We study pion propagation in asymmetric nuclear matter (ANM). One of the interesting consequences of pion propagation in ANM is the mode splitting for the different charged states of pions. First we describe the pion-nucleon dynamics using the non-chiral model where one starts with pseudoscalar (PS) $π$N coupling and the pseudovector (PV) representation is obtained via suitable non-linear field transformations. For both of these cases the effect of the Dirac sea is estimated. Subsequently, we present results using the chiral effective Lagrangian where the short-distance behavior (Dirac vacuum) is included by re-defining the field parameters as done in the modern effective field theory approach developed recently. The results are compared with the previous calculations for the case of symmetric nuclear matter (SNM). Closed form analytical results are presented for the effective pion masses and dispersion relations by making hard nucleon loop (HNL) approximation and suitable density expansion.
Pionic excitations are analyzed in isospin-asymmetric Fermi gas of constituent quarks. It is found that in addition to the usual pionic excitations, there exists a very low collective mode with quantum numbers of the charged pion (spin-isospin sound). In the chiral limit the excitation energy of one of the modes scales as the current quark mass, and the mode saturates current-algebraic sum rules. This is in agreement with predictions of current algebra for isospin-asymmetric medium.
Using a self-consistent delta-hole model the pion propagation in isospin asymmetric nuclear matter is studied. In neutron-rich matter, corresponding to heavy nuclei, a significant difference in positive and negative pion light-cone distributions is obtained leading to a nuclear enhancement of up antiquark distribution compared to the down antiquark one. This means that the sea-quark asymmetry in the free nucleon cannot be extracted model independently from an experiment on a neutron-rich nucleus.
At low energies the particle-hole (ph) part of the pionic susceptibility in isospin-symmetric nuclear matter is known to behave very differently from the susceptibility in finite nuclei due to the presence of an energy gap in the ph excitation spectrum. In this note we show that for charged pions in N > Z nuclei the changes due to the gap are very similar to those in the symmetric case, except at very low momenta, where a qualitatively different behavior is found.
Using a pair of the lightest mirror nuclei, $^3$He and $^3$H, we study the effect of the medium modification of pion fields on the flavor non-singlet structure function. The change of the pion fields leads to an enhancement of the flavor asymmetry of the antiquark distributions in a nucleus.
We discuss a self-consistent method to calculate the properties of cold asymmetric nuclear matter which is dressed with isoscalar scalar pion condensates. The nucleon-nucleon interaction is mediated by these pion pairs, omega- and rho- mesons. The parameters of these interactions are evaluated self-consistently using the saturation properties of nuclear matter like binding energy, pressure, compressibility and symmetry energy. The computed equation of state of pure neutron matter (PNM) is used to calculate mass and radius of a pure neutron star.
We calculate the pion self-energies in asymmetric nuclear matter in the two-loop approximation of chiral perturbation theory. We find three types of corrections beyond the well-known linear density approximation. The resulting s-wave potential (or equivalent mass-shift) of a $π^-$ in the center of a heavy nucleus like Pb turns out to be $U_{π^-}=Δm_{π^-} \simeq 14$ MeV, about half of what is needed to form the deeply bound and narrow pionic atom-states recently observed at GSI. The potential for a $π^+$ under the same conditions is $U_{π^+}=Δm_{π^+} \simeq -1$ MeV. In the same way we calculate…
Medium modification of pion form factor has been evaluated in asymmetric nuclear matter. It is shown that both the shape and the pole position of the pion form factor in dense asymmetric nuclear matter is different from its vacuum counterpart with $ρ$-$ω$ mixing. This is due to the density and asymmetry dependent $ρ$-$ω$ mixing which could even dominate over its vacuum counterpart in matter. Effect of the in-medium pion factor on experimental observables {\it e.g.}, invariant mass distribution of lepton pairs has been demonstrated.
