arXiv subjects

Aaron S. Meyer

Publications and source records attributed to Aaron S. Meyer.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Isospin-breaking effects in inclusive hadronic $τ$ data for the muon $(g-2)$ from first principles

The knowledge of isospin-breaking effects in hadronic $τ$ decays is required for a high-precision determination of the Hadronic-Vacuum-Polarization contribution to $(g-2)_μ$ from experimental $τ$ data. In this work we present a strategy for their calculation in a fully inclusive setup from first-principles Lattice QCD+QED simulations. We separate radiative corrections in three infrared safe classes, which we study individually. We provide analytic expressions for their effects in the initial state and propose a strategy for final-state corrections directly in Euclidean space. We also examine the non-factorizable contributions and highlight the challenges associated with their analytic continuation from Euclidean to Minkowski space. By studying short-distance corrections in the context of momentum schemes, we provide a prescription for the renormalization of the individual terms at first order in the ispospin-breaking parameters.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2026

Nucleon axial-vector form factor and radius from radiatively-corrected antineutrino scattering data

The nucleon axial-vector form factor, $G_A$, is critical to determine the electroweak interactions of leptons with nucleons. Important examples of processes influenced by $G_A$ are elastic (anti)neutrino-nucleon scattering and muon capture by the proton. Sparse experimental data results in a large uncertainty on the momentum dependence of $G_A$ and has motivated the consideration of new experimental probes and first-principles lattice quantum chromodynamics (QCD) evaluations. The comparison of new and precise theoretical predictions for $G_A$ with future experimental data necessitates the application of radiative corrections to experimentally-observable processes. We apply these corrections in the extraction of $G_A$ and the associated axial-vector radius from the recent MINERvA antineutrino-hydrogen data, compare the effects from radiative corrections to other uncertainties in neutrino scattering experiments, and discuss the comparison of lattice QCD evaluations to experimental measurements.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2026

Di-nucleons do not form bound states at heavy pion mass

We perform a high-statistics lattice QCD calculation of the low-energy two-nucleon scattering amplitudes. In order to address discrepancies in the literature, the calculation is performed at a heavy pion mass in the limit that the light quark masses are equal to the physical strange quark mass, $m_π= m_K \simeq 714 $ MeV. Using a state-of-the-art momentum space method, we rule out the presence of a bound di-nucleon in both the isospin 0 (deuteron) and 1 (di-neutron) channels, in contrast with many previous results that made use of compact hexaquark creation operators. In order to diagnose the discrepancy, we add such hexaquark interpolating operators to our basis and find that they do not affect the determination of the two-nucleon finite volume spectrum, and thus they do not couple to deeply bound di-nucleons that are missed by the momentum-space operators. Further, we perform a high-statistics calculation of the HAL QCD potential on the same gauge ensembles and find qualitative agreement with our main results. We conclude that di-nucleons do not form bound states at heavy pion masses and that previous identification of deeply bound di-nucleons must have arisen from a misidentification of the spectrum from off-diagonal elements of a correlation function.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2026

The Nucleon Axial Form Factor from Averaging Lattice QCD Results

Flagship neutrino oscillation experiments depend on precise and accurate theoretical knowledge of neutrino-nucleon cross sections across a variety of energies and interaction mechanisms. Key ingredients to the amplitudes that make up these cross sections are parameterized form factors. The axial form factor describing a weak interaction with a nucleon is part of one of the primary neutrino-nucleon interaction mechanisms, quasielastic scattering, yet this form factor is uncertain and its precision is limited by the availability of data for a neutrino scattering with nucleons or small nuclear targets. Lattice Quantum Chromodynamics (LQCD) now offers another approach for obtaining mathematically rigorous constraints of the axial form factor from theoretical calculations with complete systematic error budgets. In this work, strategies for averaging LQCD results are explored, including both a random sampling of form factor values across momentum transfers as well as an averaging strategy based on analytic calculations of form factor derivatives. Fits to z expansion parameterizations are reported and compared against neutrino-hydrogen and neutrino-deuterium scattering data.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2025

