arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Ulf-G. Meißner.
We present a calculation of the leading two-loop corrections to the axial-vector coupling constant $g_A$ in two covariant versions of two-flavor baryon chiral perturbation theory. Taking the low-energy constants from a combined analysis of elastic and inelastic pion-nucleon scattering, we find that these corrections are rather moderate.
We analyze the large-$N_c$ structure of the baryon-baryon potential derived in the framework of SU(3) chiral perturbation theory up to next-to-leading order including contact interactions as well as one-meson and two-meson exchange diagrams. Moreover, we assess the impact of SU(3) symmetry breaking from a large-$N_c$ perspective and show that the leading order results can successfully be applied to the hyperon-nucleon potential. Our results include a reduction of the number of relevant low-energy constants of the leading order contact interaction from fifteen to three, and we show that consistency is preserved if the $F/D$ ratio is given by $2/3$ and the $C/D$ ratio for the baryon decuplet-to-octet coupling is given by 2.
The Efimov effect is an intriguing three-body quantum phenomenon. Searching for Efimov states within the realms of nuclear and hadronic physics presents a challenge due to the inherent inability of natural physical systems to exhibit adjustable two-body scattering lengths. In this study, we examine the potential existence of Efimov states in the $D^*D^*D^*$ and $DD^*D^*$ three-hadron systems. Utilizing a pionless effective field theory framework, we determine that the presence of Efimov states in the spectrum of the $D^*D^*D^*$ system is contingent upon the existence of an $(I,J)=(1,2)$ $D^*D^*$ two-body bound system. If only the $T_{cc}^+$ and its heavy quark spin partner $T_{cc}^{*+}$ exist while there is no near-threshold pole in all other $S$-wave $D^{(*)}D^*$ scattering amplitudes, no Efimov effect is expected in the $D^{(*)}D^*D^*$ systems.
We investigate potential hadronic molecular states in the $D^{(*)}\bar D^{(*)}$ and $B^{(*)}\bar B^{*}$ systems using light meson exchange interactions. Our analysis focuses on coupled-channel systems with spin-parity quantum numbers $J^{PC}=0^{++}$, $1^{+\pm}$ and $2^{++}$, examining how the $δ(r)$ potential affects states near threshold. Using coupled-channel analysis, we reproduce the $X(3872)$ mass with a given cutoff for the $(I)J^{PC}=(0)1^{++}$ state, finding a minimal impact from the $δ(r)$ term. At this cutoff, both the $(0)0^{++}$ state near the $D\bar D$ threshold and the $(0)1^{+-}$ state near the $D\bar D^*$ threshold show less sensitivity to the $δ(r)$ term compared to the three states-$(0)0^{++}$, $(0)1^{+-}$, and $(0)2^{++}$-near the $D^*\bar D^*$ threshold. As anticipated, the $B^{(*)}\bar B^{*}$ systems exhibit similar behavior but with stronger binding due to their larger reduced mass. These findings suggest promising directions for future experimental searches, particularly in the isoscalar sector, which could substantially advance our understanding of exotic tetraquark states.
The charged exotic mesons Z_b(10610) and Z'_b(10650) observed by the Belle collaboration in 2011 are very close to the B* Bbar and B* Bbar* thresholds, respectively. This suggests their interpretation as shallow hadronic molecules of B and B* mesons. Using the masses of the Z_b(10610) and Z'_b(10650) as input, we rule out the possibility for universal bound states of three B and B* mesons arising from the Efimov effect based on their spin-isospin structure. As a consequence, we can predict the phase shifts for the scattering of B and B* mesons off the exotic mesons Z_b(10610) and Z'_b(10650) to leading order in a non-relativistic effective field theory with contact interactions based on two-body information alone.
We present a systematic ab initio study of the low-lying states in beryllium isotopes from 7Be to 12Be using nuclear lattice effective field theory with the N3LO interaction. Our calculations achieve good agreement with experimental data for energies, radii, and electromagnetic properties. We introduce a novel, model-independent method to quantify nuclear shapes, uncovering a distinct pattern in the interplay between positive and negative parity states across the isotopic chain. By combining Monte Carlo sampling of the many-body density operator with a novel nucleon-grouping algorithm, the prominent two-center cluster structures, the emergence of one-neutron halo, complex nuclear molecular dynamics such as π orbital and σ orbital, emerge naturally.
Quantum fluctuations in QCD influence nucleon structure and interactions, with pion production serving as a key probe of chiral dynamics. In this study, we present a lattice QCD calculation of multipole amplitudes at threshold, related to both pion electroproduction and weak production from a nucleon, using two gauge ensembles near the physical pion mass. We develop a technique for spin projection and construct multiple operators for analyzing the generalized eigenvalue problem in both the nucleon-pion system in the center-of-mass frame and the nucleon system with nonzero momentum. The numerical lattice results are then compared with those extracted from experimental data and predicted by low-energy theorems incorporating one-loop corrections.
