Neutral pion photoproduction off nucleons revisited

We investigate threshold pion photoproduction in the framework of heavy baryon chiral perturbation theory. We give the expansion of the electric dipole amplitude E ₀₊ to three orders in μ the ratio of the pion to nucleon mass, and show that it is slowly converging. We argue that this observable is not a good testing ground for the chiral dynamics of QCD. In contrast, we exhibit new and fastly converging low-energy theorems in the P-waves which should be used to constrain the data analysis. We also discuss the importance of polarization observables to accurately pin down certain multipoles and give predictions for the reaction γ n → π⁰ n.     

The pion propagator in relativistic quantum field theories of the nuclear many-body problem

Pion interactions in the nuclear medium are studied using renormalizable relativistic quantum field theories. Previous studies using pseudoscalar πN coupling encountered difficulties due to the large strength of the πNN vertex. We therefore formulate renormalizable field theories with pseudovector πN coupling using techniques introduced by Weinberg and Schwinger. Calculations are performed for two specific models: the scalar-vector theory of Walecka, extended to include π and ρ mesons in a non-chiral fashion, and the linear σ-model with an additional neutral vector meson. Both models qualitatively reproduce low-energy πN phenomenology and lead to nuclear matter saturation in the relativistic Hartree formalism, which includes baryon vacuum fluctuations. The pion propagator is evaluated in the onenucleon-loop approximation, which corresponds to a relativistic random-phase approximation built on the Hartree ground state. Virtual $\text{N}\text{N}$ loops are included, and suitable renormalization techniques are illustrated. The local-density approximation is used to compare the threshold pion self-energy to the s-wave pion-nucleus optical potential. In the non-chiral model, s-wave pion-nucleus scattering is too large in both pseudoscalar and pseudovector calculations, indicating that additional constraints must be imposed on the lagrangian. In the chiral model, the threshold self-energy vanishes automatically in the pseudovector case, but does so for pseudoscalar coupling only if the baryon effective mass is chosen self-consistently. Since extrapolation from free space to nuclear density can lead to large effects, pion propagation in the medium can determine which πN coupling is more suitable for the relativistic nuclear many-body problem. Conversely, pion interactions constrain the model lagrangian and the nuclear matter equation of state. An approximately chiral model with pseudovector coupling is favored. The techniques developed here allow for a consistent treatment of these models using renormalizable relativistic quantum field theores.     

核物质中内介质等效手征Lagrange量和π介子质量

在核物质中从手征等效Lagrange量得到的π介子有效质量是单值的,并且与π介子场的离壳扩展无关,例如PCAC选择.同位旋对称核物质中的有效π介子质量随增加的核密度有些上升,因此有效类时π介子衰变常数和密度相关的夸克凝聚渐渐下降.另外研究了内介质Gell–Mann–Oakes–Renner关系和其它内介质同一性.最后讨论了同位旋对称、各向同性和均匀的核物质中关于介子传播的等效Lagrange量的几个限制.     

A note on scalar meson dominance

We consider chiral perturbation theory with an explicit broad σ-meson and study its contribution to the scalar form factors of the pion and the nucleon. Our goal is to learn more about resonance saturation in the scalar sector.     

Nucleon axial charge in full lattice QCD

The nucleon axial charge is calculated as a function of the pion mass in full QCD. Using domain wall valence quarks and improved staggered sea quarks, we present the first calculation with pion masses as light as 354 MeV and volumes as large as (3.5 fm)3. We show that finite volume effects are small for our volumes and that a constrained fit based on finite volume chiral perturbation theory agrees with experiment within 7% statistical errors.     

The Fubini-Furlan-Rosetti sum rule and related aspects in light of covariant baryon chiral perturbation theory<Superscript>⋆</Superscript>

We analyze the Fubini-Furlan-Rosetti sum rule in the framework of covariant baryon chiral perturbation theory to leading one-loop accuracy and including next-to-leading-order polynomial contributions. We discuss the relation between the subtraction constants in the invariant amplitudes and certain low-energy constants employed in earlier chiral perturbation theory studies of threshold neutral pion photoproduction off nucleons. In particular, we consider the corrections to the sum rule due to the finite pion mass and show that below the threshold they agree well with determinations based on fixed-t dispersion relations. We also discuss the energy dependence of the electric dipole amplitude E₀₊.     

Invariant amplitudes for pion electroproduction

The invariant amplitudes for pion electroproduction on the nucleon are evaluated by dispersion relations at constant t with MAID as input for the imaginary parts of these amplitudes. In the threshold region these amplitudes are confronted with the predictions of several low-energy theorems derived in the soft-pion limit. In general agreement with chiral perturbation theory, the dispersive approach yields large corrections to these theorems because of the finite pion mass.     

Derivation of the effective pion-nucleon Lagrangian within heavy baryon chiral perturbation theory

We develop a method for constructing the heavy baryon chiral perturbation theory (HBChPT) Lagrangian, to a given chiral order, within HBChPT. We work within SU(2) theory, with only the pion field interacting with the nucleon. The main difficulties, which are solved, are to develop techniques for implementing charge conjugation invariance, and for taking the nucleon on shell, both within the non-relativistic formalism. We obtain complete lists of independent terms in L_HBChPT through O(q³) for off-shell nucleons. Then, eliminating equation-of-motion (e.o.m.) terms at the relativistic and non-relativistic level (both within HBChPT), we obtain L_HBChPT for on-shell nucleons, through O(q³). The extension of the method (to obtain on-shell L_HBChPT within HBChPT) to higher orders is also discussed.     

