Elastic Electromagnetic Form Factors Research Articles

Nuclear medium meson structures from the Schwinger proper-time Nambu–Jona-Lasinio model

In this paper, we report the results of our study on the nuclear medium modifications of the meson electromagnetic form factors in the framework of the Nambu–Jona-Lasinio model with the help of the Schwinger proper-time regularization scheme to tame the loop divergence and simulate the effect of QCD confinement. In our current approach, the meson structure and nuclear medium are constructed in the same Nambu–Jona-Lasinio model at the quark level. We examine the free-space and in-medium charge radii of kaon and pion, the spacelike elastic electromagnetic form factors of kaon and pion, and their quark-sector form factors, which reflect their internal structures. By comparing our result to experimental data, we found that the free-space elastic electromagnetic form factors of the mesons are consistent with the data, while the in-medium elastic electromagnetic form factors of the mesons are found to decrease as the nuclear matter density increases, leading to a rise of meson charge radius, which is consistent with the prediction of other theoretical calculations. We also predict the axial nucleon coupling constant gA in nuclear medium computed via the Goldberger-Treiman relation, which is crucial for searching the neutrinoless double beta decay (0νββ). Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Pion and kaon electromagnetic and gravitational form factors

A unified set of predictions for pion and kaon elastic electromagnetic and gravitational form factors is obtained using a symmetry-preserving truncation of each relevant quantum field equation. A key part of the study is a description of salient aspects of the dressed graviton + quark vertices. The calculations reveal that each meson’s mass radius is smaller than its charge radius, matching available empirical inferences; and meson core pressures are commensurate with those in neutron stars. The analysis described herein paves the way for a direct calculation of nucleon gravitational form factors.

Nucleon Resonance Electroexcitation Amplitudes and Emergent Hadron Mass

Understanding the strong interaction dynamics that govern the emergence of hadron mass (EHM) represents a challenging open problem in the Standard Model. In this paper we describe new opportunities for gaining insight into EHM from results on nucleon resonance (N*) electroexcitation amplitudes (i.e., γvpN* electrocouplings) in the mass range up to 1.8 GeV for virtual photon four-momentum squared (i.e., photon virtualities Q2) up to 7.5 GeV2 available from exclusive meson electroproduction data acquired during the 6-GeV era of experiments at Jefferson Laboratory (JLab). These results, combined with achievements in the use of continuum Schwinger function methods (CSMs), offer new opportunities for charting the momentum dependence of the dressed quark mass from results on the Q2-evolution of the γvpN* electrocouplings. This mass function is one of the three pillars of EHM and its behavior expresses influences of the other two, viz. the running gluon mass and momentum-dependent effective charge. A successful description of the Δ(1232)3/2+ and N(1440)1/2+ electrocouplings has been achieved using CSMs with, in both cases, common momentum-dependent mass functions for the dressed quarks, for the gluons, and the same momentum-dependent strong coupling. The properties of these functions have been inferred from nonperturbative studies of QCD and confirmed, e.g., in the description of nucleon and pion elastic electromagnetic form factors. Parameter-free CSM predictions for the electrocouplings of the Δ(1600)3/2+ became available in 2019. The experimental results obtained in the first half of 2022 have confirmed the CSM predictions. We also discuss prospects for these studies during the 12-GeV era at JLab using the CLAS12 detector, with experiments that are currently in progress, and canvass the physics motivation for continued studies in this area with a possible increase of the JLab electron beam energy up to 22 GeV. Such an upgrade would finally enable mapping of the dressed quark mass over the full range of distances (i.e., quark momenta) where the dominant part of hadron mass and N* structure emerge in the transition from the strongly coupled to perturbative QCD regimes.

Empirical Determination of the Pion Mass Distribution

Existing pion+nucleus Drell-Yan and electron+pion scattering data are used to develop ensembles of model-independent representations of the pion generalized parton distribution (GPD). Therewith, one arrives at a data-driven prediction for the pion mass distribution form factor, . Compared with the pion elastic electromagnetic form factor, is harder: the ratio of the radii derived from these two form factors is . Our data-driven predictions for the pion GPD, related form factors and distributions should serve as valuable constraints on theories of pion structure.

Exclusive lepton pair production at the electron–ion collider

The two-photon exclusive production of lepton pairs at the Electron–Ion Collider will open interesting research directions thanks to a very high luminosity and clean experimental conditions. A survey of the scientific potential of such studies is reported. In particular, we consider unique measurements of the proton elastic electromagnetic form-factors and a possibility of studying the anomalous electromagnetic dipole moments of tau leptons.

