Hadronic Weak Interaction Research Articles

Semi-inclusive deeply inelastic electron nucleus scattering in the eN collinear frame

Our understanding of the parton-level structure in the nucleon comes predominantly from the electron deeply inelastic scattering measurements with very high precision. It deserves further study. We therefore calculate the neutral current jet production semi-inclusive deeply inelastic scattering process in this paper. Neutral current implies that interactions can be mediated by the photon, Z0 boson and their interference. The initial electron is assumed to be polarized and then scattered off by a target particle with spin 1. After obtaining the differential cross section, we calculate sets of quantities, including structure functions, azimuthal asymmetries, parity-violating asymmetries and charge asymmetries. They can be measured in the experiments. We find that these quantities are expressed in terms of the parton distribution functions and the electroweak coefficients. These coefficients are different from that in the γ⁎N collinear frame. As a result, our calculation provides a set of new quantities for determining the electroweak couplings as well as the parton distribution functions in the deeply inelastic scattering. It is helpful to test the universality of the parton distribution functions or to understand the hadronic weak interactions and strong interactions simultaneously.

Intrinsic asymmetries in semi-inclusive deeply inelastic scattering at the Electron-Ion Collider

We calculate the neutral current jet production semi-inclusive deeply inelastic scattering process in this paper. Neutral current implies that interactions can be mediated by the photon, $Z^0$-boson and their interference. The initial electron is assumed to be polarized and then scattered off by a target particle with spin-1/2. Calculations are carried out up to twist-3 level in the quantum chromodynamics parton model by applying the collinear expansion formalism where multiple gluon scattering is taken into account and gauge links are obtained automatically. After obtaining the differential cross section, we introduce the definition of the intrinsic asymmetry. This quantity reveals the asymmetry in the distribution of the quark intrinsic transverse momentum. We find that these asymmetries can be expressed in terms of the transverse momentum dependent parton distribution functions and the electroweak couplings. As a result, our calculations provide a set of new quantities for analyzing the parton distribution functions and the electroweak couplings. It is helpful to understand the hadronic weak interactions and strong interactions in the deeply inelastic scattering process simultaneously.

Forward-backward asymmetry in the electron positron annihilation process at twist-4

A quantity of particular experimental interest is the forward-backward asymmetry in the angular distribution of positively and negatively charged fermions produced in $Z^0$ decays. Measurements of this asymmetry can enable independent determinations of the neutral-current couplings of these fermions, i.e. the $Z^0$ boson couplings for left- and right-handed fermions, respectively. Due to the quark confinement, however, it is difficult to determine the electroweak interactions of quarks, especially for light quarks. In the hadron production electron positron annihilation process, the parton model with factorization theorem gives a reliable approximate description. Quantities are thus expressed in terms of fragmentation functions in the annihilation process. In this paper, we consider the vector meson production in the inclusive electron positron annihilation process and calculate the forward-backward asymmetry in the hadronic level. Calculations are carried out by applying the collinear expansion in the parton model at leading order twist-4. We note here this process provides not only a tool for analyzing the hadronic weak interactions but also an opportunity for understanding the parton model of the strong interaction. In other words, the results can be used to test the electroweak and strong interactions simultaneously.

First Precision Measurement of the Parity Violating Asymmetry in Cold Neutron Capture on ^{3}He.

We report the first precision measurement of the parity-violating asymmetry in the direction of proton momentum with respect to the neutron spin, in the reaction ^{3}He(n,p)^{3}H, using the capture of polarized cold neutrons in an unpolarized active ^{3}He target. The asymmetry is a result of the weak interaction between nucleons, which remains one of the least well-understood aspects of electroweak theory. The measurement provides an important benchmark for modern effective field theory and potential model calculations. Measurements like this are necessary to determine the spin-isospin structure of the hadronic weak interaction. Our asymmetry result is A_{PV}=[1.55±0.97(stat)±0.24(sys)]×10^{-8}, which has the smallest uncertainty of any hadronic parity-violating asymmetry measurement so far.

