Parity violation in electron-deuteron scattering. II. Break-up channels

Abstract

Parity violation in electron-deuteron inelastic scattering is decribed. An impulse approximation, modified to incorporate gauge invariance, is employed. Additional meson-exchange currents are included. Normal-parity and abnormal-parity wave function components are generated numerically with a Reid soft-core potential for the former and a general parity-violating weak potential with adjustable coupling constants for the latter. Numerical results for parity-conserving differential cross sections are in good agreement with existing data. For low n− p excitation energies and medium-energy electrons, we find that parity-violating asymmetries are dominated by contributions from neutral weak currents so that the Weinberg-Salam theory can be tested. For low-energy electrons, 5 MeV ≲ E e ≲ 50 MeV, our results indicate that the asymmetry caused by nuclear parity violation is roughly as important as that due to neutral weak currents. The pion-nucleon parity-violating coupling, f π, as well as the rho- and omega-nucleon parity-violating couplings, may be determinable from such experiments. Further, it is possible to check the experiment of Lobashov et al., which detects circular polarization in the thermal-neutron capture reaction.