The photon content of the proton in the CT18 global analysis

Recently, two photon PDF sets based on implementations of the LUX ansatz into the CT18 global analysis were released. In CT18lux, the photon PDF is calculated directly using the LUX master formula for all scales, \muμ. In an alternative realization, CT18qed, the photon PDF is initialized at the starting scale, \mu_0μ0, using the LUX formulation and evolved to higher scales \mu(>\mu_0)μ(>μ0) with a combined QED+QCD kernel at \mathcal{O}(\alpha),~\mathcal{O}(\alpha\alpha_s)𝒪(α),𝒪(ααs) and \mathcal{O}(\alpha^2)𝒪(α2). In the small-xx region, the photon PDF uncertainty is mainly induced by the quark and gluon PDFs, through the perturbative DIS structure functions. In comparison, the large-xx photon uncertainty comes from various low-energy, nonperturbative contributions, including variations of the inelastic structure functions in the resonance and continuum regions, higher-twist and target-mass corrections, and elastic electromagnetic form factors of the proton. We take the production of doubly-charged Higgs pairs, (H^{++}H^{--})(H++H−−), as an example of scenarios beyond the Standard Model to illustrate the phenomenological implications of these photon PDFs at the LHC.

Parametrization of quark and gluon generalized parton distributions in a dynamical framework

We present a parametrization of the chiral even generalized parton distributions, $H$, $E$, $\stackrel{\texttildelow{}}{H}$, $\stackrel{\texttildelow{}}{E}$, for the quark, antiquark, and gluon, in the perturbative QCD (pQCD)-parton framework. Parametric analytic forms are given as a function of two equivalent sets of variables $x$, $\ensuremath{\xi}$, $t$ (symmetric frame) and $X$, $\ensuremath{\zeta}$, $t$ (asymmetric frame), at an initial scale, ${Q}_{o}^{2}$. In the $X>\ensuremath{\zeta}$ region, a convenient and flexible form is obtained as the product of a Regge term $\ensuremath{\propto}{X}^{\ensuremath{-}\ensuremath{\alpha}+{\ensuremath{\alpha}}^{\ensuremath{'}}t}$, describing the low $X$ behavior, times a spectator model-based functional form depending on various mass parameters; the behavior at $X<\ensuremath{\zeta}$ is determined using the generalized parton distributions symmetry and polynomiality properties. The parameters are constrained using data on the flavor separated nucleon electromagnetic elastic form factors, the axial and pseudoscalar nucleon form factors, and the parton distribution functions from both the deep inelastic unpolarized and polarized nucleon structure functions. For the gluon distributions we use, in particular, constraints provided by recent lattice QCD moments calculations. The parametrization's kinematical range of validity is $0.0001\ensuremath{\le}X\ensuremath{\le}\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}0.85$, $0.01\ensuremath{\le}\ensuremath{\zeta}\ensuremath{\le}0.85$, $0\ensuremath{\le}\ensuremath{-}t\ensuremath{\le}1\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{GeV}}^{2}$, $2\ensuremath{\le}{Q}^{2}\ensuremath{\le}100\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{GeV}}^{2}$. With the simultaneous description of the quark, antiquark, and gluon sectors, this parametrization represents a first tool enabling a global QCD analysis of deeply virtual exclusive experiments.

Hybrid nature of the abnormal solutions of the Bethe\u2013Salpeter equation in the Wick\u2013Cutkosky model

In the Wick–Cutkosky model, where two scalar massive constituents interact by means of the exchange of a scalar massless particle, the Bethe–Salpeter equation has solutions of two types, called “normal” and “abnormal”. In the non-relativistic limit, the normal solutions correspond to the usual Coulomb spectrum, whereas the abnormal ones do not have non-relativistic counterparts – they are absent in the Schrödinger equation framework. We have studied, in the formalism of the light-front dynamics, the Fock-space content of the abnormal solutions. It turns out that, in contrast to the normal ones, the abnormal states are dominated by the massless exchange particles (by 90 % or more), what provides a natural explanation of their decoupling from the two-body Schrödinger equation. Assuming that one of the massive constituents is charged, we have calculated the electromagnetic elastic form factors of the normal and abnormal states, as well as the transition form factors. The results on form factors confirm the many-body nature of the abnormal states, as found from the Fock-space analysis. The abnormal solutions have thus properties similar to those of hybrid states, made here essentially of two massive constituents and several or many massless exchange particles. They could also be interpreted as the Abelian scalar analogs of the QCD hybrid states. The question of the validity of the ladder approximation of the model is also examined.

