0000000001039468

AUTHOR

L. Alvarez-ruso

Charged current weak electroproduction of the Delta resonance

We study the weak production of $\ensuremath{\Delta}$ (i.e., ${e}^{\ensuremath{-}}+\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{p}{\ensuremath{\Delta}}^{0}+{\ensuremath{\nu}}_{e}$ and ${e}^{+}+\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{p}{\ensuremath{\Delta}}^{++}+{\overline{\ensuremath{\nu}}}_{e})$ in the intermediate energy range corresponding to the Mainz and TJNAF electron accelerators. The differential cross sections $\ensuremath{\sigma}(\ensuremath{\theta})$ are found to be of the order of ${10}^{\ensuremath{-}39}$ cm${}^{2}$/sr, over a range of angles which increases with energy. The possibility of observing these reactions with the high luminosities available at these accelerators, and studying the…

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SU(3)-breaking corrections to the baryon-octet magnetic moments in chiral perturbation theory

We report a calculation of the baryon magnetic moments using covariant chiral perturbation theory within the extended-on-mass-shell renormalization scheme including intermediate octet and decuplet contributions. By fitting the two available low-energy constants, we improve the Coleman-Glashow description of the data when we include the leading SU(3) breaking effects coming from the lowest-order loops. We compare with previous attempts at the same order using heavy-baryon and covariant infrared chiral perturbation theory, and discuss the source of the differences.

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Consistency between SU(3) and SU(2) chiral perturbation theory for the nucleon mass

Treating the strange quark mass as a heavy scale compared to the light quark mass, we perform a matching of the nucleon mass in the SU(3) sector to the two-flavor case in covariant baryon chiral perturbation theory. The validity of the $19$ low-energy constants appearing in the octet baryon masses up to next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order~\cite{Ren:2014vea} is supported by comparing the effective parameters (the combinations of the $19$ couplings) with the corresponding low-energy constants in the SU(2) sector~\cite{Alvarez-Ruso:2013fza}. In addition, it is shown that the dependence of the effective parameters and the pion-nucleon sigma term on the strange quark mass is relatively weak ar…

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The influence of the nuclear medium on inclusive electron and neutrino scattering off nuclei

We present a model for inclusive electron and neutrino scattering off nuclei paying special attention to the influence of in-medium effects on the quasi-elastic scattering and pion-production mechanisms. Our results for electron scattering off Oxygen are compared to experimental data at beam energies ranging from 0.7-1.5 GeV. The good description of electron scattering serves as a benchmark for neutrino scattering.

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Weak kaon production off the nucleon and Watson's theorem

We have improved the tree-level model of Ref arXiv:1004.5484 [hep-ph] for weak production of kaons off nucleons by partially restoring unitarity. This is achieved by imposing Watson's theorem to the dominant vector and axial-vector contributions in appropriate angular momentum and isospin quantum number sectors. The observable consequences of this procedure are investigated.

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Single photon production induced by (anti)neutrino neutral current scattering on nucleons and nuclear targets

We review our theoretical approach to neutral current photon emission on nucleons and nuclei in the few-GeV energy region, relevant for neutrino oscillation experiments. These reactions are dominated by the weak excitation of the $\Delta(1232)$ resonance but there are also important non-resonant contributions. We have also included terms mediated by nucleon excitations from the second resonance region. On nuclei, Pauli blocking, Fermi motion and the in-medium $\Delta$ resonance broadening have been taken into account for both incoherent and coherent reaction channels. With this model, the number and distributions of photon events at the MiniBooNE and T2K experiments have been obtained. We h…

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The nucleon mass and pion-nucleon sigma term from a chiral analysis of Nf = 2+1 lattice QCD world data

Fits of the p^4 covariant SU(2) baryon chiral perturbation theory to lattice QCD nucleon mass data from several collaborations for 2 and 2+1 flavors are presented. We consider contributions from explicit Delta(1232) degrees of freedom, finite volume and finite spacing corrections. We emphasize here our Nf=2+1 study. We obtain low-energy constants of natural size that are compatible with the rather linear pion-mass dependence of the nucleon mass observed in lattice QCD. We report a value for the pion-nucleon sigma term of 41(5)(4) MeV for the 2 flavor case and 52(3)(8) MeV for 2+1 flavors.