Magnetic field devices for neutron spin transport and manipulation in precise neutron spin rotation measurements

The neutron spin is a critical degree of freedom for many precision measurements using low-energy neutrons. Fundamental symmetries and interactions can be studied using polarized neutrons. Parity-violation (PV) in the hadronic weak interaction and the search for exotic forces that depend on the relative spin and velocity, are two questions of fundamental physics that can be studied via the neutron spin rotations that arise from the interaction of polarized cold neutrons and unpolarized matter. The Neutron Spin Rotation (NSR) collaboration developed a neutron polarimeter, capable of determining neutron spin rotations of the order of 10−7 rad per meter of traversed material. This paper describes two key components of the NSR apparatus, responsible for the transport and manipulation of the spin of the neutrons before and after the target region, which is surrounded by magnetic shielding and where residual magnetic fields need to be below 100μG. These magnetic field devices, called input and output coils, provide the magnetic field for adiabatic transport of the neutron spin in the regions outside the magnetic shielding while producing a sharp nonadiabatic transition of the neutron spin when entering/exiting the low-magnetic-field region. In addition, the coils are self contained, forcing the return magnetic flux into a compact region of space to minimize fringe fields outside. The design of the input and output coils is based on the magnetic scalar potential method.

Status of the NPDGamma experiment

The NPDGamma experiment measures the parity-violating (PV) gamma asymmetry from polarized cold neutrons captured on protons at the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The (PV) neutron spin asymmetry A γ of photons from polarized cold neutron capture on protons is proportional to the ΔI=1 long range weak meson coupling $h_{\pi }^{1}$ between nucleons in the hadronic weak interaction (HWI). Liquid para-hydrogen production data taking concluded in April 2014 and once the background aluminum asymmetry measurements are complete, the PV asymmetry A γ can be extracted. Preliminary results of the analysis of A γ are presented.

Hadronic Weak Interaction Studies at the SNS

Neutrons have been a useful probe in many fields of science, as well as an important physical system for study in themselves. Modern neutron sources provide extraordinary opportunities to study a wide variety of physics topics. Among them is a detailed study of the weak interaction. An overview of studies of the hadronic weak (quark-quark) as well as semi-leptonic (quark-lepton) interactions at the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) is presented. These measurements, done in few-nucleon systems, are finally letting us gain knowledge of the hadronic weak interaction without the contributions from nuclear effects. Forthcoming results from the NPDGamma experiment will, due to the simplicity of the neutron, provide an unambiguous measurement of the long range pion-nucleon weak coupling (often referred to as h π ), which will finally test the theoretical predictions. Results from NPDGamma and future results from the n + 3 He experiment will need to be complemented by additional measurements to completely describe the hadronic weak interaction.

Ward–Green–Takahashi identities and the axial-vector vertex

The colour-singlet axial-vector vertex plays a pivotal role in understanding dynamical chiral symmetry breaking and numerous hadronic weak interactions, yet scant model-independent information is available. We therefore use longitudinal and transverse Ward–Green–Takahashi (WGT) identities, together with kinematic constraints, in order to ameliorate this situation and expose novel features of the axial vertex: amongst them, Ward-like identities for elements in the transverse piece of the vertex, which complement and shed new light on identities determined previously for components in its longitudinal part. Such algebraic results are verified via solutions of the Bethe–Salpeter equation for the axial vertex obtained using two materially different kernels for the relevant Dyson–Schwinger equations. The solutions also provide insights that suggest a practical Ansatz for the axial-vector vertex.

Characterizing the Hadronic Weak Interaction with the n-3He Experiment at the Spallation Neutron Source

Characterizing the Hadronic Weak Interaction with the n-3He Experiment at the Spallation Neutron Source

Probing the Hadronic Weak Interaction using Polarized Slow Neutron Spin Rotation in L4He

Probing the Hadronic Weak Interaction using Polarized Slow Neutron Spin Rotation in L4He

Measurement of the weak nucleon-nucleon interaction by polarized cold neutron capture on protons

The NPDGamma Experiment at the Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory is measuring the parity-odd correlation between the neutron spin and the direction of the emitted photon in the capture of polarized cold neutrons on protons. A parity violating asymmetry from this process is directly related to the strength of the hadronic weak interaction between nucleons. The experiment was run first with heavier nuclear targets to check systematic e ects, false asymmetries, and backgrounds. Since early 2012 the experiment has been collecting data with a 16-liter liquid parahydrogen target. Data taking will continue through 2013 until statistics for a 10 8 asymmetry mea- surement are expected. The experiment performance will be discussed as well as the status of the asymmetry measurements.

