arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to I. Caprini.
We discuss the prospects for improving the precision on the hadronic corrections to the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon, and the plans of the Muon $g-2$ Theory Initiative to update the Standard Model prediction.
We review the present status of the Standard Model calculation of the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon. This is performed in a perturbative expansion in the fine-structure constant $α$ and is broken down into pure QED, electroweak, and hadronic contributions. The pure QED contribution is by far the largest and has been evaluated up to and including $\mathcal{O}(α^5)$ with negligible numerical uncertainty. The electroweak contribution is suppressed by $(m_μ/M_W)^2$ and only shows up at the level of the seventh significant digit. It has been evaluated up to two loops and is known to better than one percent. Hadronic contributions are the most difficult to calculate and are responsible for almost all of the theoretical uncertainty. The leading hadronic contribution appears at $\mathcal{O}(α^2)$ and is due to hadronic vacuum polarization, whereas at $\mathcal{O}(α^3)$ the hadronic light-by-light scattering contribution appears. Given the low characteristic scale of this observable, these contributions have to be calculated with nonperturbative methods, in particular, dispersion relations and the lattice approach to QCD. The largest part of this review is dedicated to a detailed account of recent efforts to improve the calculation of these two contributions with either a data-driven, dispersive approach, or a first-principle, lattice-QCD approach. The final result reads $a_μ^\text{SM}=116\,591\,810(43)\times 10^{-11}$ and is smaller than the Brookhaven measurement by 3.7$σ$. The experimental uncertainty will soon be reduced by up to a factor four by the new experiment currently running at Fermilab, and also by the future J-PARC experiment. This and the prospects to further reduce the theoretical uncertainty in the near future-which are also discussed here-make this quantity one of the most promising places to look for evidence of new physics.
The largest error in the theoretical determination of the muon anomalous magnetic moment is due to the low-energy hadronic vacuum polarization, which cannot be calculated by perturbative QCD and requires nonperturbative techniques. Recently, an accurate determination of the low-energy two-pion contribution to muon $g-2$ has been obtained by a parametrization-free analytic continuation of the pion vector form factor from other kinematical regions. In this work we compare the results of the analytic continuation with direct determinations at low momenta from experiment and lattice QCD. We also explore the sensitivity of the method to the timelike data on the modulus of the form factor used as input, by extending the input region to energies up to 0.76 GeV.
We perform a dispersive analysis of the $ωπ$ electromagnetic transition form factor, using as input the discontinuity provided by unitarity below the $ωπ$ threshold and including for the first time experimental data on the modulus measured from $e^+e^-\toωπ^0$ at higher energies. The input leads to stringent parameterization-free constraints on the modulus of the form factor below the $ωπ$ threshold, which are in disagreement with some experimental values measured from $ω\to π^0γ^*$ decay. We discuss the dependence on the input parameters in the unitarity relation, using for illustration an $N/D$ formalism for the P partial wave of the scattering process $ωπ\to ππ$, improved by a simple prescription which simulates the rescattering in the crossed channels. Our results confirm the existence of a conflict between experimental data and theoretical calculations of the $ωπ$ form factor in the region around 0.6 GeV and bring further arguments in support of renewed experimental efforts to measure more precisely the $ω\toπ^0γ^*$ decay.
Motivated by the discrepancies noted recently between the theoretical calculations of the electromagnetic $ωπ$ form factor and certain experimental data, we investigate this form factor using analyticity and unitarity in a framework known as the method of unitarity bounds.We use a QCD correlator computed on the spacelike axis by operator product expansion and perturbative QCD as input, and exploit unitarity and the positivity of its spectral function, including the two-pion contribution that can be reliably calculated using high-precision data on the pion form factor. From this information, we derive upper and lower bounds on the modulus of the $ωπ$ form factor in the elastic region. The results provide a significant check on those obtained with standard dispersion relations, confirming the existence of a disagreement with experimental data in the region around 0.6 GeV.