Generalized parton distributions for the nucleon in chiral perturbation theory

We complete the analysis of twist-two generalized parton distributions of the nucleon in one-loop order of heavy-baryon chiral perturbation theory. Extending our previous study of the chiral-even isosinglet sector, we give results for chiral-even isotriplet distributions and for the chiral-odd sector. We also calculate the one-loop corrections for the chiral-odd generalized parton distributions of the pion.     

Chiral condensate and chemical freeze-out

We consider a chemical freeze-out mechanism which is based on a strong medium dependence of the rates for inelastic flavor-equilibrating collisions based on the delocalization of hadronic wave functions and growing hadronic radii when approaching the chiral restoration. We investigate the role of mesonic (pion) and baryonic (nucleon) fluctuations for melting the chiral condensate in the phase diagram in the (T, μ)-plane. We apply the PNJL model beyond mean-field and present an effective generalization of the chiral perturbation theory result which accounts for the medium dependence of the pion decay constant while preserving the GMOR relation. We demonstrate within a schematic resonance gas model consisting of a variable number of pionic and nucleonic degrees of freedom that within the above model a quantitative explanation of the hadonic freeze-out curve and its phenomenological conditions can be given.     

Recent developments in effective field theory

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(q⁶) and the inclusion of vector and axial-vector mesons in the calculation of nucleon form factors.     

Pion propagation in real time field theory at finite temperature

We describe how the thermal counterpart of a vacuum two-point function may be obtained in the real time formalism in a simple way by using directly the 2×2 matrices that different elements acquire in this formalism. Using this procedure we calculate the analytic (single component) thermal amplitude for the pion pole term in the ensemble average of two axial-vector currents to two loops in chiral perturbation theory. The general expressions obtained for the effective mass and the decay constants of the pion are evaluated in the chiral and the non-relativistic limits. PACS 11.10.Wx; 12.38.Mh; 12.39.Fe     

The Fubini-Furlan-Rossetti sum rule revisited

The Fubini-Furlan-Rossetti sum rule for pion photoproduction on the nucleon is evaluated by dispersion relations at constant t, and the corrections to the sum rule due to the finite pion mass are calculated. Near threshold these corrections turn out to be large due to pion-loop effects, whereas the sum rule value is closely approached if the dispersion integrals are evaluated for sub-threshold kinematics. This extension to the unphysical region provides a unique framework to determine the low-energy constants of chiral perturbation theory by global properties of the excitation spectrum.     

Kaon cloud and baryon magnetic moments

The kaon cloud correction to the magnetic moments of the octet baryons that arises when chiral SU(2) × SU(2) symmetry is enlarged to SU(3) × SU(3) is calculated in the chiral bag model. The effect is considerably smaller than the pion cloud effect provided the bag radius is R ? 1 fm. We discuss the implications of this result on our ongoing attempt to incorporate chiral symmetry into the bag model of the nucleon and on the scale sizes associated with (nearly) massless quarks and massive quarks.     

In-medium chiral perturbation theory

This talk will report about a systematical implementation of a chiral effective field theory in nuclear matter with explicit pion fields and in the presence of external sources[1]. Within the generating functional approach of Ref.[2] the so-called standard power counting rules for the calculation of in-medium pion properties are developed that apply if the residual nucleon energies are of the order of the pion mass. In addition, for the case of vanishing residual nucleon energies, a modified scheme (non-standard counting) is introduced. For both schemes the pertinent scales where the chiral expansions have to break down are established as well. We report about a systematic analysis of n-point in-medium Green functions up to and including next-to-leading order when the standard rules apply. These include the in-medium contributions to quark condensates, pion propagators, pion masses and couplings of the axial-vector, vector and pseudoscalar currents to pions.     

Diquark correlations in the nucleon

We investigate the structure of the nucleon and the Δ resonance employing a constituent chiral quark model. We propose a variational approach which allows the nucleon to have a [21] flavor-spin symmetry as well as the usual [3] symmetry. This means one gives also up the requirement that the spatial wave function must be symmetric [3]. One then has also to admix the [21] spatial symmetry for a total antisymmetrization and thus one allows quark-diquark correlations, where two quarks are more closely bound than the other two possible pairs. It is found that a quark pair with isospin T = 0 and spin S = 0 in the nucleon becomes spatially very close compared with other pairs in order to gain a strong attraction due to the pion exchange in the chiral quark model, which implies a diquark correlation in the nucleon. We also calculate the proton and neutron charge square radii.     

Taming the pion cloud of the nucleon

We present a light-front determination of the pionic contribution to the nucleon self-energy, Σ(π), to second order in pion-baryon coupling constants that allows the pion-nucleon vertex function to be treated in a model-independent manner constrained by experiment. The pion mass μ dependence of Σ(π) is consistent with chiral perturbation theory results for small values of μ and is also linearly dependent on μ for larger values, in accord with the results of lattice QCD calculations. The derivative of Σ(π) with respect to μ(2) yields the dominant contribution to the pion content, which is consistent with the d[over ˉ]-u[over ˉ] difference observed experimentally in the violation of the Gottfried sum rule.