Polarization of the neutron induced by hadronic weak interactions in the photodisintegration of the deuteron

New observables with which we can study the two-nucleon weak interactions at low energies are considered. In the breakup of the deuteron by photons, polarization of outgoing neutrons can depend on the parity-violating component of two-nucleon interactions. We express the parity-violating polarization in general forms, and perform numerical calculations with a pionless effective field theory. The theory has unknown parity-violating low energy constants, and the results are expressed in linear combination of them. We discuss the results and their implication to the understanding of the hadronic weak interactions.

Status of the NPDGamma Experiment at the SNS

The main goal of the NPDGamma experiment is to measure the gamma-ray asymmetry with respect to the neutron spin direction in the nuclear reaction $\overrightarrow{n}+ p \rightarrow d + \gamma$ . The up-down asymmetry A γ has a predicted size of the order of 5 ·10 − 8 , and the NPDGamma experiment is designed to measure it with an uncertainty of about 10 − 8. To test the entire apparatus the gamma-ray asymmetry from neutron capture was measured using a Cl target followed by measurements on Al to establish the relevant background levels. At present the experiment is taking data with a liquid H 2 target to measure the parity violation on the $\overrightarrow{n} + p \rightarrow d + \gamma$ reaction and extract the ΔI = 1 part of the hadronic weak interaction.

Parity-Violating Asymmetry in γ d → n p with a Pionless Effective Theory

Nuclear parity violation is studied with polarized neutrons in the photodisintegration of the deuteron at low energies. A pionless effective field theory with di-baryon fields is used for the investigation. Hadronic weak interactions are treated by parity-violating di-baryon-nucleon-nucleon vertices, which have undetermined coupling contants. A parity-violating asymmetry in the process is calculated for the incident photon energy up to 30 MeV. If experimental data for the parity-violating asymmetry become available in the future, we will be able to determine the unknown coupling contants in the parity-violating vertices.

Erratum: Neutron spin rotation inn⃗-dscattering [Phys. Rev. C78, 014002 (2008)

The neutron spin rotation induced by parity-violating (PV) components in the nucleon-nucleon potential is studied in \vec{n}-d scattering at zero energy. Results are obtained corresponding to the Argonne v_{18} two-nucleon and Urbana-IX three-nucleon strong-interaction potentials in combination with either the DDH or pionless EFT model for the weak-interaction potential. We find that this observable is dominated by the contribution of the long-range part of the PV potential associated with pion exchange. Thus its measurement could provide a further constraint, complementary to that coming from measurements of the photon asymmetry in \vec{n}-p radiative capture, on the strength of this component of the hadronic weak interaction.

Measurement of parity-violatingγ-ray asymmetry in the capture of polarized cold neutrons on protons

The NPDGamma collaboration reports results from the first phase of a measurement of the parity violating up-down asymmetry ${A}_{\ensuremath{\gamma}}$ with respect to the neutron spin direction of $\ensuremath{\gamma}$ rays emitted in the reaction $\mathrm{nP\vec}+p\ensuremath{\rightarrow}d+\ensuremath{\gamma}$ using the capture of polarized cold neutrons on the protons in a liquid parahydrogen target. One expects parity-odd effects in the hadronic weak interaction between nucleons to be induced by the weak interaction between quarks. ${A}_{\ensuremath{\gamma}}$ in $\mathrm{nP\vec}+p\ensuremath{\rightarrow}d+\ensuremath{\gamma}$ is dominated by a $\ensuremath{\Delta}I=1$, ${}^{3}{S}_{1}$-${}^{3}{P}_{1}$ parity-odd transition amplitude in the n-p system. The first phase of the measurement was completed at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center spallation source (LANSCE), with the result ${A}_{\ensuremath{\gamma}}=[\ensuremath{-}1.2\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}2.1 (\mathrm{stat}.)\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.2 (\mathrm{sys}.)]\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}7}$. We also report the first measurement of an upper limit for the parity-allowed left-right asymmetry in this reaction, with the result ${A}_{\ensuremath{\gamma},\mathrm{LR}}=[\ensuremath{-}1.8\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}1.9 (\mathrm{stat}.)\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.2 (\mathrm{sys}.)]\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}7}$. In this paper we give a detailed report on the theoretical background, experimental setup, measurements, extraction of parity-odd and parity-allowed asymmetries, analysis of potential systematic effects, and LANSCE results. The asymmetry has an estimated size of $5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}8}$ and the aim of the NPDGamma collaboration is to measure it to $1\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}8}$. The second phase of the measurement will be performed at the Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Parity-violating asymmetry in theHe3(n⃗,p)H3reaction