Hyperon electromagnetic timelike elastic form factors at large q2

We present estimates of the hyperon elastic form factors for the baryon octet and the $\Omega^-$ baryon for large four-momentum transfer squared, $q^2$, in the timelike region ($q^2>0$). Experimentally, those form factors can be extracted from the $e^+ e^- \to B \bar B$ and $p \bar p \to B \bar B$ processes, where $B$ stands for a general baryon. Our results are based on calculations of the elastic electromagnetic form factors in the spacelike region ($Q^2 = - q^2 > 0$) within a covariant quark model. To connect the results in the spacelike region to those in the timelike region, we use asymptotic relations between the two regions which are constraints derived from analyticity and unitarity. We calculate the effective form factors $|G(q^2)|$ and compare them with the integrated cross section data $\sigma_{\rm Born} (q^2)$ from BaBar, BES III, and CLEO. The available data are at the moment restricted to $\Lambda$, $\Sigma^0$, $\Sigma^-$, $\Xi^-$, $\Xi^0$, and $\Omega^-$ as well as to $e^+ e^- \to \Lambda \bar \Sigma^0 $ and $e^+ e^- \to \Sigma^0 \bar \Lambda$ reactions. Our results provide useful reference for future experiments and seem to indicate that the present data are still in the non-perturbative QCD region, while the onset for the asymptotic constraints from analyticity and unitarity happens much before the region of the perturbative QCD falloff of the form factors.

Elastic electromagnetic form factors of vector mesons

A symmetry-preserving approach to the two valence-body continuum bound-state problem is used to calculate the elastic electromagnetic form factors of the $\rho$-meson and subsequently to study the evolution of vector-meson form factors with current-quark mass. To facilitate a range of additional comparisons, $K^\ast$ form factors are also computed. The analysis reveals that: vector mesons are larger than pseudoscalar mesons; composite vector mesons are non-spherical, with magnetic and quadrupole moments that deviate $\sim 30$\% from point-particle values; in many ways, vector-meson properties are as much influenced by emergent mass as those of pseudoscalars; and vector meson electric form factors possess a zero at spacelike momentum transfer. Qualitative similarities between the electric form factors of the $\rho$ and the proton, $G_E^p$, are used to argue that the character of emergent mass in the Standard Model can force a zero in $G_E^p$. Morover, the existence of a zero in vector meson electric form factors entails that a single-pole vector meson dominance model can only be of limited use in estimating properties of off-shell vector mesons, providing poor guidance for systems in which the Higgs-mechanism of mass generation is dominant.

Structure of Baryons in a Semi-Relativistic Quark Model

The spectroscopy of light and strange baryons and elastic electromagnetic form factors of nucleon have been studied through a simple semi-relativistic quark model. For SU(6)-invariant part of spectrum, we treated the baryons as a spin-independent three-body bound system and presented the exact analytical solution of three-body Klein–Gordon equation. Considering the SU(6)-invariant interaction as a combination of scalar linear and vector Coulombic-like potentials, we obtained analytical formulas for energy levels and the hyperradial wave functions which have been employed in the calculations of the mass spectrum of baryons, electromagnetic elastic form factors, and charge radii of nucleon. The evaluated observables have been compared with experimental data, and it has been shown that the present model leads to a fairly good description of the observed resonances.

Future Measurements of the Nucleon Elastic Electromagnetic Form Factors at Jefferson Lab

The elastic, electromagnetic form factors are fundamental observables that describe the internal structure of protons, neutrons, and atomic nuclei. Jefferson Lab in the United States has completed the 12 GeV Upgrade that will open new opportunities to study the form factors. A campaign to measure all four nucleon form factors (electric and magnetic ones for both proton and neutron) has been approved consisting of seven experiments in Halls A, B, and C. The increased energy of the electron beam will extend the range of precision measurements to higher Q2 for all four form factors together. This combination of measurements will allow for the decomposition of the results into their quark components and guide the development of a QCD-based understanding of nuclei in the non-perturbative regime. I will present more details on the 12 GeV Upgrade, the methods used to measure the form factors, and what we may learn.

Electromagnetic transition form factors of baryons in a relativistic Faddeev approach

The covariant Faddeev approach which describes baryons as relativistic three-quark bound states and is based on the Dyson-Schwinger and Bethe-Salpeter equations of QCD is briefly reviewed. All elements, including especially the baryons’ three-body-wave-functions, the quark propagators and the dressed quark-photon vertex, are calculated from a well-established approximation for the quark-gluon interaction. Selected previous results of this approach for the spectrum and elastic electromagnetic form factors of ground-state baryons and resonances are reported. The main focus of this talk is a presentation and discussion of results from a recent investigation of the electromagnetic transition form factors between ground-state octet and decuplet baryons as well as the octet-only Σ0 to Λ transition.

