arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Stefan Scherer.
Effective field theories of the strong interactions based on the approximate chiral symmetry of QCD provide a model-independent approach to low-energy hadron physics. We give a brief introduction to mesonic and baryonic chiral perturbation theory and discuss a number of applications. We also consider the effective field theory including vector and axial-vector mesons.
We provide an introduction to the power-counting issue in baryon chiral perturbation theory and discuss some recent developments in the manifestly Lorentz-invariant formulation of the one-nucleon sector. As explicit applications we consider the chiral expansion of the nucleon mass, its convergence properties, and calculations of the electromagnetic and axial form factors of the nucleon.
We provide an introduction to the basic concepts of chiral perturbation theory and discuss some recent developments in the manifestly Lorentz-invariant formulation of the one-nucleon sector.
We will give a short introduction to the one-nucleon sector of chiral perturbation theory and will address the issue of a consistent power counting and renormalization. We will discuss the infrared regularization and the extended on-mass-shell scheme. Both allow for the inclusion of further degrees of freedom beyond pions and nucleons and the application to higher-loop calculations. As applications we consider the chiral expansion of the nucleon mass to order O(q^6) and the inclusion of vector and axial-vector mesons in the calculation of nucleon form factors.
Chiral perturbation theory (ChPT) is the effective field theory of the strong interactions at low energies. We will address the issue of a consistent power counting scheme in a manifestly Lorentz-invariant formulation of baryon ChPT. As applications we show how the inclusion of vector and axial-vector mesons in the calculation of the nucleon electromagnetic and axial form factors, respectively, lead to an improved description of the empirical data. Finally, we will outline a systematic implementation of the Delta(1232) resonance into the effective field theory program.
Chiral perturbation theory is the effective field theory of the strong interactions at low energies. We will give a short introduction to chiral perturbation theory for mesons and will discuss, as an example, the electromagnetic polarizabilities of the pion. These have recently been extracted from an experiment on radiative $π^+$ photoproduction from the proton ($γp\to γπ^+ n$) at the Mainz Microtron MAMI. Next we will turn to the one-baryon sector of chiral perturbation theory and will address the issue of a consistent power counting scheme. As examples of the heavy-baryon framework we will comment on the extraction of the axial radius from pion electroproduction and will discuss the generalized polarizabilities of the proton. Finally, we will discuss two recently proposed manifestly Lorentz-invariant renormalization schemes and illustrate their application in a calculation of the nucleon electromagnetic form factors.
A successful effective field theory program requires besides the most general effective Lagrangian a perturbative expansion scheme for observables in terms of a consistent power counting method. We discuss a renormalization scheme for manifestly Lorentz-invariant baryon chiral perturbation theory generating a simple and consistent power counting for renormalized diagrams. The approach may be used in an iterative procedure to renormalize higher-order loop diagrams and also allows for implementing a consistent power counting when vector mesons are explicitly included.
We calculate the electromagnetic form factors of the nucleon up to fourth order in manifestly Lorentz-invariant chiral perturbation theory with vector mesons as explicit degrees of freedom. A systematic power counting for the renormalized diagrams is implemented using both the extended on-mass-shell renormalization scheme and the reformulated version of infrared regularization. We analyze the electric and magnetic Sachs form factors, $G_E$ and $G_M$, and compare our results with the existing data. The inclusion of vector mesons results in a considerably improved description of the form factors. We observe that the most dominant contributions come from tree-level diagrams, while loop corrections with internal vector meson lines are small.
These lecture notes include the following topics. Chapter 1 deals with QCD and its global symmetries in the chiral limit, explicit symmetry breaking in terms of the quark masses, and the concept of Green functions and Ward identities reflecting the underlying chiral symmetry. In Chapter 2 the idea of a spontaneous breakdown of a global symmetry is discussed and its consequences in terms of the Goldstone theorem are demonstrated. Chapter 3 deals with mesonic chiral perturbation theory and the principles entering the construction of the chiral Lagrangian are outlined. In Chapter 4 the methods are extended to include the interaction between Goldstone bosons and baryons in the single-baryon sector.
Nuclear collisions at intermediate, relativistic, and ultra-relativistic energies offer unique opportunities to study in detail manifold fragmentation and clustering phenomena in dense nuclear matter. At intermediate energies, the well known processes of nuclear multifragmentation -- the disintegration of bulk nuclear matter in clusters of a wide range of sizes and masses -- allow the study of the critical point of the equation of state of nuclear matter. At very high energies, ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions offer a glimpse at the substructure of hadronic matter by crossing the phase boundary to the quark-gluon plasma. The hadronization of the quark-gluon plasma created in the fireball of a ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collision can be considered, again, as a clustering process. We will present two models which allow the simulation of nuclear multifragmentation and the hadronization via the formation of clusters in an interacting gas of quarks, and will discuss the importance of clustering to our understanding of hadronization in ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions.
