Isotensor Axial Polarizability and Lattice QCD Input for Nuclear Double-β Decay Phenomenology
The potential importance of short-distance nuclear effects in double-β decay is assessed using a lattice QCD calculation of the nn→pp transition and effective field theory methods. At the unphysical quark masses used in the numerical computation, these effects, encoded in the isotensor axial polariz...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
American Physical Society
2017
|
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/111627 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1110-3633 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0400-8363 |
| Summary: | The potential importance of short-distance nuclear effects in double-β decay is assessed using a lattice QCD calculation of the nn→pp transition and effective field theory methods. At the unphysical quark masses used in the numerical computation, these effects, encoded in the isotensor axial polarizability, are found to be of similar magnitude to the nuclear modification of the single axial current, which phenomenologically is the quenching of the axial charge used in nuclear many-body calculations. This finding suggests that nuclear models for neutrinoful and neutrinoless double-β decays should incorporate this previously neglected contribution if they are to provide reliable guidance for next-generation neutrinoless double-β decay searches. The prospects of constraining the isotensor axial polarizabilities of nuclei using lattice QCD input into nuclear many-body calculations are discussed. |
|---|