Ab Initio Nuclear Calculations for Dark Matter-Nucleus and Neutrino-Nucleus Scattering

Over the past decades, ab initio nuclear calculations have made dramatic progress, especially reaching heavy mass nuclei such as 208Pb [1]. This means that it becomes possible to obtain first-principles computation (with quantified uncertainties) of quantities that even reside in the heavy-mass region. The quantities include those relevant for astrophysics and searches for physics beyond the Standard Model. In this talk, I will present a conceptual introduction to modern ab initio nuclear theory. Then, I will focus on recent advances in ab initio calculations of nuclear responses for dark matter-nucleus [2] and neutrino-nucleus elastic and inelastic scattering, covering target nuclei ¹⁹F, ²³Na, ²⁷Al, ^28-30Si, ⁴⁰Ar, ^70,72-74,76Ge, ¹²⁷I, ¹³³Cs, and ^{128-132,134,136}Xe. 

[1]. Ab initio predictions link the neutron skin of 208Pb to nuclear forces. B.S. Hu, et al. Nat. Phys. 18, 1196 (2022). arXiv:2112.01125v1 (2021).

[2]. Ab initio structure factors for spin-dependent dark matter direct detection. B.S. Hu, et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 128, 072502 (2022). arXiv:2109.00193.