Paschos-Wolfenstein relationship for nuclei and the NuTeV sin2θW measurement -: art. no. 091301

We discuss the nuclear effects in the Paschos-Wolfenstein relationship in the context of the extraction of the weak mixing angle. We point out that the neutron excess correction to the Paschos-Wolfenstein relationship for a neutron-rich target is negative and large on the scale of the experimental errors of a recent NuTeV measurement. We find a larger neutron excess correction to the Paschos-Wolfenstein relationship for the total cross sections than that discussed by the NuTeV Collaboration. The phenomenological applications of this observation are discussed in the context of the NuTeV deviation. The uncertainties in the neutron excess correction are estimated. The effects due to the Fermi motion, nuclear binding, and nuclear shadowing are also discussed in the context of the total cross sections.