Speaker
Description
A new generation of detectors—DUNE, Hyper-Kamiokande, and JUNO—will record unprecedented samples of solar, supernova, and reactor neutrinos, transforming the field into a precision science. Fully exploiting this data demands matching advances in theory, since the interpretation of low-energy neutrino signals hinges on neutrino–nucleus cross sections that presently carry large, often unquantified uncertainties. The flavor-blind neutral-current channel is especially valuable, giving direct access to the total all-flavor neutrino flux, yet it remains poorly modeled. I will present work on improvements to the cross section prediction, prospects for uncertainty quantification, and what improved cross sections mean for DUNE's astrophysical neutrino program—from sharper flux measurements to tighter extractions of oscillation parameters.