arXiv subjects

Johan Bijnens

Publications and source records attributed to Johan Bijnens.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

QCD-like theories at next-to-next-to-leading order with $N_F=2$ non-degenerate fermions

QCD-like theories with $N_F=2$ fermion flavours in real and pseudoreal representations are studied within Chiral Perturbation Theory. For the pseudoreal symmetry-breaking pattern $SU(4)/Sp(4)$, the reduced NLO Lagrangian is derived. The NLO and NNLO corrections to the pion masses, decay constants, and vacuum condensates are calculated for non-degenerate fermion masses, extending previous results obtained for degenerate masses and for the non-degenerate case at NLO. Using the available spectroscopic and scattering lattice data for the $Sp(N_c=4)$ gauge theory with two fermion flavours, fits of the NLO low-energy constants are performed at NNLO precision. It is found that higher-order corrections are important for reproducing lattice observables and have a significant impact on the phenomenology of strongly interacting pionic dark matter, particularly in the regime of big $M_\pi/F_\pi$.

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arXiv2026

Meson Form Factors

We give an introduction to and a short overview of light meson form factors. We first discuss the classical picture and how it then fits in with amplitudes in quantum field theory. We give a short overview of the main theoretical methods and then discuss pion, kaon, eta and eta' form factors.

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arXiv2026

The Pion Sum Rule beyond the Chiral Limit

The difference between the charged and neutral pion masses can be predicted from a well-known dispersion relation involving an infinite-energy integral over experimental data, the pion sum rule. This relation, however, holds only in the chiral limit. Here we combine several nonperturbative techniques to determine the form of the physical finite-energy integral, thereby generalizing this sum rule to include effects linear in the light-quark masses. We test the dispersion relation using hadronic tau-decay data.

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arXiv2025

On the Charm Contribution to the Muon $g-2$ Light-by-Light

We combine existing perturbative results to show that a precise analytic determination of the charm-quark contribution to the hadronic light-by-light (HLbL) part of the muon anomalous magnetic moment is possible. Working in the $\overline{\mathrm{MS}}$ scheme, we include the NLO $\mathcal{O}(\alpha_s)$ correction, which significantly reduces the residual renormalization-scale dependence and the perturbative uncertainty. Our final result is $a_{\mu}^{\mathrm{HLbLc}}=3.65(25)\times 10^{-11}$, in good agreement with recent lattice determinations.

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arXiv2025

Kaon Physics: A Cornerstone for Future Discoveries

The kaon physics programme, long heralded as a cutting-edge frontier by the European Strategy for Particle Physics, continues to stand at the intersection of discovery and innovation in high-energy physics (HEP). With its unparalleled capacity to explore new physics at the multi-TeV scale, kaon research is poised to unveil phenomena that could reshape our understanding of the Universe. This document highlights the compelling physics case, with emphasis on exciting new opportunities for advancing kaon physics not only in Europe but also on a global stage. As an important player in the future of HEP, the kaon programme promises to drive transformative breakthroughs, inviting exploration at the forefront of scientific discovery.

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arXiv2025

Short-distance contributions to Hadronic-light-by-light for the muon $g-2$

This talk discusses short-distance contributions to the hadronic light-by-light part of the muon g-2 as in the Standard Model. A short discussion about the theory prediction is followed by the status of our work. The main new results since the previous chiral dynamics workshop is how to calculate the higher order corrections to the Melnikov-Vainshtein region using the operator product expansion. We work out fully the next order in the OPE, $D=4$, including photon and gluon only operators. In addition we briefly discuss the ongoing work on gluonic corrections to the next-order and nonperturbative estimates.

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arXiv2024

Constraints on the hadronic light-by-light tensor in corner kinematics for the muon $g-2$

The dispersive approach to the hadronic light-by-light contribution to the muon $g-2$ involves an integral over three virtual photon momenta appearing in the light-by-light tensor. Building upon previous works, we systematically derive short-distance constraints in the region where two momenta are large compared to the third, the so-called Melnikov-Vainshtein or corner region. We include gluonic corrections for the different scalar functions appearing in the Lorentz decomposition of the underlying tensor, and explicitly check analytic agreement with alternative operator product expansions in overlapping regimes of validity. A very strong pattern of cancellations is observed for the final $g-2$ integrand. The last observation suggests that a very compact expression only containing the axial current form factors can provide a good approximation of the corner region of the hadronic light-by-light tensor.

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arXiv2024

The three-pion $K$-matrix at NLO in ChPT

The three-particle $K$-matrix, $\mathcal{K}_{\mathrm{df},3}$, is a scheme-dependent quantity that parametrizes short-range three-particle interactions in the relativistic-field-theory three-particle finite-volume formalism. In this work, we compute its value for systems of three pions in all isospin channels through next-to-leading order in Chiral Perturbation Theory, generalizing previous work done at maximum isospin. We obtain analytic expressions through quadratic order (or cubic order, in the case of zero isospin) in the expansion about the three-pion threshold.

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arXiv2023

The anomalous Lagrangian in ChPT at NNLO

The anomalous Lagrangian in mesonic Chiral Perturbation Theory, of odd intrinsic parity, is determined to next-to-next-to-leading order thereby completing the order $p^8$ Lagrangian. A schematic view of its construction with the MINIBAR package for Mathematica is presented and the final operator count is discussed for a general number of light quark flavours as well as for the physical cases $N_f=2,3$. The number of operators in our explicit construction of the Lagrangian basis is consistent with the number derived using the Hilbert series in the literature.

