Low energy electromagnetic processes based on the chiral effective field theory approach

Abstract

Chiral effective field theory describes the interaction of nucleons and pions in the low-energy regime of QCD. This theory offers a consistent picture of nuclear forces and nuclear current operators. We study the electromagnetic processes based on ChEFT dynamical picture and compare our predictions to results obtained in the conventional framework. In particular, we consider low energy photo-disintegration of the deuteron at different orders of the chiral expansion. We investigate a role of different ingredients in the two-nucleon current operator. For the first time calculations involve consistent contributions from long-range two-pion exchange currents which appear at next-to-leading order of the chiral expansion. We present novel results for cross sections and various polarization observables.