Strong contribution to octet baryon mass splittings

We calculate the $m_d-m_u$ contribution to the mass splittings in baryonic isospin multiplets using SU(3) chiral perturbation theory and lattice QCD. Fitting isospin-averaged perturbation theory functions to PACS-CS and QCDSF-UKQCD Collaboration lattice simulations of octet baryon masses, and using the physical light quark mass ratio $m_u/m_d$ as input, allows $M_n-M_p$, $M_{\Sigma^-}-M_{\Sigma^+}$ and $M_{\Xi^-}-M_{\Xi^0}$ to be evaluated from the full SU(3) theory. The resulting values for each mass splitting are consistent with the experimental values after allowing for electromagnetic corrections. In the case of the nucleon, we find $M_n-M_p= 2.9 \pm 0.4 \textrm{MeV}$, with the dominant uncertainty arising from the error in $m_u/m_d$

Lattice QCD constraints on the parton distribution functions of ³He

The fraction of the longitudinal momentum of 3He that is carried by the isovector combination of u and d quarks is determined using lattice QCD for the first time. The ratio of this combination to that in the constituent nucleons is found to be consistent with unity at the few-percent level from calculations with quark masses corresponding to mπ ∼ 800 MeV. With a naive extrapolation to the physical quark masses, this constraint is consistent with, and more precise than, determinations from global nuclear parton distribution function fits through the nNNPDF framework. It is thus concretely demonstrated that lattice QCD calculations of light nuclei have imminent potential to enable more precise determinations of the u and d parton distributions in light nuclei and to reveal the QCD origins of the EMC effect

Variational study of two-nucleon systems with lattice QCD

The low-energy spectrum and scattering of two-nucleon systems are studied with lattice quantum chromodynamics using a variational approach. A wide range of interpolating operators are used: dibaryon operators built from products of plane-wave nucleons, hexaquark operators built from six localized quarks, and quasilocal operators inspired by two-nucleon bound-state wave functions in low-energy effective theories. Sparsening techniques are used to compute the timeslice-to-all quark propagators required to form correlation-function matrices using products of these operators. Projection of these matrices onto irreducible representations of the cubic group, including spin-orbit coupling, is detailed. Variational methods are applied to constrain the low-energy spectra of two-nucleon systems in a single finite volume with quark masses corresponding to a pion mass of 806 MeV. Results for S- and D-wave phase shifts in the isospin singlet and triplet channels are obtained under the assumption that partial-wave mixing is negligible. Tests of interpolating-operator dependence are used to investigate the reliability of the energy spectra obtained and highlight both the strengths and weaknesses of variational methods. These studies and comparisons to previous studies using the same gauge-field ensemble demonstrate that interpolating-operator dependence can lead to significant effects on the two-nucleon energy spectra obtained using both variational and nonvariational methods, including missing energy levels and other discrepancies. While this study is inconclusive regarding the presence of two-nucleon bound states at this quark mass, it provides robust upper bounds on two-nucleon energy levels that can be improved in future calculations using additional interpolating operators and is therefore a step toward reliable nuclear spectroscopy from the underlying Standard Model of particle physics

Low-energy scattering and effective interaction of two baryons at m(pion) ~ 450 MeV from lattice quantum chromodynamics

The interactions between two-octet baryons are studied at low energies using lattice quantum chromodynamics (LQCD) with larger-than-physical quark masses corresponding to a pion mass of ~450 MeV and a kaon mass of ~ 596 MeV. The two-baryon systems that are analyzed range from strangeness S=0 to -4 and include the spin-singlet and triplet NN, ΣN (I=3/2), and ΞΞ states, the spin-singlet ΣΣ (I=2) and ΞΣ (I=3/2) states, and the spin-triplet ΞN (I=0) state. The corresponding s-wave scattering phase shifts, low-energy scattering parameters, and binding energies when applicable are extracted using Lüscher's formalism. While the results are consistent with most of the systems being bound at this pion mass, the interactions in the spin-triplet ΣN and ΞΞ channels are found to be repulsive and do not support bound states. Using results from previous studies of these systems at a larger pion mass, an extrapolation of the binding energies to the physical point is performed and is compared with available experimental values and phenomenological predictions. The low-energy coefficients in pionless effective field theory (EFT) relevant for two-baryon interactions, including those responsible for SU(3) flavor-symmetry breaking, are constrained. The SU(3) flavor symmetry is observed to hold approximately at the chosen values of the quark masses, as well as the SU(6) spin-flavor symmetry, predicted at large Nc. A remnant of an accidental SU(16) symmetry found previously at a larger pion mass is further observed. The SU(6)-symmetric EFT constrained by these LQCD calculations is used to make predictions for two-baryon systems for which the low-energy scattering parameters could not be determined with LQCD directly in this study, and to constrain the coefficients of all leading SU(3) flavor-symmetric interactions, demonstrating the predictive power of two-baryon EFTs matched to LQCD

Accelerating lattice quantum field theory calculations via interpolator optimization uising noisy intermediate-scale quantum computing

The only known way to study quantum field theories in nonperturbative regimes is using numerical calculations regulated on discrete space-time lattices. Such computations, however, are often faced with exponential signal-to-noise challenges that render key physics studies untenable even with next generation classical computing. Here, a method is presented by which the output of small-scale quantum computations on noisy intermediate-scale quantum era hardware can be used to accelerate larger-scale classical field theory calculations through the construction of optimized interpolating operators. The method is implemented and studied in the context of the 1+1-dimensional Schwinger model, a simple field theory which shares key features with the standard model of nuclear and particle physics.A. Avkhadiev, P. E. Shanahan and R. D. Youn

Colloquium: Gravitational Form Factors of the Proton

International audienceThe physics of the gravitational form factors of the proton, and their understanding within quantum chromodynamics, has advanced significantly in the past two decades through both theory and experiment. This Colloquium provides an overview of this progress, highlights the physical insights unveiled by studies of gravitational form factors, and reviews their interpretation in terms of the mechanical properties of the proton

The axial charge of the triton from lattice QCD

The axial charge of the triton is investigated using lattice quantum chromodynamics (QCD). Extending previous work at heavier quark masses, calculations are performed using three ensembles of gauge field configurations generated with quark masses corresponding to a pion mass of 450 MeV and a single value of the lattice spacing. Finite-volume energy levels for the triton, as well as for the deuteron and diproton systems, are extracted from analysis of correlation functions computed on these ensembles, and the corresponding energies are extrapolated to infinite volume using finite-volume pionless effective field theory (FVEFT). It is found with high likelihood that there is a compact bound state with the quantum numbers of the triton at these quark masses. The axial current matrix elements are computed using background field techniques on one of the ensembles and FVEFT is again used to determine the axial charge of the proton and triton. A simple quark mass extrapolation of these results and earlier calculations at heavier quark masses leads to a value of the ratio of the triton to proton axial charges at the physical quark masses of g3HA/gpA=0.91+0.07−0.09. This result is consistent with the ratio determined from experiment and prefers values less than unity (in which case the triton axial charge would be unmodified from that of the proton), thereby demonstrating that QCD can explain the modification of the axial charge of the triton