No Arabic abstract
Apart from the quark and gluon kinetic and potential energies, the nucleon mass includes a novel energy of pure quantum origin resulting from anomalous breaking of scale symmetry. We demonstrate the effects of this quantum anomalous energy (QAE) in QED, as well as in a toy 1+1 dimensional non-linear sigma model where it contributes non-perturbatively, in a way resembling the Higgs mechanism for the masses of matter particles in electro-weak theory. The QAE contribution to the nucleon mass can be explained using a similar mechanism, in terms of a dynamical response of the gluonic scalar field through Higgs-like couplings between the nucleon and scalar resonances. In addition, the QAE sets the scale for other energies in the nucleon through a relativistic virial theorem, and contributes a negative pressure to confine the colored quarks.
We study the anomalous scale symmetry breaking effects on the proton mass in QCD due to quantum fluctuations at ultraviolet scales. We confirm that a novel contribution naturally arises as a part of the proton mass, which we call the quantum anomalous energy (QAE). We discuss the QAE origins in both lattice and dimensional regularizations and demonstrate its role as a scheme-and-scale independent component in the mass decomposition. We further argue that QAE role in the proton mass resembles a dynamical Higgs mechanism, in which the anomalous scale symmetry breaking field generates mass scales through its vacuum condensate, as well as its static and dynamical responses to the valence quarks. We demonstrate some of our points in two simpler but closely related quantum field theories, namely the 1+1 dimensional non-linear sigma model in which QAE is non-perturbative and scheme-independent, and QED where the anomalous energy effect is perturbative calculable.
We present an extraction of the pion-nucleon ($pi N$) scattering lengths from low-energy $pi N$ scattering, by fitting a representation based on Roy-Steiner equations to the low-energy data base. We show that the resulting values confirm the scattering-length determination from pionic atoms, and discuss the stability of the fit results regarding electromagnetic corrections and experimental normalization uncertainties in detail. Our results provide further evidence for a large $pi N$ $sigma$-term, $sigma_{pi N}=58(5)$ MeV, in agreement with, albeit less precise than, the determination from pionic atoms.
We briefly review and expand our recent analysis for all three invariant A,B,D gravitational form factors of the nucleon in holographic QCD. They compare well to the gluonic gravitational form factors recently measured using lattice QCD simulations. The holographic A-term is fixed by the tensor $T=2^{++}$ (graviton) Regge trajectory, and the D-term by the difference between the tensor $T=2^{++}$ (graviton) and scalar $S=0^{++}$ (dilaton) Regge trajectories. The B-term is null in the absence of a tensor coupling to a Dirac fermion in bulk. A first measurement of the tensor form factor A-term is already accessible using the current GlueX data, and therefore the tensor gluonic mass radius, pressure and shear inside the proton, thanks to holography. The holographic A-term and D-term can be expressed exactly in terms of harmonic numbers. The tensor mass radius from the holographic threshold is found to be $langle r^2_{GT}rangle approx (0.57-0.60,{rm fm})^2$, in agreement with $langle r^2_{GT}rangle approx (0.62,{rm fm})^2$ as extracted from the overall numerical lattice data, and empirical GlueX data. The scalar mass radius is found to be slightly larger $langle r^2_{GS}rangle approx (0.7,{rm fm})^2$.
We review recent developments in the theoretical investigation of the nucleon polarizabilities. We first report on the static polarizabilities as measured in real Compton scattering, comparing and interpreting the results from various theoretical approaches. In a second step, we extend the discussion to the generalized polarizabilities which can be accessed in virtual Compton scattering, showing how the information encoded in these quantities can provide a spatial interpretation of the induced polarization densities in the nucleon.
We study the effect of periodic boundary conditions on chiral symmetry breaking and its restoration in Quantum Chromodynamics. As an effective model of the effective potential for the quark condensate, we use the quark-meson model, while the theory is quantized in a cubic box of size $L$. After specifying a renormalization prescription for the vacuum quark loop, we study the condensate at finite temperature, $T$, and quark chemical potential, $mu$. We find that lowering $L$ leads to a catalysis of chiral symmetry breaking. The excitation of the zero mode leads to a jump in the condensate at low temperature and high density, that we suggest to interpret as a gas-liquid phase transition that takes place between the chiral symmetry broken phase (hadron gas) and chiral symmetry restored phase (quark matter). We characterize this intermediate phase in terms of the increase of the baryon density, and of the correlation length of the fluctuations of the order parameter: for small enough $L$ the correlation domains occupy a substantial portion of the volume of the system, and the fluctuations are comparable to those in the critical region. For these reasons, we dub this phase as the {it subcritical liquid}. The qualitative picture that we draw is in agreement with previous studies based on similar effective models. We also clarify the discrepancy on the behavior of the critical temperature versus $L$ found in different models.