Recent data from high statistics experiments that have measured the modulus of the pion electromagnetic form factor from threshold to relatively high energies are used as input in a suitable mathematical framework of analytic continuation to find stringent constraints on the shape parameters of the form factor at $t=0$. The method uses also as input a precise description of the phase of the form factor in the elastic region based on Fermi-Watson theorem and the analysis of the $ππ$ scattering amplitude with dispersive Roy equations, and some information on the spacelike region coming from recent high precision experiments. Our analysis confirms the inconsistencies of several data on the modulus, especially from low energies, with analyticity and the input phase, noted in our earlier work. Using the data on the modulus from energies above $0.65 \,{\rm GeV}$, we obtain, with no specific parametrization, the prediction $<r_π^2 \r angle \in\, (0.42,\,0.44)\,\fmsq $ for the charge radius. The same formalism leads also to very narrow allowed ranges for the higher-order shape parameters at $t=0$, with a strong correlation among them.
We determine the strong coupling constant α_s from the τhadroni width using a renormalization group summed (RGS) expansion of the QCD Adler function. The main theoretical uncertainty in the extraction of α_s is due to the manner in which renormalization group invariance is implemented, and the as yet uncalculated higher order terms in the QCD perturbative series. We show that new expansion exhibits good renormalization group improvement and the behaviour of the series is similar to that of the standard CIPT expansion. The value of the strong coupling in {\bar{\rm MS}} scheme obtained with the RGS expansion is α_s(M_τ^2)= 0.338 \pm 0.010. The convergence properties of the new expansion can be improved by Borel transformation and analytic continuation in the Borel plane. This is discussed elsewhere in these proceedings.
Starting from the divergent character of the perturbative expansions in QCD and using the technique of series acceleration by the conformal mappings of the Borel plane, I define a novel, non-power perturbative expansion for the Adler function, which simultaneously implements renormalization-group summation and has a tamed large-order behaviour. The new expansion functions, which replace the standard powers of the coupling, are singular at the origin of the coupling plane and have divergent perturbative expansions, resembling the expanded function itself. Confronting the new perturbative expansions with the standard ones on specific models investigated recently in the literature, I show that they approximate in an impressive way the exact Adler function and the spectral function moments. Applied to the $τ$ hadronic width, the contour-improved and the renormalization-group summed non-power expansions in the ${\overline{\rm MS}}$ scheme lead to the prediction $α_s(M_τ^2)= 0.3192~^{+ 0.0167}_{-0.0126}$, which translates to $α_s(M_Z^2)= 0.1184~^{+0.0020}_{-0.0016}$.
We calculate upper and lower bounds on the modulus of the pion electro magnetic form factor on the unitarity cut below the $ωπ$ inelastic threshold, using as input the phase in the elastic region known via the Fermi-Watson theorem from the $ππ$ $P$-wave phase shift, and a suitably weighted integral of the modulus squared above the inelastic threshold. The normalization at $t=0$, the pion charge radius and experimental values at spacelike momenta are used as additional input information. The bounds are model independent, in the sense that they do not rely on specific parametrizations and do not require assumptions on the phase of the form factor above the inelastic threshold. The results provide nontrivial consistencychecks on the recent experimental data on the modulus available below the $ωπ$ threshold from $e^+ e^-$ annihilation and $τ$-decay experiments. In particular, at low energies the calculated bounds offer a more precise description of the modulus than the experimental data.
Analyticity and unitarity techniques are employed to obtain bounds on the shape parameters of the scalar and vector form factors of semileptonic $K_{l3}$ decays. For this purpose we use vector and scalar correlators evaluated in pQCD, a low energy theorem for scalar form factor, lattice results for the ratio of kaon and pion decay constants, chiral perturbation theory calculations for the scalar form factor at the Callan-Treiman point and experimental information on the phase and modulus of $Kπ$ form factors up to an energy $\tin=1 {\rm GeV}^2$. We further derive regions on the real axis and in the complex-energy plane where the form factors cannot have zeros.
We study the shape parameters of the $Dπ$ scalar and vector form factors using as input dispersion relations and unitarity for the moments of suitable heavy-light correlators evaluated with Operator Product Expansions, including $O(α_s^2)$ terms in perturbative QCD. For the scalar form factor, a low energy theorem and phase information on the unitarity cut are implemented to further constrain the shape parameters. We finally determine points on the real axis and isolate regions in the complex energy plane where zeros of the form factors are excluded.
