Abstract

The weak interaction between quarks induces a parity-violating component in the interactions between nucleons, which is typically suppressed by a factor of $${\approx 10^{-7}}$$ compared to the dominant parity-conserving part. Because of the short range of the weak interactions, it provides a unique probe of the strong dynamics that confine quarks into nucleons. An experimental program to map out this weak component of the nuclear force is underway at a number of facilities, including the Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The corresponding observables are related to few-nucleon processes at very low energies, at which pionless effective field theory provides a reliable and model-independent theoretical approach to hadronic parity violation. Results in two- and three-nucleon systems, the role of parity-violating three-nucleon forces, and possible extensions to other few-nucleon systems are discussed.

Highlights

  • Interactions between nucleons are dominated by strong and electromagnetic effects, which conserve parity

  • There is a parity-violating (PV) component to nucleon-nucleon interactions, which is expected to be suppressed by a factor of roughly 10−7 to 10−6 compared to the parity-conserving (PC) component

  • The PV part of the nucleon interactions stems from an interplay of weak interactions between quarks and the strong interactions that confine the quarks into nucleons

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Summary

Introduction

Interactions between nucleons are dominated by strong and electromagnetic effects, which conserve parity. There is a parity-violating (PV) component to nucleon-nucleon interactions, which is expected to be suppressed by a factor of roughly 10−7 to 10−6 compared to the parity-conserving (PC) component. Parity-violating effects can be isolated in pseudoscalar observables, which would vanish if parity was conserved. Such observables include longitudinal and angular asymmetries, as well as induced polarizations in capture, break-up, and transmission experiments. While PV effects can be enhanced by several orders of magnitude in heavier systems I describe an approach to hadronic parity violation based on effective field theory (EFT) and present selected results from two- and three-nucleon systems

Hadronic parity violation in pionless EFT
Two-nucleon systems
Three-nucleon systems
Findings
Conclusions and outlook

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