Detailed study of the neutral-current neutrino-nucleus scattering off the stable Mo isotopes

For neutrino detection and for various applications in astrophysics the knowledge of the nuclear responses to astrophysical neutrinos is crucial. Recent studies of neutrino interactions with the Mo-100 nucleus and the other stable molybdenum isotopes are important for the planned MOON (Mo Observatory of Neutrinos) detector. To this aim, in the present work we perform detailed nuclear structure calculations for the neutral-current neutrino-nucleus scattering off the stable molybdenum isotopes. We focus on the differential and total neutrino-nucleus cross sections as well as on flux averaged cross sections to various supernova neutrino spectra. We also propose a more efficient method for the computations of the corresponding nuclear matrix elements. By employing this method we extend our previous calculations for the odd isotopes (Mo-95 and Mo-97) where also couplings to high-lying QRPA (quasiparticle random-phase approximation) phonons are included in the quasiparticle-phonon basis. It is established in this work that the inclusion of high-lying QRPA excitations are essential for the description of the neutrino nucleus scattering off open-shell odd-mass nuclei. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.