We consider the vector and scalar form factors of the charm-changing current responsible for the semileptonic decay D\rightarrow πl ν. Using as input dispersion relations and unitarity for the moments of suitable heavy-light correlators evaluated with Operator Product Expansions, including O(α_s^2) terms in perturbative QCD, we constrain the shape parameters of the form factors and find exclusion regions for zeros on the real axis and in the complex plane. For the scalar form factor, a low energy theorem and phase information on the unitarity cut are also implemented to further constrain the shape parameters. We finally propose new analytic expressions for the $Dπ$ form factors, derive constraints on the relevant coefficients from unitarity and analyticity, and briefly discuss the usefulness of the new parametrizations for describing semileptonic data.
We present a general formalism for deriving bounds on the shape parameters of the weak and electromagnetic form factors using as input correlators calculated from perturbative QCD, and exploiting analyticity and unitarity. The values resulting from the symmetries of QCD at low energies or from lattice calculations at special points inside the analyticity domain can beincluded in an exact way. We write down the general solution of the corresponding Meiman problem for an arbitrary number of interior constraints and the integral equations that allow one to include the phase of the form factor along a part of the unitarity cut. A formalism that includes the phase and some information on the modulus along a part of the cut is also given. For illustration we present constraints on the slope and curvature of the K_l3 scalar form factor and discuss our findings in some detail. The techniques are useful for checking the consistency of various inputs and for controlling the parameterizations of the form factors entering precision predictions in flavor physics.
We investigate the scalar K pi form factor at low energies by the method of unitarity bounds adapted so as to include information on the phase and modulus along the elastic region of the unitarity cut. Using at input the values of the form factor at t=0 and the Callan-Treiman point, we obtain stringent constraints on the slope and curvature parameters of the Taylor expansion at the origin. Also, we predict a quite narrow range for the higher order ChPT corrections at the second Callan-Treiman point.
The scalar radius of the pion plays an important role in CHPT, because it is related to one of the basic effective coupling constants, viz. the one which controls the quark mass dependence of F_pi at one loop. In a recent paper, Yndurain derives a {\it robust lower bound} for this radius, which disagrees with earlier determinations. We show that such a bound does not exist: the "derivation" relies on an incorrect claim. Moreover, we discuss the physics of the form factors associated with the operators \ubar u, \dbar d and \sbar s and show that their structure in the vicinity of the K \Kbar threshold is quite different. Finally, we draw attention to the fact that the new data on the slope of the scalar K_l3 form factor confirm a recent, remarkably sharp theoretical prediction.
In a recent paper, Pelaez and Yndurain evaluate some of the low energy observables of pi pi scattering and obtain flat disagreement with our earlier results. The authors work with unsubtracted dispersion relations, so that their results are very sensitive to the poorly known high energy behaviour of the scattering amplitude. They claim that the asymptotic representation we used is incorrect and propose an alternative one. We repeat their calculations on the basis of the standard, subtracted fixed-t dispersion relations, using their asymptotics. The outcome fully confirms our earlier findings. Moreover, we show that the Regge parametrization proposed by these authors for the region above 1.4 GeV violates crossing symmetry: Their ansatz is not consistent with the behaviour observed at low energies.
We derive dispersion relations for $K\toππ$ decay, using the Lehmann-Symanzik-Zimmermann formalism, which allows the analytic continuation of the amplitudes with respect to the momenta of the external particles. No off-shell extrapolation of the field operators is assumed. We obtain generalized Omnès representations, which incorporate the $ππ$ and $πK$ $S$-wave phase shifts in the elastic region of the direct and crossed channels, according to Watson theorem. The contribution of the inelastic final-state and initial-state interactions is parametrized by the technique of conformal mappings. We compare our results with previous dispersive treatments and indicate how the formalism can be combined with lattice calculations to yield physical predictions.
We consider the hadronic description of the $B^0_d\to π^+π^-$ decay, with the aim to investigate the strong phases generated by the final state interactions. The derivation of the dispersion relations using the Lehmann-Symanzik-Zimmermann formalism and the Goldberger-Treiman method to include inelastic effects in the spectral function are presented. We discuss the problem of quark-hadron duality and estimate in the hadronic formalism the corrections to the factorized amplitude in the heavy quark limit.