In this paper we investigate in the large-$N_c$ limit ($N_c$ is the number of colored quarks) the phase structure of a massless (1+1)-dimensional quark model with four-quark interaction and in the presence of baryon ($μ_B$), isospin ($μ_I$) and chiral isospin ($μ_{I5}$) chemical potentials as well as at nonzero temperature. It is established that chiral isospin chemical potential leads to the generation of charged pion condensation (PC) in dense (nonzero baryon density) and chiral asymmetric quark matter for a wide range of isospin densities. It is shown that there exists a duality corresponde…
Using the soft pion theorem in the inclusive reactions, we estimate the soft pion contribution to the structure functions $F_2$ and $g_1$ in the nucleon, and show that it is an indispensable part in these structure functions in the small $x$ region. This contribution is asymmetric for the soft $π^+$ and $π^-$ due to pole terms in the soft pion limit, hence it is a remnant of the spontaneous chiral symmetry breakings. Then we show that the modified strange sea quark where the soft pion contribution is added to the distribution determined by the ansatz (strange-sea)=(up-sea + down-sea)/4 satisfi…
By using the soft pion theorem in the inclusive reactions, soft pions' contribution to the structure function $F_2$ in the nucleon is estimated. It is shown that this contribution produces such a large flavor asymmetry in the light sea quark distributions that it gives about $30\sim 50 %$ of the NMC deficit in the Gottfried sum.
Transport models cannot simultaneously explain very recent data on pion multiplicities and pion charged ratios of Sn+Sn in the reaction at 0.27 A GeV. This stimulates further investigations on the pion dispersion relation, in-medium $Nπ\to Δ$ cross sections and $Δ\to N π$ decay widths near the threshold energy or at subthreshold energy of pion production in isospin asymmetric nuclear matter. In this study, the pion dispersion relation, in-medium $Nπ\to Δ$ cross section and $Δ\to N π$ decay width near the threshold energy are investigated in isospin asymmetric nuclear matter by using the one-bo…
The mean charge sum rule for the light sea quarks in the nucleon which holds under the same theoretical footing as the modified Gottfried sum rule shows that a usual parameterization of the strange sea quark distribution underestimate its contribution in the small $x$ region. We give a discussion of the soft pion contribution at high energy as a possible explanation of the saturation of the sum rule and show that it naturally explains why the strange sea quark is suppressed in the region above $x \sim 0.01$ while it becomes abundant below it.
We discuss here a self-consistent method to calculate the properties of the cold asymmetric nuclear matter. In this model, the nuclear matter is dressed with s-wave pion pairs and the nucleon-nucleon (N-N) interaction is mediated by these pion pairs, $ω$ and $ρ$ mesons. The parameters of these interactions are calculated self-consistently to obtain the saturation properties like equilibrium binding energy, pressure, compressibility and symmetry energy. The computed equation of state is then used in the Tolman- Oppenheimer-Volkoff (TOV) equation to study the mass and radius of a neutron star in…
We study QCD under the influence of background magnetic fields and isospin chemical potentials using lattice simulations. This setup exhibits a sign problem which is circumvented using a Taylor-expansion in the magnetic field. The ground state of the system in the pion condensation phase is found to exhibit a pronounced diamagnetic response. We elaborate on how this diamagnetism may contribute to the pressure balance in the inner core of strongly magnetized neutron stars. In addition we show that the onset of pion condensation shifts to larger chemical potentials due to the enhancement of the …
We estimate exclusive density and asymmetry parameter dependent dispersion relations of various charged states of pions in asymmetric nuclear matter. The possibility of matter induced mixing of $π^0$ with $η$ is clearly exposed with the further mass modification of $π^0$ meson due to mixing. Asymmetry driven mass splitting and mixing amplitude are of the same order as the corresponding values in vacuum. Closed form analytic results for the mass shifts and dispersion relations with and without mixing are presented. Furthermore, we discuss the sensitivity of our results on the scalar mean field …
The modified Gottfried sum rule makes clear importance of the high energy region not only in the theoretical meaning but also in the numerical analysis. In this talk, it is shown that the soft pion theorem in the inclusive reaction at high energy can explain the magnitude about $0.02 \sim 0.04$ in the NMC deficit. The main contribution comes from the small $x$ region. We also estimate the soft pion contribution to the Ellis-Jaffe sum rule and show it to be negligible. However we find that the contribution to $g_1^{ep}$ becomes positive below $x = 0.002$.
