Parity violation in quasielastic electron-nucleus scattering within the relativistic impulse approximation

We study parity violation in quasielastic electron-nucleus scattering using the relativistic impulse approximation. Different fully relativistic approaches have been considered to estimate the effects associated with the final-state interactions. We have computed the parity-violating quasielastic (P...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Caballero, J. A., Gonzalez-Jimenez, R., Donnelly, T William
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Center for Theoretical Physics
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: American Physical Society 2015
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/96667
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3524-1432
Description
Summary:We study parity violation in quasielastic electron-nucleus scattering using the relativistic impulse approximation. Different fully relativistic approaches have been considered to estimate the effects associated with the final-state interactions. We have computed the parity-violating quasielastic (PVQE) asymmetry and have analyzed its sensitivity to the different ingredients that enter into the description of the reaction mechanism: final-state interactions, nucleon off-shellness effects, and current gauge ambiguities. Particular attention has been paid to the description of the weak neutral current form factors. The PVQE asymmetry is proven to be an excellent observable when the goal is to get precise information on the axial-vector sector of the weak neutral current. Specifically, from measurements of the asymmetry at backward scattering angles good knowledge of the radiative corrections entering in the isovector axial-vector sector can be gained. Finally, scaling properties shown by the interference γ − Z nuclear responses are also analyzed.