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Register a new userUsing chiral perturbation theory to extract the neutron-neutron scattering length from pi- d -> n n gamma
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The reaction pi- d -> n n gamma is calculated in chiral perturbation theory so as to facilitate an extraction of the neutron-neutron scattering length (a_nn). We include all diagrams up to O(Q^3). This includes loop effects in the elementary pi- p -> gamma n amplitude and two-body diagrams, both of which were ignored in previous calculations. We find that the chiral expansion for the ratio of the quasi-free (QF) to final-state-interaction (FSI) peaks in the final-state neutron spectrum converges well. Our third-order calculation of the full spectrum is already accurate to better than 5%. Extracting a_nn from the shape of the entire pi- d -> n n gamma spectrum using our calculation in its present stage would thus be possible at the +-0.8 fm level. A fit to the FSI peak only would allow an extraction of a_nn with a theoretical uncertainty of +-0.2 fm. The effects that contribute to these error bars are investigated. The uncertainty in the $nn$ rescattering wave function dominates. This suggests that the quoted theoretical error of +-0.3 fm for the most recent pi- d -> n n gamma measurement may be optimistic. The possibility of constraining the nn rescattering wave function used in our calculation more tightly--and thus reducing the error--is briefly discussed.
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The neutron-neutron scattering length a_nn provides a sensitive probe of charge-symmetry breaking in the strong interaction. Here we summarize our recent efforts to use chiral perturbation theory in order to systematically relate a_nn to the shape of the neutron spectrum in the reaction pi- d --> n n gamma. In particular we show how the chiral symmetry of QCD relates this process to low-energy electroweak reactions such as p p --> d e+ nu_e. This allows us to reduce the uncertainty in the extracted a_nn (mainly due to short-distance physics in the two-nucleon system) by a factor of more than three, to <0.05 fm. We also report first results on the impact that two-nucleon mechanisms of chiral order P^4 have on the pi- d --> n n gamma neutron spectrum.
The near-threshold n p -> d pi0 cross section is calculated in chiral perturbation theory to next-to-leading order in the expansion parameter sqrt{M m_pi}/Lambda_chi. At this order irreducible pion loops contribute to the relevant pion-production operator. While their contribution to this operator is finite, considering initial-and final-state distortions produces a linear divergence in its matrix elements. We renormalize this divergence by introducing a counterterm, whose value we choose in order to reproduce the threshold n p -> d pi0 cross section measured at TRIUMF. The energy-dependence of this cross section is then predicted in chiral perturbation theory, being determined by the production of p-wave pions, and also by energy dependence in the amplitude for the production of s-wave pions. With an appropriate choice of the counterterm, the chiral prediction for this energy dependence converges well.
We discuss the possibility of extracting the neutron-neutron scattering length $a_{nn}$ and effective range $r_{nn}$ from cross section data ($d^2sigma/dM_{nn}/dOmega_pi$), as a function of the $nn$ invariant mass $M_{nn}$, for $pi^+$ photoproduction on the deuteron ($gamma dto pi^+nn$). The analysis is based on a $gamma dto pi^+nn$ reaction model in which realistic elementary amplitudes for $gamma pto pi^+n$, $NNto NN$, and $pi Nto pi N$ are built in. We show that $M_{nn}$ dependence (lineshape) of a ratio $R_{rm th}$, $d^2sigma/dM_{nn}/dOmega_pi$ normalized by $dsigma/dOmega_pi$ for $gamma ptopi^+ n$ and the nucleon momentum distribution inside the deuteron, at the kinematics with $theta_pi=0^circ$ and $E_gammasim 250$ MeV is particularly useful for extracting $a_{nn}$ and $r_{nn}$ from the corresponding data $R_{rm exp}$. It is found that $R_{rm exp}$ with 2% error, resolved into the $M_{nn}$ bin width of 0.04 MeV (corresponding to the $p_pi$ bin width of 0.05 MeV$/c$), can determine $a_{nn}$ and $r_{nn}$ with uncertainties of $pm 0.21$ fm and $pm 0.06$ fm, respectively, for the case of $a_{nn}=-18.9$ fm and $r_{nn}=2.75$ fm. The requirement of such narrow bin widths indicates that the momenta of the incident photon and the emitted $pi^+$ have to be measured with high resolutions. This can be achieved by utilizing virtual photons of very small $Q^2$ from electron scattering at Mainz MAMI facility. The proposed method for determining $a_{nn}$ and $r_{nn}$ from $gamma dto pi^+ nn$ has a great experimental advantage over the previous one utilizing $pi^- dtogamma nn$ for being free from the formidable task of controlling the neutron detection efficiency and its uncertainty.
We compute a model-independent correlation between the difference of neutron-neutron and proton-proton scattering lengths |a(nn)-a^C(pp)| and the splitting in binding energies between Helium-3 and tritium nuclei. We use the effective field theory without explicit pions to show that this correlation relies only on the existence of large scattering lengths in the NN system. Our leading-order calculation, taken together with experimental values for binding energies and a^C(pp), yields a(nn)=-22.9 pm 4.1 fm.
We have performed high precision measurements of the zero-energy neutron scattering amplitudes of gas phase molecular hydrogen, deuterium, and $^{3}$He using neutron interferometry. We find $b_{mathit{np}}=(-3.7384 pm 0.0020)$ fmcite{Schoen03}, $b_{mathit{nd}}=(6.6649 pm 0.0040)$ fmcite{Black03,Schoen03}, and $b_{n^{3}textrm{He}} = (5.8572 pm 0.0072)$ fmcite{Huffman04}. When combined with the previous world data, properly corrected for small multiple scattering, radiative corrections, and local field effects from the theory of neutron optics and combined by the prescriptions of the Particle Data Group, the zero-energy scattering amplitudes are: $b_{mathit{np}}=(-3.7389 pm 0.0010)$ fm, $b_{mathit{nd}}=(6.6683 pm 0.0030)$ fm, and $b_{n^{3}textrm{He}} = (5.853 pm .007)$ fm. The precision of these measurements is now high enough to severely constrain NN few-body models. The n-d and n-$^{3}$He coherent neutron scattering amplitudes are both now in disagreement with the best current theories. The new values can be used as input for precision calculations of few body processes. This precision data is sensitive to small effects such as nuclear three-body forces, charge-symmetry breaking in the strong interaction, and residual electromagnetic effects not yet fully included in current models.
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