Radiative corrections to nucleon weak charges and Beyond Standard Model impact

Abstract

The nucleon axial charge is a central ingredient in nuclear and particle physics, and a key observable in precision tests of the electroweak Standard Model sector and beyond. We report on the first complete calculation of its electroweak quantum corrections up to $\mathcal{O}(\alpha)$, using a combination of current algebra techniques and QCD sum rules. We find a substantial enhancement due to the weak magnetism contribution in the elastic channel, and include higher-twist and target mass corrections at low $Q^2$ to find $\Delta_R^A = 0.02881(22)$. Using analogous methods, we determine a new value for the vector charge renormalization, $\Delta_R^V = 0.02474(27)$, and show how the two most recent calculations can be brought into agreement. This allows us to determine a corrected experimental $g_A^0 = 1.2730(13)$, which is a $>2\sigma$ shift away from the commonly quoted value. We use this new result to set constraints on exotic right-handed currents by comparing to lattice QCD results, and resolve a double-counting issue in the $|V_{ud}|$ extraction from mirror decays.