High-Precision Scale Setting with the Omega-Baryon Mass and Gradient Flow

The gradient-flow scale $w_0$ in lattice QCD is determined using the mass of the $Ω^-$ baryon to set the physical scale. Nine ensembles using the highly improved staggered quark (HISQ) action with lattice spacings of 0.15 fm down to 0.04 fm are used, seven of which have nearly physical light-quark masses. Electromagnetic corrections to the $Ω^-$ mass are defined in order to compute a pure-QCD $Ω$ mass. The final result is $w_0 = 0.17187(68)$ fm, corresponding to a relative uncertainty of 0.40% and a central value in good agreement with previous calculations in the literature.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2025

Signs of Non-Monotonic Finite-Volume Corrections to $g_A$

We study finite-volume (FV) corrections to determinations of $g_A$ via lattice quantum chromodynamics (QCD) using analytic results and numerical analysis. We observe that $SU(2)$ Heavy Baryon Chiral Perturbation Theory does not provide an unambiguous prediction for the sign of the FV correction, which is not surprising when one also considers large-$N_c$ constraints on the axial couplings. We further show that non-monotonic FV corrections are naturally allowed when one considers either including explicit $Δ$-resonance degrees of freedom or one works to higher orders in the chiral expansion. We investigate the potential impact of these FV corrections with a precision study of $g_A$ using models of FV corrections that are monotonic and non-monotonic. Using lattice QCD data that is approximately at the 1% level of precision, we do not see significant evidence of non-monotonic corrections. Looking forward to the next phase of lattice QCD calculations, we estimate that calculations that are between the 0.1%-1%-level of precision may be sensitive to these FV artifacts. Finally, we present an update of the CalLat prediction of $g_A$ in the isospin limit with sub-percent precision, $g_A^{\rm QCD} = 1.2674(96)$.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2025

Finite Temperature Transition in Hyper Stealth Dark Matter using Möbius Domain Wall Fermions

The first-order confinement transition of a strongly coupled composite dark matter theory can provide a possible source of gravitational waves in the early universe. In this work, on behalf of the Lattice Strong Dynamics (LSD) Collaboration, we present our recent investigation on the finite temperature confinement transition of the one-flavor SU(4) dark gauge theory named Hyper Stealth Dark Matter (HSDM). The dark matter candidate in this theory is a composite bosonic baryon and can have a remarkably low mass of a few GeV. We expect the finite temperature transition to be first-order over at least in some finite range of fermionic masses and to be a potential source of observable gravitational radiation. The finite temperature simulation of one-flavor SU(4) is done by using Möbius Domain wall fermions. The order of the transition and its fermionic mass dependence are explored by monitoring the Polyakov loop, chiral condensate and topological charge using three lattice volumes at $N_t=8$.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2024

The structure is the message: preserving experimental context through tensor decomposition

Recent biological studies have been revolutionized in scale and granularity by multiplex and high-throughput assays. Profiling cell responses across several experimental parameters, such as perturbations, time, and genetic contexts, leads to richer and more generalizable findings. However, these multidimensional datasets necessitate a reevaluation of the conventional methods for their representation and analysis. Traditionally, experimental parameters are merged to flatten the data into a two-dimensional matrix, sacrificing crucial experiment context reflected by the structure. As Marshall McLuhan famously stated, "The medium is the message." In this work, we propose that the experiment structure is the medium in which subsequent analysis is performed, and the optimal choice of data representation must reflect the experiment structure. We introduce tensor-structured analyses and decompositions to preserve this information. We contend that tensor methods are poised to become integral to the biomedical data sciences toolkit.

q-bio.QM↗

arXiv2023

Stealth dark matter spectrum using LapH and Irreps

We present non-perturbative lattice calculations of the low-lying meson and baryon spectrum of the SU(4) gauge theory with fundamental fermion constituents. This theory is one instance of stealth dark matter, a class of strongly coupled theories, where the lowest mass stable baryon is the dark matter candidate. This work constitutes the first milestone in the program to study stealth dark matter self-interactions. Here, we focus on reducing excited state contamination in the single baryon channel by applying the Laplacian Heaviside method, as well as projecting our baryon operators onto the irreducible representations of the octahedral group. We compare our resulting spectrum to previous work involving Gaussian smeared non-projected operators and find good agreement with reduced statistical uncertainties. We also present the spectrum of the low-lying odd-parity baryons for the first time.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2023

