Theoretical uncertainties on quasielastic charged-current neutrino–nucleus cross sections

We estimate the theoretical uncertainties of the model developed in [J. Nieves, J.E. Amaro, M. Valverde, Phys. Rev. C 70 (2004) 055503] for inclusive quasielastic charged-current neutrino–nucleus reactions at intermediate energies. Besides we quantify the deviations of the predictions of this many body framework from those obtained within a simple Fermi gas model. A special attention has been paid to the ratio σ(μ)/σ(e) of interest for experiments on atmospheric neutrinos. We show that uncertainties affecting this ratio are likely smaller than 5%. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. PACS: 25.30.Pt; 13.15.+g; 24.10.Cn; 21.60.Jz