Color-suppression of non-planar diagrams in bosonic bound states

We study the suppression of non-planar diagrams in a scalar QCD model of a meson system in 3+1 space–time dimensions due to the inclusion of the color degrees of freedom. As a prototype of the color-singlet meson, we consider a flavor-nonsinglet system consisting of a scalar-quark and a scalar-antiquark with equal masses exchanging a scalar-gluon of a different mass, which is investigated within the framework of the homogeneous Bethe–Salpeter equation. The equation is solved by using the Nakanishi representation for the manifestly covariant bound-state amplitude and its light-front projection. The resulting non-singular integral equation is solved numerically. The damping of the impact of the cross-ladder kernel on the binding energies are studied in detail. The color-suppression of the cross-ladder effects on the light-front wave function and the elastic electromagnetic form factor are also discussed. As our results show, the suppression appears significantly large for Nc=3, which supports the use of rainbow-ladder truncations in practical non-perturbative calculations within QCD.

Up- and down-quark contributions to the nucleon electromagnetic form factors at low Q2

The spatial distribution of charge and magnetization within the nucleon (proton and neutron) is encoded in the elastic electromagnetic form factors and . These form factors have been precisely measured utilizing elastic electron scattering, and the combination of proton and neutron form factors allows for the separation of the up- and down-quark contributions to the nucleon form factors. We expand on our original analyses and extract the up- and down-quark contributions to the nucleon electromagnetic form factors from worldwide data with an emphasis on precise new data covering the low-momentum region, which is sensitive to the large-scale structure of the nucleon. From these, we construct the flavor-separated Dirac and Pauli form factors and their ratios, and compare the results to recent extractions and theoretical calculations and models.

Bound state structure and electromagnetic form factor beyond the ladder approximation

We investigate the response of the bound state structure of a two-boson system, within a Yukawa model with a scalar boson exchange, to the inclusion of the cross-ladder contribution to the ladder kernel of the Bethe-Salpeter equation. The equation is solved by means of the Nakanishi integral representation and light-front projection. The valence light-front wave function and the elastic electromagnetic form factor beyond the impulse approximation, with the inclusion of the two-body current, generated by the cross-ladder kernel, are computed. The valence wave function and electromagnetic form factor, considering both ladder and ladder plus cross-ladder kernels, are studied in detail. Their asymptotic forms are found to be quite independent of the inclusion of the cross-ladder kernel, for a given binding energy. The asymptotic decrease of form factor agrees with the counting rules. This analysis can be generalized to fermionic systems, with a wide application in the study of the meson structure.

Pion transition form factor through Dyson-Schwinger equations

In the framework of Dyson-Schwinger equations (DSE), we compute the γ*γ→π0 transition form factor, G(Q2). For the first time, in a continuum approach to quantun chromodynamics (QCD), it was possible to compute G(Q2) on the whole domain of space-like momenta. Our result agrees with CELLO, CLEO and Belle collaborations and, with the well- known asymptotic QCD limit, 2ƒπ. Our analysis unifies this prediction with that of the pion's valence-quark parton distribution amplitude (PDA) and elastic electromagnetic form factor.

Systematic study of baryons in a three-body quark model

We investigated the structure of baryons within a three-body quark model based on hypercentral approach. We considered an SU(6)-invariant potential consisting of the well-known “Coulomb-plus-linear” potential plus some multipole interactions as V (x) ∝ x−n with n > 2. Then, through an analytical solution, we obtained the energy eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the three-body problem and evaluated some observables such as the mass spectrum of light baryons and both the electromagnetic elastic form factors, and the charge radii of nucleons. We compared our results with the experimental data and showed that the present model provides a good description of the observed resonances.

Investigation of light baryons in a three-body quark model

We present a three-body quark model based on hypercentral approach for investigating the internal structure of light baryons. The analytically obtained energy eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the three-body problem have been used in the calculations of the mass spectrum of light baryons and electromagnetic elastic form factors of nucleon. The magnetic moments and charge radii of nucleon have also been calculated. We have compared the evaluated observables with experimental data and it has been shown that the present model provides a good description of the observed resonances.

Structure of the neutral pion and its electromagnetic transition form factor

The $\gamma^\ast \gamma \to \pi^0$ transition form factor, $G(Q^2)$, is computed on the entire domain of spacelike momenta using a continuum approach to the two valence-body bound-state problem in relativistic quantum field theory: the result agrees with data obtained by the CELLO, CLEO and Belle Collaborations. The analysis unifies this prediction with that of the pion's valence-quark parton distribution amplitude (PDA) and elastic electromagnetic form factor, and demonstrates, too, that a fully self-consistent treatment can readily connect a pion PDA that is a broad, concave function at the hadronic scale with the perturbative QCD prediction for the transition form factor in the hard photon limit. The normalisation of that limit is set by the scale of dynamical chiral symmetry breaking, which is a crucial feature of the Standard Model. Understanding of the latter will thus remain incomplete until definitive transition form factor data is available on $Q^2>10\,$GeV$^2$.