We discuss the fine-tunings of nuclear reactions in the Big Bang and in stars and draw some conclusions on the emergence of the light elements and the life-relevant elements carbon and oxygen. We also stress how to improve these calculations in the future. This requires a concerted effort of different communities, especially in nuclear reaction theory, lattice QCD for few-nucleon systems, stellar evolution calculations, particle physics and philosophy.
The System for Measuring Overlap with Gas (SMOG2) at the LHCb detector enables the study of fixed-target ion-ion collisions at relativistic energies ($\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}\sim100$ GeV in the centre-of-mass). With input from \textit{ab initio} calculations of the structure of $^{16}$O and $^{20}$Ne, we compute 3+1D hydrodynamic predictions for the anisotropic flow of Pb+Ne and Pb+O collisions, to be tested with upcoming LHCb data. This will allow the detailed study of quark-gluon plasma (QGP) formation as well as experimental tests of the predicted nuclear shapes. Elliptic flow ($v_2$) in Pb+Ne collisions is greatly enhanced compared to the Pb+O baseline due to the shape of $^{20}$Ne, which is deformed in a bowling-pin geometry. Owing to the large $^{208}$Pb radius, this effect is seen in a broad centrality range, a unique feature of this collision configuration. Larger elliptic flow further enhances the quadrangular flow ($v_4$) of Pb+Ne collisions via non-linear coupling, and impacts the sign of the kurtosis of the elliptic flow vector distribution ($c_2\{4\}$). Exploiting the shape of $^{20}$Ne proves thus an ideal method to investigate the formation of QGP in fixed-target experiments at LHCb, and demonstrates the power of SMOG2 as a tool to image nuclear ground states.
The equation of state (EoS) of neutron matter plays a decisive role in our understanding of the properties of neutron stars as well as the generation of gravitational waves in neutron star mergers. At sufficient densities, it is known that the appearance of hyperons generally softens the EoS, thus leading to a reduction in the maximum mass of neutron stars well below the observed values of about 2 solar masses. Even though repulsive three-body forces are known to solve this so-called "hyperon puzzle", so far performing \textit{ab initio} calculations with a substantial number of hyperons has remained elusive. In this work, we address this challenge by employing simulations based on Nuclear Lattice Effective Field Theory with up to 232 neutrons (pure neutron matter) and up to 116 $Λ$ hyperons (hyper-neutron matter) in a finite volume. We introduce a novel auxiliary field quantum Monte Carlo algorithm, allowing us to simulate for both pure neutron matter and hyper-neutron matter systems up to 5 times the density of nuclear matter using a single auxiliary field without any sign oscillations. Also, for the first time in {\em ab initio} calculations, we not only include $NΛ$ two-body and $NNΛ$ three-body forces, but also $ΛΛ$ and $N ΛΛ$ interactions. Consequently, we determine essential astrophysical quantities such as the mass-radius relation, the speed of sound and the tidal deformability of neutron stars. Our findings also confirm the existence of the $I$-Love-$Q$ relation, which gives access to the moment of inertia of the neutron star.
We analyze the effect of a variation of the strange nucleon matrix element $\langle N| m_s \bar{s}s|N\rangle$ on the abundances of the light elements produced in the Big Bang. For that, we vary the nucleon mass in the leading eight reactions that involve neutrons, protons and the four lightest nuclei. We use various available Big Bang nucleosynthesis codes and find that the measured deuterium and $^4$He abundances set strict limits on the nucleon mass variations. This translates into an upper bound of possible variations of the strange quark mass, $\left| Δm_s/m_s \right| \leq 5.1\%$.
The equation of state (EoS) of neutron matter plays a decisive role to understand the neutron star properties and the gravitational waves from neutron star mergers. At sufficient densities, the appearance of hyperons generally softens the EoS, leading to a reduction in the maximum mass of neutron stars well below the observed values of about 2 solar masses. Even though repulsive three-body forces are known to solve this so-called ``hyperon puzzle'', so far performing \textit{ab initio} calculations with a substantial number of hyperons for neutron star properties has remained elusive. Starting from the newly developed auxiliary field quantum Monte Carlo algorithm to simulate hyper-neutron matter (HNM) without any sign oscillations, we derive three distinct EoSs by employing the state-of-the-art Nuclear Lattice Effective Field Theory. We include $NΛ$, $ΛΛ$ two-body forces, $NNΛ$, and $NΛΛ$ three-body forces. Consequently, we determine essential astrophysical quantities such as the neutron star mass, radius, tidal deformability, and the universal $I$-Love-$Q$ relation. The maximum mass, radius and tidal deformability of a $1.4M_\odot$ neutron star are predicted to be $2.17(1)(1)~M_\odot$, $R_{1.4M\odot}=13.10(1)(7)~$km, and $Λ_{1.4M_\odot}=597(5)(18)$, respectively, based on our most realistic EoS. These predictions are in good agreement with the latest astrophysical constraints derived from observations of massive neutron stars, gravitational waves, and joint mass-radius measurements. Also, for the first time in \textit{ab initio} calculations, we investigate both non-rotating and rotating neutron star configurations. The results indicate that the impact of rotational dynamics on the maximum mass is small, regardless of whether hyperons are present in the EoS or not.
