Theory of neutrino-atom collisions: the history, present status and BSM physics

An overview of the current theoretical studies on neutrino-atom scattering processes is presented. The ionization channel of these processes, which is studied in experiments searching for neutrino magnetic moments, is brought into focus. Recent developments in the theory of atomic ionization by impact of reactor antineutrinos are discussed. It is shown that the stepping approximation is well applicable for the data analysis practically down to the ionization threshold.