Neutrino-deuteron scattering in effective field theory at next-to-next-to-leading order

Abstract

We study the four channels associated with neutrino-deuteron breakup reactions at next-to-next-to-leading order in effective field theory. We find that the total cross section is indeed converging for neutrino energies up to 20 MeV, and thus our calculations can provide constraints on theoretical uncertainties for the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory. We stress the importance of a direct experimental measurement to high precision in at least one channel, in order to fix an axial two-body counterterm.