Chiral effective field theory calculations of weak transitions in light nuclei

Abstract

We report Quantum Monte Carlo calculations of weak transitions in $A\leq 10$ nuclei, based on the Norfolk two- and three-nucleon chiral interactions, and associated one- and two-body axial currents. We find that the contribution from two-body currents is at the $2$ - $3\%$ level, with the exception of matrix elements entering the rates of $^8$Li, $^8$B, and $^8$He beta decays. These matrix elements are suppressed in impulse approximation based on the (leading order) Gamow Teller transition operator alone; two-body currents provide a $20$ - $30\%$ correction, which is, however, insufficient to bring theory in agreement with experimental data. For the other transitions, the agreement with the data is satisfactory, and the results exhibit a negligible to mild model dependence when different combinations of Norfolk interactions are utilized to construct the nuclear wave functions. We report a complete study of two-body weak transition densities which reveals the expected universal behavior of two-body currents at short distances throughout the range of $A\,$=$\,3$ to $A\,$=$\,10$ systems considered here.