Pion–nucleon scattering: from chiral perturbation theory to Roy–Steiner equations

Abstract

Ever since Weinberg’s seminal predictions of the pion–nucleon scattering amplitudes at threshold, this process has been of central interest for the study of chiral dynamics involving nucleons. The scattering lengths or the pion–nucleon σ-term are fundamental quantities characterizing the explicit breaking of chiral symmetry by means of the light quark masses. On the other hand, pion–nucleon dynamics also strongly affects the long-range part of nucleon–nucleon potentials, and hence has a far-reaching impact on nuclear physics. We discuss the fruitful combination of dispersion-theoretical methods, in the form of Roy–Steiner equations, with chiral dynamics to determine pion–nucleon scattering amplitudes at low energies with high precision.