Abstract
Two-neutrino double-beta decay of certain nuclear isotopes is one of the rarest Standard Model processes observed in nature. Its neutrinoless counterpart is an exotic lepton-number nonconserving process that is widely searched for to determine if the neutrinos are Majorana fermions. In order to connect the rate of these processes to the Standard Model and beyond the Standard Model interactions, it is essential that the corresponding nuclear matrix elements are constrained reliably from theory. Lattice quantum chromodynamics (LQCD) and low-energy effective field theories (EFTs) are expected to play an essential role in constraining the matrix element of the two-nucleon subprocess, which could in turn provide the input into ab initio nuclear-structure calculations in larger isotopes. Focusing on the two-neutrino process $nn \to pp \, (ee \bar{\nu}_e\bar{\nu}_e)$, the amplitude is constructed in this work in pionless EFT at next-to-leading order, demonstrating the emergence of a renormalization-scale independent amplitude and the absence of any new low-energy constant at this order beyond those present in the single-weak process. Most importantly, it is shown how a LQCD four-point correlation function in Euclidean and finite-volume spacetime can be used to constrain the Minkowski infinite-volume amplitude in the EFT. The same formalism is provided for the related single-weak process, which is an input to the double-$\beta$ decay formalism. The LQCD-EFT matching procedure outlined for the double-weak amplitude paves the road toward constraining the two-nucleon matrix element entering the neutrinoless double-beta decay amplitude with a light Majorana neutrino.
Highlights
In certain nuclear isotopes with an even number of neutrons and protons, the rate of single-β decay is suppressed compared with a double-β decay
This paper provides the elementary building blocks for implementing such a perspective in the case of single- and double-weak processes in nuclei, with a focus on the less-developed process of two-neutrino double-β decay
This work consists of two components: (i) Within the framework of pionless effective field theories (EFTs) with nucleonic degrees of freedom, which is a good description of the nn → ppðeeνeνeÞ process at low energies, the physical amplitude is constructed for the first time in this work
Summary
In certain nuclear isotopes with an even number of neutrons and protons, the rate of single-β decay is suppressed compared with a double-β decay. Pionless EFT has further been applied to the problem of 0νββ decay in the two-nucleon system up to next-to-leading order (NLO) and is found to require a new short-distance coupling, or contact LEC, already at leading order (LO) to fully renormalize the twonucleon ΔI 1⁄4 2 transition amplitude, where I denotes the total isospin [29,30,31] This feature is not expected to occur for the two-neutrino mode, since the 1=q2-type neutrino potential induced by the exchange of a light neutrino among the nucleons is absent in the two-neutrino process.
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