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Lowest-lying spin-1/2 and spin-3/2 baryon magnetic moments in chiral perturbation theory

5th International Conference on Quarks and Nuclear Physics (QNP09). Inst High Energy Phys Chinese Acad Sci, Beijing, PEOPLES R CHINA, SEP 21-25, 2009

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NuSTEC White Paper: Status and challenges of neutrino–nucleus scattering

International audience; The precise measurement of neutrino properties is among the highest priorities in fundamental particle physics, involving many experiments worldwide. Since the experiments rely on the interactions of neutrinos with bound nucleons inside atomic nuclei, the planned advances in the scope and precision of these experiments require a commensurate effort in the understanding and modeling of the hadronic and nuclear physics of these interactions, which is incorporated as a nuclear model in neutrino event generators. This model is essential to every phase of experimental analyses and its theoretical uncertainties play an important role in interpreting every result.In this Wh…

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NUCLEAR EFFECTS IN NEUTRINO INDUCED REACTIONS

We discuss the relevance of nuclear medium effects in the analysis of some low and medium energy neutrino reactions of current interest. In particular, we study the Quasi-Elastic (QE) process, where RPA correlations and Final State Interactions (FSI) are shown to play a crucial role. We have also investigated the neutrino induced coherent pion production. We find a strong reduction of the cross section due to the distortion of the pion wave function and the modification of the production mechanisms in the nucleus. The sensitivity of the results to the axial $N\Delta$ coupling $C_5^A(0)$ has been also investigated.

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Progress and open questions in the physics of neutrino cross sections at intermediate energies

New and more precise measurements of neutrino cross sections have renewed the interest in a better understanding of electroweak interactions on nucleons and nuclei. This effort is crucial to achieve the precision goals of the neutrino oscillation program, making new discoveries, like the CP violation in the leptonic sector, possible. We review the recent progress in the physics of neutrino cross sections, putting emphasis on the open questions that arise in the comparison with new experimental data. Following an overview of recent neutrino experiments and future plans, we present some details about the theoretical development in the description of (anti)neutrino-induced quasielastic scatter…

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Chiral perturbation theory study of the axial N -> Delta(1232) transition

We have performed a theoretical study of the axial Nucleon to Delta(1232) ($N\to\Delta$) transition form factors up to one-loop order in covariant baryon chiral perturbation theory within a formalism in which the unphysical spin-1/2 components of the $\Delta$ fields are decoupled.

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Charged kaon production by coherent scattering of neutrinos and antineutrinos on nuclei

With the aim of achieving a better and more complete understanding of neutrino interactions with nuclear targets, the coherent production of charged kaons induced by neutrinos and antineutrinos is investigated in the energy range of some of the current neutrino experiments. We follow a microscopic approach which, at the nucleon level, incorporates the most important mechanisms allowed by the chiral-symmetry-breaking pattern of QCD. The distortion of the outgoing K ((K) over bar) is taken into account by solving the Klein-Gordon equation with realistic optical potentials. Angular and momentum distributions, as well as the energy and nuclear dependence of the total cross section, are studied.

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Progress and open questions in the physics of neutrino cross sections

New and more precise measurements of neutrino cross sections have renewed the interest in a better understanding of electroweak interactions on nucleons and nuclei. This effort is crucial to achieve the precision goals of the neutrino oscillation program, making new discoveries, like the CP violation in the leptonic sector, possible. We review the recent progress in the physics of neutrino cross sections, putting emphasis on the open questions that arise in the comparison with new experimental data. Following an overview of recent neutrino experiments and future plans, we present some details about the theoretical development in the description of (anti)neutrino-induced quasielastic scatter…

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THE NUCLEON MASS AND PION-NUCLEON SIGMA TERM FROM A CHIRAL ANALYSIS OF Nf = 2 + 1 LATTICE QCD WORLD DATA

Fits of the p4 covariant SU(2) baryon chiral perturbation theory to lattice QCD nucleon mass data from several collaborations for 2 and 2+1 flavors are presented. We consider contributions from explicit Δ(1232) degrees of freedom, finite volume and finite spacing corrections. We emphasize here on our Nf = 2 + 1 study. We obtain low-energy constants of natural size that are compatible with the rather linear pion-mass dependence of the nucleon mass observed in lattice QCD. We report a value of σπN = 41(5)(4) MeV in the 2 flavor case and σπN = 52(3)(8) MeV for 2+1 flavors.