We present the results of extensive calculations for charged and neutral current reactions of neutrinos and antineutrinos in the small $Q^2\lsim\unit[0.20]{GeV^2}$ region. The results include single $\frac{\d σ}{\d Q^2}$ and double $\frac{\d σ^{(A)}}{\d Q^2 \d E_π}$ differential cross sections at energies relevant for oscillation experiments. We include nuclear corrections in the Adler-Nussinov-Paschos model and point out that on isoscalar nuclear targets there are charge symmetry relations that hold in extended kinematic regions. We discuss how the results can be used in long baseline experim…
We re-examine the effects of anti-symmetry on the anti-quarks in the nucleon sea arising from gluon exchange and pion exchange between confined quarks. While the effect is primarily to suppress anti-down relative to anti-up quarks, this is numerically insignificant for the pion terms.
The properties of kaons and antikaons and their modification in isospin asymmetric nuclear matter are investigated using a chiral SU(3) model. These isospin dependent medium effects are important for asymmetric heavy ion collision experiments. In the present work, the medium modifications of the energies of the kaons and antikaons, within the asymmetric nuclear matter, arise due to the interactions of kaons and antikaons with the nucleons and scalar mesons. The values of the parameters in the model are obtained by fitting the saturation properties of nuclear matter and kaon-nucleon scattering …
A previous study of nuclear matter in a chiral nucleon-meson model is extended to isospin-asymmetric matter. Fluctuations beyond mean-field approximation are treated in the framework of the functional renormalization group. The nuclear liquid-gas phase transition is investigated in detail as a function of the proton fraction in asymmetric matter. The equations of state at zero temperature of both symmetric nuclear matter and pure neutron matter are found to be in good agreement with realistic many-body computations. We also study the density dependence of the pion mass in the medium. The quest…
Based on the relativistic Vlasov-Uehling-Uhlenbeck transport model, which includes relativistic scalar and vector potentials on baryons, we consider a $N-Δ-π$ system in a box with periodic boundary conditions to study the effects of energy conservation in particle production and absorption processes on the equilibrium properties of the system. The density and temperature of the matter in the box are taken to be similar to the hot dense matter formed in heavy ion collisions at intermediate energies. We find that to maintain the equilibrium numbers of $N$, $Δ$ and $π$, which depend on the mean-f…
The interest, the status and the perspectives of various experiments in neutron and nuclear beta-decay, muon-decay and pion-decays are discussed. The talk is segmented into a discussion of the decay-rates and of the energy-spectra and correlations. The impact on various scenarios of "new physics" is briefly mentioned; left-right symmetric models are discussed in more detail and the informations gained from the considered experiments is compared to those from other sources.
Based on a chiral approach to nuclear matter, we calculate the quartic term in the expansion of the equation of state of isospin-asymmetric nuclear matter. The contributions to the quartic isospin asymmetry energy $A_4(k_f)$ arising from $1π$-exchange and chiral $2π$-exchange in nuclear matter are calculated analytically together with three-body terms involving virtual $Δ(1232)$-isobars. From these interaction terms one obtains at saturation density $ρ_0 = 0.16\,$fm$^{-3}$ the value $A_4(k_{f0})= 1.5\,$MeV, more than three times as large as the kinetic energy part. Moreover, iterated $1π$-exch…
Based on the isospin-dependent Boltzmann-Uehling-Uhlenbeck transport model plus the Skyrme force parameters, initialization effect is studied in heavy-ion collision at intermediate energies. We find that there are moderate initialization effects in the observables of free neutron to proton ratio (n/p), pion-/pion + ratio, as well as neutron to proton differential flow (F^x_n-p). Effects of initialization are larger for charged pion-/pion ratios than n/p ratios. And the effects of initialization are more evident in nuclear reactions at lower incident beam energies. We do not see large effects o…
We calculate isospin 2 pion-pion scattering in chiral perturbation theory for a partially quenched, mixed action theory with Ginsparg-Wilson valence quarks and staggered sea quarks. We point out that for some scattering channels, the power-law volume dependence of two pion states in nonunitary theories such as partially quenched or mixed action QCD is identical to that of QCD. Thus one can extract infinite volume scattering parameters from mixed action simulations. We then determine the scattering length for both 2 and 2+1 sea quarks in the isospin limit. The scattering length, when expressed …
We derive a novel chiral power counting scheme for in-medium chiral perturbation theory with explicit nucleonic and pionic degrees of freedom coupled to external sources. It allows for a systematic expansion taking into account local as well as pion-mediated inter-nucleon interactions. Based on this power counting, one can identify classes of non-perturbative diagrams that require a resummation. Within this scheme, the pion self-energy in asymmetric nuclear matter is analyzed and calculated up-to-and-including next-to-leading order (NLO). It is shown that the corrections involving in-medium nu…
The NuTeV Collaboration reported a value of $\sin^{2}θ_{w}$ measured in neutrino-nucleon deep inelastic scattering, and found that the value is three standard deviations from the standard model prediction. This result is obtained under the assumption that the strange-antistrange sea quarks of nucleons are symmetric, and that the up and down quark distributions are symmetric with the simultaneous interchange of $u$$\leftrightarrow$$d$ and $p$$\leftrightarrow$$n$. We discuss the contribution of asymmetric strange-antistrange sea to the Paschos-Wolfenstein relation in the extraction of weak mixin…
Isospin-breaking effects in the baryonic sector are studied in the framework of a medium-modified Skyrme model. The neutron-proton mass difference in infinite, asymmetric nuclear matter is discussed. In order to describe the influence of the nuclear environment on the skyrmions, we include energy-dependent charged and neutral pion optical potentials in the s- and p-wave channels. The present approach predicts that the neutron-proton mass difference is mainly dictated by its strong part and that it strongly decreases in neutron matter.