Isospin 0 and 2 two-pion scattering at physical pion mass using all-to-all propagators with periodic boundary conditions in lattice QCD

A study of two-pion scattering for the isospin channels, $I=0$ and $I=2$, using lattice QCD is presented. Möbius domain wall fermions on top of the Iwasaki-DSDR gauge action for gluons with periodic boundary conditions are used for the lattice computations which are carried out on two ensembles of gauge field configurations generated by the RBC and UKQCD collaborations with physical masses, inverse lattice spacings of 1.023 and 1.378 GeV, and spatial extents of $L=4.63$ and 4.58 fm, respectively. The all-to-all propagator method is employed to compute a matrix of correlation functions of two-pion operators. The generalized eigenvalue problem (GEVP) is solved for a matrix of correlation functions to extract phase shifts with multiple states, two pions with a non-zero relative momentum as well as two pions at rest. Our results for phase shifts for both $I=0$ and $I=2$ channels are consistent with and the Roy Equation and chiral perturbation theory, though at this preliminary stage our errors for $I=0$ are large. An important outcome of this work is that we are successful in extracting two-pion excited states, which are useful for studying $K\toππ$ decay, on physical-mass ensembles using GEVP.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2023

Isospin 0 and 2 two-pion scattering at physical pion mass using distillation with periodic boundary conditions in lattice QCD

The two pion channel in Lattice QCD has long been a primary testing ground for studying multiparticle scattering in finite volume QCD. With the development of sophisticated techniques such as distillation, it is possible to carefully study two-pion scattering in order to constrain associated low-energy constants. In this work, correlation functions with multiparticle interpolating operators are constructed to compute pion scattering phase shifts and scattering lengths in the isospin 0 and 2 channels with both sea and valence quarks at physical mass. Contamination from vacuum and thermal contributions are explicitly quantified with dedicated calculations and the results obtained after subtracting these nuisance terms are compared with the traditional correlator time series subtraction method. Two physical point ensembles with different lattice actions are used, and our finest ensemble gives results for scattering lengths and phase shifts consistent with phenomenology to within the reported statistical uncertainty.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2023

Neutrino Oscillation and Lattice QCD

Next generation high-precision neutrino scattering experiments have the goal of measuring the as-of-yet unknown parameters governing neutrino oscillation. This effort is hampered by the use of large nuclear targets: secondary interactions within a nucleus can confuse the interpretation of experimental data, leading to ambiguities about the initial neutrino interaction in scattering events. The distribution of energies for neutrino events must instead be inferred from the responses of a sum of dissimilar event topologies. For this reason, precise neutrino cross sections on nucleon targets are of vital importance to the neutrino oscillation experimental program. On the other hand, the necessary experimental data for neutrino scattering with elementary targets are scarce because of the weak interaction cross section, which leads to poorly-constrained nucleon and nuclear cross sections. Lattice QCD is uniquely positioned to provide the requisite nucleon amplitudes needed to enable high-precision oscillation experiments. In particular, LQCD has the ability to probe axial matrix elements that are challenging to isolate or completely inaccessible to experiments. In these proceedings, I will discuss some of my work to quantify neutrino cross sections with realistic uncertainty estimates, primarily focusing on neutrino quasielastic scattering and the nucleon axial form factor. I will also outline how the needs of next-generation neutrino oscillation experimental programs can be met with modern dedicated LQCD computations.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2022

Lattice QCD and Particle Physics

Contribution from the USQCD Collaboration to the Proceedings of the US Community Study on the Future of Particle Physics (Snowmass 2021).

hep-lat↗

arXiv2022

Status of Lattice QCD Determination of Nucleon Form Factors and their Relevance for the Few-GeV Neutrino Program