The longitudinal asymmetry induced by parity-violating (PV) components in the nucleon-nucleon potential is studied in the charge-exchange reaction $^{3}\mathrm{He}$($\mathrm{nP\vec},p$)$^{3}\mathrm{H}$ at vanishing incident neutron energies. An expression for the PV observable is derived in terms of $T$-matrix elements for transitions from the ${}^{2S+1}{L}_{J}={}^{1}{S}_{0}$ and ${}^{3}{S}_{1}$ states in the incoming $n$-$^{3}\mathrm{He}$ channel to states with $J=0$ and 1 in the outgoing $p$-$^{3}\mathrm{H}$ channel. The $T$-matrix elements involving PV transitions are obtained in first-order perturbation theory in the hadronic weak-interaction potential, while those connecting states of the same parity are derived from solutions of the strong-interaction Hamiltonian with the hyperspherical-harmonics method. The coupled-channel nature of the scattering problem is fully accounted for. Results are obtained corresponding to realistic or chiral two- and three-nucleon strong-interaction potentials in combination with either the DDH or pionless EFT model for the weak-interaction potential. The asymmetries, predicted with PV pion and vector-meson coupling constants corresponding (essentially) to the DDH ``best values'' set, range from --9.44 to --2.48 in units of ${10}^{\ensuremath{-}8}$, depending on the input strong-interaction Hamiltonian. This large model dependence is a consequence of cancellations between long-range (pion) and short-range (vector-meson) contributions and is of course sensitive to the assumed values for the PV coupling constants.

Hadronic weak interaction in the two-nucleon system with effective field theories

Weak interactions in two-nucleon system at low energies are explored in the framework of effective field theory. We review our resent calculations of parity-violating observables in radiative neutron capture on a proton at threshold where both pionful and pionless theories are employed.

Mott-Schwinger scattering of polarized low energy neutrons up to thermal energies

The availability of new, high-intensity, cold and thermal neutron sources has opened the possibility of performing high-precision fundamental neutron physics experiments, including measurements that study the hadronic weak interaction and standard model test measurements, using neutron $\ensuremath{\beta}$ decay. The observables in these experiments are usually correlated with the direction of neutron polarization and are often very small $({10}^{\ensuremath{-}8}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}6})$. Mott-Schwinger scattering of polarized neutrons can produce spin-dependent shifts in beam centroids, which has the potential to produce significant systematic effects for these types of experiments. An accurate calculation of this process for neutral atoms and basic molecules has not been carried out for low neutron energies. In this work, we derive a general expression for the electromagnetic (Mott-Schwinger) contributions to the analyzing power for low-energy neutron scattering. We obtain numerical results for 11 nuclei in the range of $A=1$ to $A=208$ and provide a series of graphs for easy reference and interpolation between $A$ values. We also estimate the contribution of spin-dependent nucleon-nucleon forces and apply our results to determine the analyzing power of parahydrogen. Numerical calculations are performed to determine the analyzing power for the parahydrogen molecule and are compared to results obtained using analytical expressions.

Neutron spin rotation inn→−dscattering

The neutron spin rotation induced by parity-violating (PV) components in the nucleon-nucleon potential is studied in $\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{n}\text{\ensuremath{-}}d$ scattering at zero energy. Results are obtained corresponding to the Argonne ${v}_{18}$ two-nucleon and Urbana-IX three-nucleon strong-interaction potentials in combination with either the Desplanques-Donoghue-Holstein or pionless effective field theory models for the weak-interaction potential. We find that this observable is dominated by the contribution of the long-range part of the PV potential associated with pion exchange. Thus its measurement could provide a further constraint, complementary to that coming from measurements of the photon asymmetry in $\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{n}\text{\ensuremath{-}}p$ radiative capture, on the strength of this component of the hadronic weak interaction.