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Weak production of strange particles off the nucleon

The strange particle production off the nucleon induced by neutrinos and antineutrinos is investigated at low and intermediate energies. We develop a microscopic model based on the SU(3) chiral Lagrangian. The studied mechanisms are the main source of single kaon production for (anti)neutrino energies up to 1.5 GeV. Using this model we have also studied the associated production of kaons and hyperons. The cross sections are large enough to be measured by experiments such as MINER$\nu$A, T2K and NO$\nu$A.

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The imaginary part of the nucleon self-energy in hot nuclear matter

A semiphenomenological approach to the nucleon self-energy in nuclear matter at finite temperatures is followed. It combines elements of Thermo Field Dynamics for the treatment of finite temperature with a model for the self-energy, which evaluates the second order diagrams taking the needed dynamics of the NN interaction from experiment. The approach proved to be accurate at zero temperature to reproduce Im(Sigma) and other properties of nucleons in matter. In the present case we apply it to determine Im(Sigma) at finite temperatures. An effective NN cross section is deduced which can be easily used in analyses of heavy ion reactions.

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Nucleon mass and pion-nucleon sigma term from a chiral analysis of lattice QCD world data

The chiral behavior of the nucleon mass is studied within the covariant SU(2) baryon chiral perturbation theory up to order p4. Lattice QCD data for the ensembles of 2 and 2 + 1 flavors are separately fitted, paying special attention to explicit Δ(1232) degrees of freedom, finite volume corrections and finite spacing effects. In the case of the 2 flavor ensemble, we fit simultaneously nucleon mass data together with new and updated data for the σπN term both in their dimensionless forms and determine a Sommer-scale of r0 = 0.493(23) fm. We obtain low-energy constants of natural size that are compatible with the rather linear pion-mass dependence observed in lattice QCD and report a prelimin…

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Neutral current coherent pion production

We investigate the neutrino induced coherent pion production reaction at low and intermediate energies. The model includes pion, nucleon and Delta(1232) resonance as the relevant hadronic degrees of freedom. Nuclear medium effects on the production mechanisms and pion distortion are taken into account. We obtain that the dominance of the Delta excitation holds due to large cancellations among the background contributions. We consider two sets of vector and axial-vector N-Delta transition form-factors, evidencing the strong sensitivity of the results to the axial coupling C5A(0). The differences between neutrino and antineutrino cross sections, emerging from interference terms, are also disc…

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Antineutrino induced Lambda(1405) production off the proton

We have studied the strangeness changing antineutrino induced reactions $\bar{\nu}_{l} p \rightarrow l^+ \phi B $, with $\phi B = K^-p$, $\bar{K}^0n$, $\pi^0\Lambda$, $\pi^0\Sigma^0$, $\eta\Lambda$, $\eta\Sigma^0$, $\pi^+\Sigma^-$, $\pi^-\Sigma^+$, $K^+\Xi^-$ and $K^0\Xi^0$, using a chiral unitary approach. These ten coupled channels are allowed to interact strongly, using a kernel derived from the chiral Lagrangians. This interaction generates two $\Lambda(1405)$ poles, leading to a clear single peak in the $\pi \Sigma$ invariant mass distributions. At backward scattering angles in the center of mass frame, $\bar{\nu}_{\mu} p \rightarrow \mu^+ \pi^0 \Sigma^0$ is dominated by the $\Lambda(1…

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The nucleon mass and pion-nucleon sigma term from a chiral analysis of lattice QCD world data

The pion-mass dependence of the nucleon mass within the covariant SU(2) baryon chiral perturbation theory both without and with explicit Delta(1232) degrees of freedom up to order p^4 is investigated. By fitting to lattice QCD data in 2 and 2+1 flavors from several collaborations, for pion masses M_pi < 420 MeV, we obtain low energy constants of natural size and compatible with pion nucleon scattering data. Our results are consistent with the rather linear pion-mass dependence showed by lattice QCD. In the 2 flavor case we have also performed simultaneous fits to the nucleon mass and pion-nucleon sigma-term data. As a result of our analysis, which encompasses the study of finite volume c…