Calculations of neutrino-nucleus cross sections begin with the neutrino-nucleon interaction, making the latter critically important to flagship neutrino oscillation experiments, despite limited measurements with poor statistics. Alternatively, lattice QCD (LQCD) can be used to determine these interactions from the Standard Model with quantifiable theoretical uncertainties. Recent LQCD results of $g_{\mathrm{A}}$ are in excellent agreement with data, and results for the (quasi-)elastic nucleon form factors with full uncertainty budgets are expected within a few years. We review the status of the field and LQCD results for the nucleon axial form factor, $F_{\mathrm{A}}(Q^2)$, a major source of uncertainty in modeling sub-GeV neutrino-nucleon interactions. Results from different LQCD calculations are consistent, but collectively disagree with existing models, with potential implications for current and future neutrino oscillation experiments. We describe a road map to solidify confidence in the LQCD results and discuss future calculations of more complicated processes, important to few-GeV neutrino oscillation experiments.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2022

Detailed analysis of excited state systematics in a lattice QCD calculation of $g_A$

Excited state contamination remains one of the most challenging sources of systematic uncertainty to control in lattice QCD calculations of nucleon matrix elements and form factors: early time separations are contaminated by excited states and late times suffer from an exponentially bad signal-to-noise problem. High-statistics calculations at large time separations $\gtrsim1$ fm are commonly used to combat these issues. In this work, focusing on $g_A$, we explore the alternative strategy of utilizing a large number of relatively low-statistics calculations at short to medium time separations (0.2--1 fm), combined with a multi-state analysis. On an ensemble with a pion mass of approximately 310 MeV and a lattice spacing of approximately 0.09 fm, we find this provides a more robust and economical method of quantifying and controlling the excited state systematic uncertainty. A quantitative separation of various types of excited states enables the identification of the transition matrix elements as the dominant contamination. The excited state contamination of the Feynman-Hellmann correlation function is found to reduce to the 1% level at approximately 1 fm while for the more standard three-point functions, this does not occur until after 2 fm. Critical to our findings is the use of a global minimization, rather than fixing the spectrum from the two-point functions and using them as input to the three-point analysis. We find that the ground state parameters determined in such a global analysis are stable against variations in the excited state model, the number of excited states, and the truncation of early-time or late-time numerical data.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2022

Neutrino Scattering Measurements on Hydrogen and Deuterium: A Snowmass White Paper

Neutrino interaction uncertainties are a limiting factor in current and next-generation experiments probing the fundamental physics of neutrinos, a unique window on physics beyond the Standard Model. Neutrino-nucleon scattering amplitudes are an important part of the neutrino interaction program. However, since all modern neutrino detectors are composed primarily of heavy nuclei, knowledge of elementary neutrino-nucleon amplitudes relies heavily on experiments performed in the 1970s and 1980s, whose statistical and systematic precision are insufficient for current needs. In this white paper, we outline the motivation for attempting measurements on hydrogen and deuterium that would improve this knowledge, and we discuss options for making these measurements either with the DUNE near detector or with a dedicated facility.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2022

Bubble Chamber Detectors with Light Nuclear Targets: A Snowmass 2021 White Paper

Neutrino cross sections are a critical ingredient in experiments that depend on neutrino scattering to reconstruct event kinematics and infer neutrino characteristics, like NOvA and T2K. An opportunity exists to reduce the 5-10% broad uncertainty on neutrino cross sections by producing more measurements of neutrino scattering from light nuclear targets at the relevant energies. Bubble chambers with light nuclear targets would be ideal for these measurements but the most recent device designed for use with an accelerator neutrino source is at least fifty years old. A new bubble chamber with light nuclear targets could be designed by observing how the technology has progressed for use in dark matter experiments and producing smaller modular devices that use more efficient cooling systems. A smaller modular device could also be designed for deployment to all functioning neutrino beams, but an investigation of the proper operating characteristics is necessary to adapt newer detectors to the structure of contemporary neutrino beams.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2021

Toward a resolution of the NN controversy

Lattice QCD calculations of two-nucleon interactions have been underway for about a decade, but still haven't reached the pion mass regime necessary for matching onto effective field theories and extrapolating to the physical point. Furthermore, results from different methods, including the use of the Luscher formalism with different types of operators, as well as the HALQCD potential method, do not agree even qualitatively at very heavy pion mass. We investigate the role that different operators employed in the literature may play on the extraction of spectra for use within the Luscher method. We first explore expectations from Effective Field Theory solved within a finite volume, for which the exact spectrum may be computed given different physical scenarios. We then present preliminary lattice QCD results for two-nucleon spectra calculated using different operators on a common lattice ensemble.

hep-lat↗