No Arabic abstract
We present the first realistic lattice QCD calculation of the $gamma W$-box diagrams relevant for beta decays. The nonperturbative low-momentum integral of the $gamma W$ loop is calculated using a lattice QCD simulation, complemented by the perturbative QCD result at high momenta. Using the pion semileptonic decay as an example, we demonstrate the feasibility of the method. By using domain wall fermions at the physical pion mass with multiple lattice spacings and volumes, we obtain the axial $gamma W$-box correction to the semileptonic pion decay, $Box_{gamma W}^{VA}big|_{pi}=2.830(11)_{mathrm{stat}}(26)_{mathrm{sys}}times10^{-3}$, with the total uncertainty controlled at the level of $sim1$%. This study sheds light on the first-principles computation of the $gamma W$-box correction to the neutron decay, which plays a decisive role in the determination of $|V_{ud}|$.
We present a lattice QCD calculation of the axial $gamma W$-box diagrams relevant for the kaon semileptonic decays. We utilize a recently proposed method, which connects the electroweak radiative corrections in Sirlins representation to that in chiral perturbation theory. It allows us to use the axial $gamma W$-box correction in the SU(3) limit to obtain the low energy constants for chiral perturbation theory. From first principles our results confirm the previously used low energy constants provided by the minimal resonance model with a significant reduction in uncertainties.
We develop a methodology for the computation of the $Kto ell u_ell ell^+ ell^-$ decay width using lattice QCD and present an exploratory study here. We use a scalar function method to account for the momentum dependence of the decay amplitude and adopt the infinite volume reconstruction (IVR) method to reduce the systematic errors such as the temporal truncation effects and the finite-volume effects. We then perform a four-body phase-space integral to obtain the decay width. The only remaining technical problem is the possible power-law finite-volume effects associated with the process of $Ktopipi ell u_ellto ell u_ell ell^+ ell^-$, where the intermediate state involves multiple hadrons. In this work, we use a gauge ensemble of twisted mass fermion with a pion mass $m_pi=352$ MeV and a nearly-physical kaon mass. At this kinematics, the $pipi$ in the intermediate state cannot be on shell simultaneously as $2m_pi>m_K$ and the finite-volume effects associate with $pipi$ state are exponentially suppressed. Using the developed methods mentioned above, we calculate the branching ratios for four channels of $Kto ell u_ellell^+ ell^-$, and obtain the results close to the experimental measurements and ChPT predictions. Our work demonstrates the capability of lattice QCD to improve Standard Model prediction in $Kto ell u_ell ell^+ ell^-$ decay width.
In the past year, we calculated with lattice QCD three quantities that were unknown or poorly known. They are the $q^2$ dependence of the form factor in semileptonic $Dto Kl u$ decay, the decay constant of the $D$ meson, and the mass of the $B_c$ meson. In this talk, we summarize these calculations, with emphasis on their (subsequent) confirmation by experiments.
The leading-order electromagnetic and strong isospin-breaking corrections to the ratio of $K_{mu 2}$ and $pi_{mu 2}$ decay rates are evaluated for the first time on the lattice, following a method recently proposed. The lattice results are obtained using the gauge ensembles produced by the European Twisted Mass Collaboration with $N_f = 2 + 1 + 1$ dynamical quarks. Systematics effects are evaluated and the impact of the quenched QED approximation is estimated. Our result for the correction to the tree-level $K_{mu 2} / pi_{mu 2}$ decay ratio is $-1.22,(16) %$ to be compared to the estimate $-1.12,(21) %$ based on Chiral Perturbation Theory and adopted by the Particle Data Group.
As algorithms and computing power have advanced, lattice QCD has become a precision technique for many QCD observables. However, the calculation of nucleon matrix elements remains an open challenge. I summarize the status of the lattice effort by examining one observable that has come to represent this challenge, average-x: the fraction of the nucleons momentum carried by its quark constituents. Recent results confirm a long standing tendency to overshoot the experimentally measured value. Understanding this puzzle is essential to not only the lattice calculation of nucleon properties but also the broader effort to determine hadron structure from QCD.