Results from a model study on the formation of exotic quark clusters at the hadronization stage of a heavy ion collision are presented. The dynamical quark molecular dynamics (qMD) model which is used is sketched, and results for exotica made of up to six (anti-)quarks are shown. The second part focuses on pentaquarks. The rapidity distribution are shown, and the distribution of strangeness is found to yield an indicator of thermalization and homogenisation of the deconfined quark system. Relative Theta^+ yields are found to be lower than thermal model estimates.
In recent years, real and virtual Compton scattering off the nucleon have attracted considerable interest from both the experimental and theoretical sides. Real Compton scattering gives access to the so-called electromagnetic polarizabilities containing the structure information beyond the global properties of the nucleon such as its charge, mass, and magnetic moment. These polarizabilities have an intuitive interpretation in terms of induced dipole moments and thus characterize the response of the constituents of the nucleon to a soft external stimulus. The virtual Compton scattering reaction $e^-p\to e^-pγ$ allows one to map out the {\em local} response to external fields and can be described in terms of generalized electromagnetic polarizabilities. A simple classical interpretation in terms of the induced electric and magnetic polarization densities is proposed. We will discuss experimental results for the polarizabilities of the proton and compare them with theoretical predictions.
We discuss a renormalization scheme for relativistic baryon chiral perturbation theory which provides a simple and consistent power counting for renormalized diagrams. The method involves finite subtractions of dimensionally regularized diagrams beyond the standard modified minimal subtraction scheme of chiral perturbation theory to remove contributions violating the power counting. This is achieved by a suitable renormalization of the parameters of the most general effective Lagrangian. As applications we discuss the mass of the nucleon, the $σ$ term, and the scalar and electromagnetic form factors.
The electromagnetic form factors of the nucleon are calculated at order $q^4$ in the relativistic formulation of baryon chiral perturbation theory. In order to obtain a consistent power counting for the renormalized diagrams we make use of the extended on-mass-shell renormalization scheme which we have discussed in a recent paper. We analyze the Dirac and Pauli form factors, $F_1$ and $F_2$, as well as the electric and magnetic Sachs form factors, $G_E$ and $G_M$. Our results are compared with those obtained in the heavy-baryon approach and in the (relativistic) infrared regularization. In addition, the Sachs form factors are compared with experimental data. We confirm previous findings that a one-loop calculation of the electromagnetic form factors does not generate sufficient curvature for the Sachs form factors $G^p_E$, $G^p_M$, and $G^n_M$. Moreover, the electric form factor of the neutron is very sensitive to higher-order contributions.
We have evaluated the amplitude for muon capture by a proton, mu + p --> n + nu, to O(p^3) within the context of heavy baryon chiral perturbation theory (HBChPT) using the new O(p^3) Lagrangian of Ecker and Mojzis (E&M). We obtain expressions for the standard muon capture form factors and determine three of the coefficients of the E&M Lagrangian, namely, b_7, b_{19}, and b_{23}. We describe progress on the next step, a calculation of the radiative muon capture process, mu + p --> n + nu + gamma.
We are studying the electron scattering process e p to e' p' gamma in order to obtain information on the genuine virtual Compton scattering (VCS) process gamma^* N to gamma N. In addition to the two kinematical variables of real Compton scattering, e.g. the scattering angle theta and the energy omega' of the outgoing photon, the invariant amplitude for VCS depends on a third kinematical variable, which we choose as the absolute value of the three-momentum transfer to the nucleon. The structure-dependent coefficients in the VCS amplitude therefore acquire a momentum dependence and are termed ``generalized polarizabilities'' of the nucleon in analogy to real Compton scattering. Utilizing the heavy baryon formalism of chiral perturbation theory we present predictions for the momentum dependence of the ``generalized polarizabilities'' and discuss the VCS response functions to be measured in the scheduled electron scattering experiments.
The matrix element for muon capture by a proton is calculated to O(p^3) within heavy baryon chiral perturbation theory using the new O(p^3) Lagrangian of Ecker and Mojzis. External nucleon fields are renormalized using the appropriate definition of the wave function renormalization factor Z_N. Our expression for Z_N differs somewhat from that found in existing literature, but is the one which is consistent with the Lagrangian we use and the one which ensures, within our approach, the nonrenormalization of the vector coupling as required by the conserved vector current. Expressions for the standard muon capture form factors are derived and compared to experimental data and we determine three of the coefficients of the Ecker - Mojzis Lagrangian, namely, b_7, b_{19}, and b_{23}.
We investigate the spin-independent part of the virtual Compton scattering (VCS) amplitude off the nucleon within the framework of chiral perturbation theory. We perform a consistent calculation to third order in external momenta according to Weinberg's power counting. With this calculation we can determine the second- and fourth-order structure-dependent coefficients of the general low-energy expansion of the spin-averaged VCS amplitude based on gauge invariance, crossing symmetry and the discrete symmetries. We discuss the kinematical regime to which our calculation can be applied and compare our expansion with the multipole expansion by Guichon, Liu and Thomas. We establish the connection of our calculation with the generalized polarizabilities of the nucleon where it is possible.