arXiv subjects

P. E. Shanahan

Publications and source records attributed to P. E. Shanahan.

31 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2015

Determination of the strange nucleon form factors

The strange contribution to the electric and magnetic form factors of the nucleon is determined at a range of discrete values of $Q^2$ up to $1.4$ GeV$^2$. This is done by combining recent lattice QCD results for the electromagnetic form factors of the octet baryons with experimental determinations of those quantities. The most precise result is a small negative value for the strange magnetic moment: $G_M^s(Q^2=0) = -0.07\pm0.03\,μ_N$. At larger values of $Q^2$ both the electric and magnetic form factors are consistent with zero to within $2$-sigma.

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arXiv2014

Dispersive estimate of the electromagnetic charge symmetry violation in the octet baryon masses

We explore the electromagnetic contribution to the charge symmetry breaking in the octet baryon masses using a subtracted dispersion relation based on the Cottingham formula. For the proton-neutron mass splitting we report a minor revision of the recent analysis of Walker-Loud, Carlson and Miller. For the electromagnetic structure of the hyperons we constrain our analysis, where possible, by a combination of lattice QCD and SU(3) symmetry breaking estimates. The results for the baryon mass splittings are found to be compatible with recent lattice QCD+QED determinations. The uncertainties in the dispersive analysis are dominated by the lack of knowledge of the hyperon inelastic structure.

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arXiv2014

Chiral expansion of moments of quark distributions

We present formulae for the chiral extrapolation of spin-dependent and spin-independent moments of quark distributions of octet baryons, including loop corrections and counterterms to leading non-analytic order. This analysis allows for isospin breaking, and may be used for the chiral extrapolation of both (2+1)- and (1+1+1)-flavor lattice QCD results. An example of such an application is given, with the extrapolation formulae applied to recent (2 + 1)-flavor QCDSF/UKQCD Collaboration lattice results for the first spin-independent and first two spin-dependent Mellin moments.

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arXiv2013

Progress in resolving charge symmetry violation in nucleon structure

Recent work unambiguously resolves the level of charge symmetry violation in moments of parton distributions using 2+1-flavor lattice QCD. We introduce the methods used for that analysis by applying them to determine the strong contribution to the proton-neutron mass difference. We also summarize related work which reveals that the fraction of baryon spin which is carried by the quarks is in fact structure-dependent rather than universal across the baryon octet.

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arXiv2013

Updated Analysis of the Mass of the H Dibaryon from Lattice QCD

Recent lattice QCD calculations from the HAL and NPLQCD Collaborations have reported evidence for the existence of a bound state with strangeness -2 and baryon number 2 at quark masses somewhat higher than the physical values. A controlled chiral extrapolation of these lattice results to the physical point suggested that the state, identified with the famed H dibaryon, is most likely slightly unbound (by 13 $\pm$ 14 MeV) with respect to the $Λ--Λ$ threshold. We report the results of an updated analysis which finds the H unbound by 26 $\pm$ 11 MeV. Apart from the insight it would give us into how QCD is realized in Nature, the H is of great interest because of its potential implications for the equation of state of dense matter and studies of neutron stars. It may also explain the enhancement above the $Λ--Λ$ threshold already reported experimentally. It is clearly of great importance that the latter be pursued in experiments at the new J-PARC facility.

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arXiv2013

Charge symmetry breaking from a chiral extrapolation of moments of quark distribution functions

We present a determination, from lattice QCD, of charge symmetry violation in the spin- independent and spin-dependent parton distribution functions of the nucleon. This is done by chirally extrapolating recent QCDSF/UKQCD Collaboration lattice simulations of the first several Mellin moments of the parton distribution functions of octet baryons to the physical point. We find small chiral corrections for the polarized moments, while the corrections are quantitatively significant in the unpolarized case.

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arXiv2013

Octet Spin Fractions and the Proton Spin Problem

The relatively small fraction of the spin of the proton carried by its quarks presents a major challenge to our understanding of the strong interaction. Traditional efforts to explore this problem have involved new and imaginative experiments and QCD based studies of the nucleon. We propose a new approach to the problem which exploits recent advances in lattice QCD. In particular, we extract values for the spin carried by the quarks in other members of the baryon octet in order to see whether the suppression observed for the proton is a general property or depends significantly on the baryon structure. We compare these results with the values for the spin fractions calculated within a model that includes the effects of confinement, relativity, gluon exchange currents and the meson cloud required by chiral symmetry, finding a very satisfactory level of agreement given the precision currently attainable.