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Leading SU(3)-breaking corrections to the baryon magnetic moments in Chiral Perturbation Theory

We calculate the baryon magnetic moments using covariant Chiral Perturbation Theory ($\chi$PT) within the Extended-on-mass-shell (EOMS) renormalization scheme. By fitting the two available low-energy constants (LECs), we improve the Coleman-Glashow description of the data when we include the leading SU(3) breaking effects coming from the lowest-order loops. This success is in dramatic contrast with previous attempts at the same order using Heavy Baryon (HB) $\chi$PT and covariant Infrared (IR) $\chi$PT. We also analyze the source of this improvement with particular attention on the comparison between the covariant results.

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The nucleon mass and pion-nucleon sigma term from a chiral analysis of Nf=2 lattice QCD world data

We investigate the pion-mass dependence of the nucleon mass within the covariant SU(2) baryon chiral perturbation theory up to order p4 with and without explicit Delta(1232) degrees of freedom. We fit lattice QCD data from several collaborations for 2 and 2+1 flavor ensembles. Here, we emphasize our Nf=2 study where the inclusion the Delta(1232) contributions stabilizes the fits. We correct for finite volume and spacing effects, set independently the lattice QCD scale by a Sommer-scale of r0 = 0.493(23) fm and also include one sigma pi-N lQCD data point near Mpi = 290 MeV. We obtain low-energy constants of natural size which are compatible with the rather linear pion-mass dependence observe…

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Double Pion Production Reactions

We report on reactions producing two pions induced by real and virtual photons or nucleons. The role of different resonances in these reactions is emphasized. Novel results on coherent 2π photoproduction in nuclei are also reported.

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Properties of hyperons in chiral perturbation theory

The development of chiral perturbation theory in hyperon phenomenology has been troubled due to power-counting subtleties and to a possible slow convergence. Furthermore, the presence of baryon-resonances, e.g. the lowest-lying decuplet, complicates the approach, and the inclusion of their effects may become necessary. Recently, we have shown that a fairly good convergence is possible using a renormalization prescription of the loop-divergencies which recovers the power counting, is covariant and consistent with analyticity. Moreover, we have systematically incorporated the decuplet resonances taking care of both power-counting and $consistency$ problems. A model-independent understanding o…

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Inclusive pion double charge exchange on 16O at 0.6-1.1 GeV

The inclusive pion double charge exchange (DCX) on oxygen nuclei has been measured in the region where additional pion production is kinematically forbidden. The experiment was performed at ITEP PS at incident pi- kinetic energies T_0= 0.59, 0.75 and 1.1 GeV. The integrated forward differential cross section was found to decrease with energy slowly. At 1.1 GeV it exceeds the theoretical prediction within the conventional sequential single charge exchange mechanism with a neutral pion in the intermediate state (Glauber elastic rescattering) by about half an order of magnitude. The sequential mechanism with two pions in the intermediate state (Glauber inelastic rescatterings), which was propo…

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Charged current neutrino-induced coherent pion production

We analyze the neutrino induced charged current coherent pion production at the energies of interest for recent experiments like K2K and MiniBooNE. Medium effects in the production mechanism and the distortion of the pion wave function, obtained solving the Klein Gordon equation with a microscopic optical potential, are included in the calculation. We find a strong reduction of the cross section due to these effects and also substantial modifications of the energy distributions of the final lepton and pion.

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Weak $\eta$ production off the nucleon

The weak $\eta$-meson production off the nucleon induced by (anti)neutrinos is studied at low and intermediate energies, the range of interest for several ongoing and future neutrino experiments. We consider Born diagrams and the excitation of $N^\ast (1535)S_{11}$ and $N^\ast(1650)S_{11}$ resonances. The vector part of the N-$S_{11}$ transition form factors has been obtained from the MAID helicity amplitudes while the poorly known axial part is constrained with the help of the partial conservation of the axial current (PCAC) and assuming the pion-pole dominance of the pseudoscalar form factor.

