No Arabic abstract
Hadronic matrix elements of proton decay are essential ingredients to bridge the grand unification theory to low energy observables like proton lifetime. In this paper we non-perturbatively calculate the matrix elements, relevant for the process of a nucleon decaying into a pseudoscalar meson and an anti-lepton through generic baryon number violating four-fermi operators. Lattice QCD with 2+1 flavor dynamical domain-wall fermions with the {it direct} method, which is direct measurement of matrix element from three-point function without chiral perturbation theory, are used for this study to have good control over the lattice discretization error, operator renormalization, and chiral extrapolation. The relevant form factors for possible transition process from an initial proton or neutron to a final pion or kaon induced by all types of three quark operators are obtained through three-point functions of (nucleon)-(three-quark operator)-(meson) with physical kinematics. In this study all the relevant systematic uncertainties of the form factors are taken into account for the first time, and the total error is found to be the range 30%-40% for $pi$ and 20%-40% for $K$ final states.
Baryon distribution amplitudes (DAs) are crucial for the theory of hard exclusive reactions. We present a calculation of the first few moments of the leading-twist nucleon DA within lattice QCD. In addition we deal with the normalization of the next-to-leading (twist-four) DAs. The matrix elements determining the latter quantities are also responsible for proton decay in Grand Unified Theories. Our lattice evaluation makes use of gauge field configurations generated with two flavors of clover fermions. The relevant operators are renormalized nonperturbatively with the final results given in the MSbar scheme. We find that the deviation of the leading-twist nucleon DA from its asymptotic form is less pronounced than sometimes claimed in the literature.
We present an improved result of lattice computation of the proton decay matrix elements in $N_f=2+1$ QCD. In this study, the significant improvement of statistical accuracy by adopting the error reduction technique of All-mode-averaging, is achieved for relevant form factor to proton (and also neutron) decay on the gauge ensemble of $N_f=2+1$ domain-wall fermions in $m_pi=0.34$--0.69 GeV on 2.7~fm$^3$ lattice as used in our previous work cite{Aoki:2013yxa}. We improve total accuracy of matrix elements to 10--15% from 30--40% for $prightarrowpi e^+$ or from 20--40% for $prightarrow K bar u$. The accuracy of the low energy constants $alpha$ and $beta$ in the leading-order baryon chiral perturbation theory (BChPT) of proton decay are also improved. The relevant form factors of $prightarrow pi$ estimated through the direct lattice calculation from three-point function appear to be 1.4 times smaller than those from the indirect method using BChPT with $alpha$ and $beta$. It turns out that the utilization of our result will provide a factor 2--3 larger proton partial lifetime than that obtained using BChPT. We also discuss the use of these parameters in a dark matter model.
We report on our on-going project to calculate proton decay matrix elements using domain-wall fermions on the lattice. By summarizing the history of the proton decay calculation on the lattice, we reveal the systematic errors of those calculations. Then we discuss our approach to tackle those uncertainties and show our preliminary results on the matrix elements.
Hadronic matrix elements of operators relevant to nucleon decay in grand unified theories are calculated numerically using lattice QCD. In this context, the domain-wall fermion formulation, combined with non-perturbative renormalization, is used for the first time. These techniques bring reduction of a large fraction of the systematic error from the finite lattice spacing. Our main effort is devoted to a calculation performed in the quenched approximation, where the direct calculation of the nucleon to pseudoscalar matrix elements, as well as the indirect estimate of them from the nucleon to vacuum matrix elements, are performed. First results, using two flavors of dynamical domain-wall quarks for the nucleon to vacuum matrix elements are also presented to address the systematic error of quenching, which appears to be small compared to the other errors. Our results suggest that the representative value for the low energy constants from the nucleon to vacuum matrix elements are given as |alpha| simeq |beta| simeq 0.01 GeV^3. For a more reliable estimate of the physical low energy matrix elements, it is better to use the relevant form factors calculated in the direct method. The direct method tends to give smaller value of the form factors, compared to the indirect one, thus enhancing the proton life-time; indeed for the pi^0 final state the difference between the two methods is quite appreciable.
We present a model-independent calculation of hadron matrix elements for all dimension-six operators associated with baryon number violating processes using lattice QCD. The calculation is performed with the Wilson quark action in the quenched approximation at $beta=6/g^2=6.0$ on a $28^2times 48times 80$ lattice. Our results cover all the matrix elements required to estimate the partial lifetimes of (proton,neutron)$to$($pi,K,eta$) +(${bar u},e^+,mu^+$) decay modes. We point out the necessity of disentangling two form factors that contribute to the matrix element; previous calculations did not make the separation, which led to an underestimate of the physical matrix elements. With a correct separation, we find that the matrix elements have values 3-5 times larger than the smallest estimates employed in phenomenological analyses of the nucleon decays, which could give strong constraints on several GUT models. We also find that the values of the matrix elements are comparable with the tree-level predictions of chiral lagrangian.