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arXiv2013

Scale setting, sigma terms and the Feynman-Hellman theorem

The authors recently presented new values for the octet baryon sigma terms. These were extracted using the Feynman-Hellman theorem from a chiral perturbation theory fit to octet baryon mass data from the PACS-CS collaboration. Of particular interest is the precise determination of the strangeness sigma term $σ_s = 21 \pm 6$ MeV. In this work, we elaborate on the critical effect which the choice of scale setting has on this value. We discuss the prospect that the comparison of direct and 'spectrum' determinations of the sigma terms from the lattice can provide insight not only into scale setting on the lattice, but into QCD itself.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2013

Strong contribution to octet baryon mass splittings

We calculate the $m_d-m_u$ contribution to the mass splittings in baryonic isospin multiplets using SU(3) chiral perturbation theory and lattice QCD. Fitting isospin-averaged perturbation theory functions to PACS-CS and QCDSF-UKQCD Collaboration lattice simulations of octet baryon masses, and using the physical light quark mass ratio $m_u/m_d$ as input, allows $M_n-M_p$, $M_{Σ^-}-M_{Σ^+}$ and $M_{Ξ^-}-M_{Ξ^0}$ to be evaluated from the full SU(3) theory. The resulting values for each mass splitting are consistent with the experimental values after allowing for electromagnetic corrections. In the case of the nucleon, we find $M_n-M_p= 2.9 \pm 0.4 \textrm{MeV}$, with the dominant uncertainty arising from the error in $m_u/m_d$.

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arXiv2012

Sigma terms from an SU(3) chiral extrapolation

We report a new analysis of lattice simulation results for octet baryon masses in 2+1-flavor QCD, with an emphasis on a precise determination of the strangeness nucleon sigma term. A controlled chiral extrapolation of a recent PACS-CS Collaboration data set yields baryon masses which exhibit remarkable agreement both with experimental values at the physical point and with the results of independent lattice QCD simulations at unphysical meson masses. Using the Feynman-Hellmann relation, we evaluate sigma commutators for all octet baryons. The small statistical uncertainty, and considerably smaller model-dependence, allows a signifcantly more precise determination of the pion-nucleon sigma commutator and the strangeness sigma term than hitherto possible, namely σπN=45 \pm 6 MeV and σs = 21 \pm 6 MeV at the physical point.

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arXiv2012

Strangeness in the nucleon: what have we learned?

We review the state of our knowledge concerning the contribution of strange quarks to various nucleon properties. In the case of the electric and magnetic form factors, the level of agreement between theory and experiment is very satisfactory and gives us considerable confidence in our capacity to make reliable calculations within non-perturbative QCD. In view of the importance of the scalar form factors to the detection of dark matter candidates such as neutralinos, we place a particular emphasis on the determination of the pi-N and strange quark sigma commutators.

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arXiv2011

Strange quarks and lattice QCD

The last few years have seen a dramatic improvement in our knowledge of the strange form factors of the nucleon. With regard to the vector from factors the level of agreement between theory and experiment gives us considerable confidence in our ability to calculate with non-perturbative QCD. The calculation of the strange scalar form factor has moved significantly in the last two years, with the application of new techniques which yield values considerably smaller than believed for the past 20 years. These new values turn out to have important consequences for the detection of neutralinos, a favourite dark matter candidate. Finally, very recent lattice studies have resurrected interest in the famed H-dibaryon, with modern chiral extrapolation of lattice data suggesting that it may be only slightly unbound. We review some of the major sources of uncertainty in that chiral extrapolation.

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arXiv2011

Mass of the H-dibaryon

Recent lattice QCD calculations have reported evidence for the existence of a bound state with strangeness -2 and baryon number 2 at quark masses somewhat higher than the physical values. By developing a description of the dependence of this binding energy on the up, down and strange quark masses that allows a controlled chiral extrapolation, we explore the hypothesis that this state is to be identified with the $H$-dibaryon. Taking as input the recent results of the HAL and NPLQCD Collaborations, we show that the $H$-dibaryon is likely to be unbound by $13 \pm 14$ MeV at the physical point.

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