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πNscattering in relativistic baryon chiral perturbation theory reexamined

We have analyzed pion-nucleon scattering using the manifestly relativistic covariant framework of infrared regularization up to $\mathcal{O}({q}^{3})$ in the chiral expansion, where $q$ is a generic small momentum. We describe the low-energy phase shifts with a similar quality as previously achieved with heavy baryon chiral perturbation theory, $\sqrt{s}\ensuremath{\lesssim}1.14$ GeV. New values are provided for the $\mathcal{O}({q}^{2})$ and $\mathcal{O}({q}^{3})$ low-energy constants, which are compared with previous determinations. This is also the case for the scattering lengths and volumes. Finally, we have unitarized the previous amplitudes and as a result the energy range where data …

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Nucleon-to-delta axial transition form factors in relativistic baryon chiral perturbation theory

We report a theoretical study of the axial Nucleon to Delta(1232) ($N\to\Delta$) transition form factors up to one-loop order in relativistic baryon chiral perturbation theory. We adopt a formalism in which the $\Delta$ couplings obey the spin-3/2 gauge symmetry and, therefore, decouple the unphysical spin-1/2 fields. We compare the results with phenomenological form factors obtained from neutrino bubble chamber data and in quark models.

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νd→μ−Δ++nreaction and axial vectorN−Δcoupling

The reaction $\ensuremath{\nu}\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{d}{\ensuremath{\mu}}^{\ensuremath{-}}{\ensuremath{\Delta}}^{++}n$ is studied in the region of low ${q}^{2}$ to investigate the effect of deuteron structure and width of the $\ensuremath{\Delta}$ resonance on the differential cross section. The results are used to extract the axial vector $N\ensuremath{-}\ensuremath{\Delta}$ coupling ${C}_{5}^{A}$ from the experimental data on this reaction. The possibility to determine this coupling from electroweak interaction experiments with high intensity electron accelerators is discussed.

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Theoretical study of the NN → NNππ reaction

Abstract We have developed a model for the NN → NNππ reaction and evaluated cross sections for the different charged channels. The low energy part of those channels where the pions can be in an isospin zero state is dominated by N ∗ excitation, driven by an isoscalar source recently found experimentally, followed by the decay N ∗ → N(ππ) S-wave T=0 . At higher energies, and in channels where the pions are not in T = 0, Δ excitation mechanisms become relevant. A rough agreement with the experimental data is obtained in most channels. Repercussions of the present findings for the ABC effect and the pp → ppπ0 reaction close to threshold are also suggested.

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Meson exchange currents in pion double charge exchange at high energies

In this letter we study the high energy behavior of the forward differential cross section for the $^{18}O(\pi^+,\pi^-)^{18}Ne$ double charge exchange reaction. We have evaluated the sequential and the meson exchange current mechanisms. The meson exchange current contribution shows a very weak energy dependence and becomes relevant at incident pion kinetic energies above 600 MeV.

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Charged current weak production of the Delta resonance

The charge changing weak production of Delta in nucleons and nuclei is studied. The reactions e^{-} p -> Delta^{0} ��_{e} and e^{+} p -> Delta^{++} \bar��_{e} are considered as a possible source of information about the weak N-Delta transition form factors. The low q^2 BNL data on neutrino production of Delta are used to extract the axial vector N-Delta coupling, taking into account the deuteron structure and the Delta width. Finally, pion production induced by neutrinos in ^{16}O in the Delta region, relevant to atmospheric neutrino experiments, is investigated.

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Photon emission in neutral current interactions with nucleons and nuclei

We report on our study of photon emission induced by Enu ~ 1 GeV (anti)neutrino neutral current interactions with nucleons and nuclei. This process is an important background for nu_e appearance oscillation experiments. At the relevant energies, the reaction is dominated by the excitation of the Delta (1232) resonance but there are also non-resonant contributions that, close to threshold, are fully determined by the effective chiral Lagrangian of strong interactions. We have obtained differential and integrated cross section for the (anti)neutrino-nucleon scattering and compare them with previous results. Furthermore, we have extended the model to nuclear targets taking into account Fermi m…

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Photon emission in neutral current interactions at the T2K experiment

9 pages.- 6 figures

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