)
398
2) D. L. Tubbs and D. N. Schr amm, As tr ophys . J . 201 ( 1975) 467
3)
K. Sato, Pr og .
Theor . Phys . 54 ( 1975) 1325
4) J . N. ~hcal l and S. C. Fr auts chi , Phys . Rev. 136 ( 1964) B1S47
S) K. Takahas hi and M. Yamada, Pr og. Theor . Phys . 41 ( 1969) 1470
6) S. I . Koyama, K. Takahas hi and M. Yamada, Pr og . Theor . 1? hys . 44 ( 1970) 663
7) K. Takahas hi , 1? r og. Theor . l f i ys . 45 ( 1971) 1466
8) Y. Egawa, K. Yokoi and M. Yamada, Fr og . Theor . Phys . 54 ( 1975) 1339
9)
M.
Monta,
i n
Beta decay and moon captur e ( Benj ami n, Readi ng, Mas s achus etts , 1973)
p
. 11S
10) J . N. ~hcal l and RDavi s , J r . , Sci cnce 191 ( 1976) 264
11) J . N. Bahcal l , 1? hys . Rev. 135 ( 1964) B137