Theoretical study of neutrino scattering off the stable even Mo isotopes at low and intermediate energies

A systematic study of the cross sections of neutral-current neutrino scattering off the stable even Mo isotopes (mass number A = 92, 94, 96, 98, 100), at low and intermediate neutrino energies (E-nu <= 130 MeV), is presented and discussed. The required wave functions for the initial (ground state) and all accessible final nuclear states are constructed in the context of the quasi-particle random-phase approximation (QRPA) and tested against data on the low-lying energy spectra of the isotopes in question. The individual contributions coming from the polar-vector and axial-vector components of the hadronic current for the coherent and incoherent channels of each isotope are investigated. The studied Mo isotopes are contents of the detector of the MOON experiment operating at Japan with a hybrid aim to search for neutrinoless double beta decay events and to detect low- and intermediate-energy astrophysical neutrinos (solar, supernova, geo-neutrinos), and also of the NEMO neutrinoless double beta decay detector in Modane at France. For such purposes our cross section calculations are of significant importance. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.