Accurately determining the size of the atomic nucleus with realistic nuclear forces is a long outstanding issue of nuclear physics. The no-core shell model (NCSM), one of the powerful ab initio methods for nuclear structure, can achieve accurate energies of light nuclei. The extraction of converged radii is more difficult. In this work, we present a novel method to effectively extract the radius of light nuclei by restoring the long-range behavior of densities from NCSM calculations. The correct large distance asymptotic of two-body relative densities are deduced based on the NCSM densities in limited basis size. The resulting radii using the corrected densities show a nice convergence. The root-mean-square matter and charge radii of $^{4,6,8}$He and $^{6,7,8}$Li can be accurately obtained based on Jacobi-NCSM calculations with the high-precision chiral two-nucleon and three-nucleon forces combined with this new method. Our method can be straightforwardly extended to other ab initio calculations, potentially providing a better description of nuclear sizes with realistic nuclear forces.
I review the status of chiral dynamics. Topics include pion-pion scattering, dynamically generated states in the hadron spectrum and the emergence of two-pole structures, chiral symmetry in nuclear physics and chiral dynamics in the Big Bang.
In the limit of vanishing up, down and strange quark masses, QCD exhibits a chiral symmetry. This symmetry is broken spontaneously to its vector subgroup, giving rise to Goldstone bosons. These acquire a small mass through the explicit chiral symmetry breaking for non-vanishing quark masses. The consequences of these broken symmetries can be investigated in a suitably tailored effective field theory called chiral pertubation theory. It admits a perturbative expansion in the external momenta and the Goldstone boson masses and can be systematically analyzed in terms of a loop expansion. The appearing ultraviolet divergences in loop diagrams can be dealt with order-by-order through the Goldstone boson contact interactions. Matter fields like the lowest-lying baryons can also included, leading to a rich and testable phenomenology of low-energy QCD.
We analyze the latest LHCb data on the $π^+π^-$ spectrum in the isospin-violating $X(3872)\to J/ψπ^+π^-$ decay, based on dispersion theory to deal with the $ππ$ final state interactions. Additionally, the isospin breaking effects are properly introduced, allowing for a reliable and accurate extraction of the ratio, $R_X$, between the $X(3872)$ couplings to the $J/ψρ$ and $J/ψω$ channels from the data. We find very good agreement with the LHCb data for the whole range of the $π^+π^-$ invariant mass, and $R_X$ is determined to be {$0.26\pm 0.03$}. Using this value, we make predictions for the $π^+π^0π^-$ mass distribution in the $X(3872)\to J/ψπ^+π^0π^-$ process, which is currently accessible by the BESIII Collaboration, and update a prediction for the pole positions of the isovector partner states of the $X(3872)$, $W_{c1}$, with $I(J^{PC})=1(1^{++})$.
We review the status of baryon form factors with a special focus on the nucleon electromagnetic form factors which are known best. First, we give an introduction into the dispersive analyses and emphasize the role of unitarity and analyticity in the construction of the isoscalar and isovector spectral functions. Second, we present the state of the art in our understanding of nucleon form factors and radii including reliable uncertainty estimates from bootstrap and Bayesian methods. Third, we discuss the physics of the time-like form factors and point out further issues to be addressed in this framework. Finally, we review the status of hyperon form factors and comment on the pion cloud.
We present new parton distribution functions (PDFs) at next-to-leading order (NLO) and next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) in perturbative QCD, derived from a comprehensive global QCD analysis of high-precision data sets from combined HERA deep-inelastic scattering (DIS), the Tevatron, and the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). To improve constraints on quark flavor separation, we incorporate Drell-Yan pair production data, which provides critical sensitivity to the quark distributions. In addition, we include the latest W and Z boson production data from the CDF, D0, ATLAS, and CMS collaborations, further refining both quark and gluon distributions. Our nominal global QCD fit integrates these datasets and examines the resulting impact on the PDFs and their associated uncertainties. Uncertainties in the PDFs are quantified using the Hessian method, ensuring robust error estimates. Furthermore, we explore the sensitivity of the strong coupling constant, $α_s(M_Z^2)$, and proton PDFs in light of the projected measurements from the Electron-Ion Collider (EIC), where improvements in precision are expected. The analysis also investigates the effects of inclusive jet and dijet production data, which provide enhanced constraints on the gluon PDF and $α_s(M_Z^2)$.