Pseudo-neutrino versus recoil formalism for 4-body phase space and applications to nuclear decay

It is well-known that the traditional treatment of radiative corrections that utilizes the "true" neutrino momentum $\vec{p}_\nu$ in the differential decay rate formula could lead to a $\sim \alpha/\pi$ systematic error in certain observables due to the mistreatment of 4-body kinematics. We investigate the theory structure of one of the proposed solutions, the "$\nu'$-formalism", in the non-recoil limit appropriate for neutron and nuclear beta decays. We derive an elegant master formula for the 4-body phase space and use it to re-analyze the spectrum-dependent "outer" radiative corrections to the beta decay of a polarized spin-half nucleus; a complete set of analytic expressions is provided for readers to straightforwardly obtain the final numerical results. We compare it to the "recoil formalism" where the energy of the recoil nucleus is fixed.Comment: Version accepted by PR

Hadron Physics in Tests of Fundamental Symmetries

Low energy precision tests of fundamental symmetries provide excellent probes for the Beyond Standard Model Physics. Theoretical interpretations of these experiments often involve the application of non-perturbative Quantum Chromodynamics in the study of hadronic matrix elements that may either serve as signals of new physics or Standard Model backgrounds. In this work I present a series of studies on different hadronic matrix elements using various low-energy effective approaches to Quantum Chromodynamics, and discuss the impact of these studies on our knowledge of Standard Model and Beyond Standard Model physics

Model-independent determination of nuclear weak form factors and implications for Standard Model precision tests

We analyze the recoil corrections in superallowed beta decays of $T=1$, $J^P=0^+$ nuclei by fixing the mean square charge weak radius model-independently using the data of multiple charge radii across the nuclear isotriplet. By comparing to model estimations, we argue that the existing theory uncertainty in the statistical rate function $f$ might have been substantially underestimated. We discuss the implications of our proposed strategy for precision tests of Standard Model, including a potential alleviation of the first-row CKM unitarity deficit, and motivate new experiments for charge radii measurements.Comment: Version accepted by PR

Toward a First-Principles Calculation of Electroweak Box Diagrams

We derive a Feynman-Hellmann theorem relating the second-order nucleon energy shift resulting from the introduction of periodic source terms of electromagnetic and isovector axial currents to the parity-odd nucleon structure function $F_3^N$. It is a crucial ingredient in the theoretical study of the $\gamma W$ and $\gamma Z$ box diagrams that are known to suffer from large hadronic uncertainties. We demonstrate that for a given $Q^2$, one only needs to compute a small number of energy shifts in order to obtain the required inputs for the box diagrams. Future lattice calculations based on this approach may shed new light on various topics in precision physics including the refined determination of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix elements and the weak mixing angle.Comment: Version to appear in PR

Effective Field Theory in The Study of Long Range Nuclear Parity Violation on Lattice

A non-zero signal $A_\gamma^\mathrm{np}=(-3.0\pm1.4\pm0.2)\times 10^{-8}$ of the gamma-ray asymmetry in the neutron-proton capture was recently reported by the NPDGamma Collaboration which provides the first determination of the $\Delta I=1$ parity-odd pion-nucleon coupling constant $h_\pi^1=(2.6\pm 1.2\pm 0.2)\times 10^{-7}$. The ability to reproduce this value from first principles serves as a direct test of our current understanding of the interplay between the strong and weak interaction at low energy. To motivate new lattice studies of $h_\pi^1$, we review the current status of the theoretical understanding of this coupling, which includes our recent work that relates it to a nucleon mass-splitting by a soft-pion theorem. We further investigate the possibility of calculating the mass-splitting on the lattice by providing effective field theory parameterizations of all the involved quark contraction diagrams. We show that the lattice calculations of the easier connected diagrams will provide information of the chiral logarithms in the much harder quark loop diagrams and thus help in the chiral extrapolation of the latter.Comment: 43 pages, 3 figures, 1 table. Accepted by EPJ

Towards ab\it{ab}-initio\it{initio} nuclear theory calculations of δC\delta_\mathrm{C}

We propose a new theory framework to study the isospin-symmetry breaking correction $\delta_\text{C}$ in superallowed nuclear beta decays, crucial for the precise determination of $|V_{ud}|$. Based on a general assumptions of the isovector dominance in ISB interactions, we construct a set of functions $F_{T_z}$ which involve nuclear matrix elements of isovector monopole operators and the nuclear Green's function. Via the functions $F_{T_z}$, a connection of $\delta_\text{C}$ to measurable electroweak nuclear radii is established, providing an experimental gauge of the theory accuracy of $\delta_\text{C}$. We outline a strategy to perform ab-initio calculations of $F_{T_z}$ based on the Lanczos algorithm, and discuss its similarity with other nuclear-structure-dependent inputs in nuclear beta decays.Comment: 8 pages, 1 tabl

Dispersion relation analysis of the radiative corrections to gAg_A in the neutron β\beta-decay

We present the first and complete dispersion relation analysis of the inner radiative corrections to the axial coupling constant $g_A$ in the neutron $\beta$-decay. Using experimental inputs from the elastic form factors and the spin-dependent structure function $g_1$, we determine the contribution from the $\gamma W$-box diagram to a precision better than $10^{-4}$. Our calculation indicates that the inner radiative corrections to the Fermi and the Gamow-Teller matrix element in the neutron $\beta$-decay are almost identical, i.e. the ratio $\lambda=g_A/g_V$ is almost unrenormalized. With this result, we predict the bare axial coupling constant to be {$\mathring{g}_A=-1.2754(13)_\mathrm{exp}(2)_\mathrm{RC}$} based on the PDG average $\lambda=-1.2756(13)$Comment: Revised manuscrip