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arXiv2023

The anomalous chiral Lagrangian at order $p^8$

We derive the order $p^8$ Lagrangian of odd intrinsic parity for mesonic chiral perturbation theory, and provide the resulting operator basis in the supplementary material. Neglecting the non-zero singlet trace, we find $999$ operators for a general number of quark flavours $N_f$, $705$ for $N_f=3$ and $92$ for $N_f=2$. Our numbers agree with those obtained through the Hilbert series approach in the literature. Including a singlet trace, as needed for the physical case of $N_f=2$, instead yields $1210$ operators for a general $N_f$, $892$ for $N_f=3$ and $211$ for $N_f=2$.

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arXiv2023

Three-pion scattering: From the chiral Lagrangian to the lattice

In recent years, detailed studies of three-pion systems have become possible in lattice QCD. This has in turn led to interest in 3-to-3 scattering of pions in the chiral perturbation theory framework. In addition to being an interesting study of multi-meson dynamics in its own right, it provides a valuable handle on finite-volume effects and the pion mass dependence, thus complementing the lattice results. I present our derivation of the next-to-leading order amplitude for this process, as well as its conversion into the three-particle K-matrix, which enables direct comparison to the lattice. Our results significantly improve the agreement between theory and lattice, which was poor when only leading-order effects were taken into account.

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arXiv2023

The isospin-3 three-particle $K$-matrix at NLO in ChPT

The three-particle $K$-matrix, $\mathcal{K}_{\mathrm{df},3}$, is a scheme-dependent quantity that parametrizes short-range three-particle interactions in the relativistic-field-theory three-particle finite-volume formalism. In this work, we compute its value for systems of three pions at maximal isospin through next-to-leading order (NLO) in Chiral Perturbation Theory (ChPT). We compare the values to existing lattice QCD results and find that the agreement between lattice QCD data and ChPT in the first two coefficients of the threshold expansion of $\mathcal{K}_{\mathrm{df},3}$ is significantly improved with respect to leading order once NLO effects are incorporated.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2023

Hilbert series and higher-order Lagrangians for the $O(N)$ model

We compare the Hilbert series approach with explicit constructions of higher-order Lagrangians for the $O(N)$ nonlinear sigma model. We use the Hilbert series to find the number and type of operators up to mass dimension 16, for spacetime dimension $D$ up to 12 and $N$ up to 12, and further classify the operators into spacetime parity and parity of the internal symmetry group $O(N)$. The explicit construction of operators is done up to mass dimension 12 for both parities even and dimension 10 for the other three cases. The results of the two methods are in full agreement. This provides evidence for the Hilbert series conjecture regarding co-closed but not co-exact $k$-forms, which takes into account the integration-by-parts relations.

hep-th↗

arXiv2023

The order $p^8$ mesonic chiral Lagrangian

We derive the chiral Lagrangian at next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order (NNNLO) for a general number $N_f$ of light quark flavours as well as for $N_f=2,3$. We enumerate the contact terms separately. We also discuss the cases where some of the external fields are not included. An example of a choice of Lagrangian is given in the supplementary material.

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arXiv2023

Constraints on the hadronic light-by-light in the Melnikov-Vainshtein regime

The muon anomalous magnetic moment continues to attract attention due to the possible tension between the experimentally measured value and the theoretical Standard Model prediction. With the aim to reduce the uncertainty on the hadronic light-by-light contribution to the magnetic moment, we derive short-distance constraints in the Melnikov-Vainshtein regime which are useful for data-driven determinations. In this kinematical region, two of the four electromagnetic currents are close in the four-point function defining the hadronic light-by-light tensor. To obtain the constraints, we develop a systematic operator product expansion of the tensor in question to next-to-leading order in the expansion in operators. We evaluate the leading in $α_s$ contributions and derive constraints for the next-to-leading operators that are also valid nonperturbatively.

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arXiv2022

Short-distance constraints on the hadronic light-by-light

The muon anomalous magnetic moment continues to attract interest due to the potential tension between experimental measurement [1,2] and the Standard Model prediction [3]. The hadronic light-by-light contribution to the magnetic moment is one of the two diagrammatic topologies currently saturating the theoretical uncertainty. With the aim of improving precision on the hadronic light-by-light in a data-driven approach founded on dispersion theory [4,5], we derive various short-distance constraints of the underlying correlation function of four electromagnetic currents. Here, we present our previous progress in the purely short-distance regime and current efforts in the so-called Melnikov-Vainshtein limit.

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arXiv2022

Six-meson amplitude in QCD-like theories

We calculate the relativistic six-meson scattering amplitude at low energy within the framework of QCD-like theories with $n$ degenerate quark flavors at next-to-leading order in the chiral counting. We discuss the cases of complex, real and pseudo-real representations, i.e. with global symmetry and breaking patterns $\text{SU}(n)\times\text{SU}(n)/\text{SU}(n)$ (extending the QCD case), $\text{SU}(2n)/\text{SO}(2n)$, and $\text{SU}(2n)/\text{Sp}(2n)$. In case of the one-particle-irreducible part, we obtain analytical expressions in terms of 10 six-meson subamplitudes based on the flavor and group structures. We extend on our previous results obtained within the framework of the $\text{O}(N+1)/\text{O}(N)$ non-linear sigma model, with $N$ being the number of meson flavors. This work allows for studying a number of properties of six-particle amplitudes at one-loop level.

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arXiv2022

NNLO Positivity Bounds on Chiral Perturbation Theory for a General Number of Flavours

We present positivity bounds, derived from the principles of analyticity, unitarity and crossing symmetry, that constrain the low-energy constants of chiral perturbation theory. Bounds are produced for 2, 3 or more flavours in meson-meson scattering with equal meson masses, up to and including next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO), using the second and higher derivatives of the amplitude. We enhance the bounds by using the most general isospin combinations posible (or higher-flavour counterparts thereof) and by analytically integrating the low-energy range of the discontinuities. In addition, we present a powerful and general mathematical framework for efficiently managing large numbers of positivity bounds.

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