A model-independent treatment of dark-matter particle elastic scattering has been developed, yielding the most general interaction for WIMP-nucleon low-energy scattering, and the resulting amplitude has been embedded in the nucleus, taking into accou
nt the selection rules imposed by parity and time-reversal. One finds that, in contrast to the usual spin-independent/spin-dependent (SI/SD) formulation, the resulting cross section contains six independent nuclear response functions, three of which are associated with possible velocity-dependent interactions. We find that current experiments are four orders of magnitude more sensitive to derivative couplings than is apparent in the standard SI/SD treatment, which necessarily associates such interactions with cross sections proportional to the square of the WIMP velocity relative to the nuclear center of mass.
The history and phenomenology of hadronic parity nonconservation (PNC) is reviewed. We discuss the current status of the experimental tests and theory. We describe a re-analysis of the asymmetry for polarized proton-proton scattering that, when combi
ned with other experimental constraints and with a recent lattice QCD calculation of the weak pion-nucleon coupling, reveals a much more consistent pattern of PNC couplings. In particular, isoscalar coupling strengths are similar to but somewhat larger than the best value estimate of Donoghue, Desplanques, and Holstein, while both lattice QCD and experiment indicate a suppressed parity-nonconserving pion-nucleon coupling. We discuss the relationship between meson-exchange models of hadronic PNC and formulations based on effective theory, stressing their general compatibility as well as the challenge presented to theory by experiment, as several of the most precise measurements involve significant momentum scales. Future directions are proposed.
We summarize and critically evaluate the available data on nuclear fusion cross sections important to energy generation in the Sun and other hydrogen-burning stars and to solar neutrino production. Recommended values and uncertainties are provided fo
r key cross sections, and a recommended spectrum is given for 8B solar neutrinos. We also discuss opportunities for further increasing the precision of key rates, including new facilities, new experimental techniques, and improvements in theory. This review, which summarizes the conclusions of a workshop held at the Institute for Nuclear Theory, Seattle, in January 2009, is intended as a 10-year update and supplement to Reviews of Modern Physics 70 (1998) 1265.