We compute the pion electromagnetic form factor in a hybrid calculation with domain wall valence quarks and improved staggered (asqtad) sea quarks. This method can easily be extended to rho-to-gamma-pi transition form factors.
Using results from the chiral perturbation theory for the s-wave interaction and the delta-resonance model for the p-wave interaction of pions with nucleons, we have evaluated the spectral functions of pions in asymmetric nuclear matter with unequal proton and neutron densities. We find that in hot dense neutron-rich matter the strength of the spectral function of positively charged pion at low energies is somewhat larger than that of negatively charged pion. In a thermal model, this isospin-dependent effect slightly reduces the ratio of negatively charged to positively charged pions that are …
We have recently studied in the delta-resonance--nucleon-hole model the dependence of the pion spectral function in hot dense asymmetric nuclear matter on the charge of the pion due to the pion p-wave interaction in nuclear medium. In a thermal model, this isospin-dependent effect enhances the ratio of negatively charged to positively charged pions in neutron-rich nuclear matter, and the effect is comparable to that due to the uncertainties in the theoretically predicted stiffness of nuclear symmetry energy at high densities. This effect is, however, reversed if we also take into account the s…
A model for the pionic components of nuclear wave functions is obtained from light front dynamical calculations of binding energies and densities. The pionic effects are small enough to be consistent with measured nuclear di-muon production data and with the nucleon sea. But the pion effects are large enough to predict substantial nuclear enhancement of the cross section for longitudinally polarized virtual photons for the kinematics accessible at Jefferson Laboratory.
The influence of the multi-boson effects on pion multiplicities, single-pion spectra and two-pion correlation functions is discussed in terms of an analytically solvable model. It is argued that spectacular multi-boson effects are likely to be observed only in the rare events containing sufficiently high density fluctuations. The possibilities of unlike particle correlations for a study of the space-time asymmetries in particle production, including the sequence of particle emission, are demonstrated.
Within a transport model using as the input nucleon momentum profiles from a parameterized isospin-dependent single-nucleon momentum distribution with a high momentum tail induced by short-range correlations, we employ the $^{197}$Au + $^{197}$Au collisions at 400 MeV/nucleon to examine on one hand effects of the short-range correlations on the pion and flow observables in probing the nuclear symmetry energy, and on the other hand how reliable are this isospin-dependent single-nucleon momentum distribution as well as the corresponding parameter settings. Besides significant effects of the shor…
Using the relativistic Vlasov-Uehling-Uhlenbeck (RVUU) equation based on mean fields from the nonlinear relativistic models, we study the effect of medium modification of pion production threshold on the total pion yield and the $π^-/π^+$ ratio in Au+Au collisions. We find that the in-medium threshold effect enhances both the total pion yield and the $π^-/π^+$ ratio, compared to those without this effect. Furthermore, including the medium modification of the pion production threshold in asymmetric nuclear matter leads to a larger $π^-/π^+$ ratio for the $NLρδ$ model with a stiffer symmetry ene…
[Background] The neutrino-nucleus ($νA$) cross section is a major source of systematic uncertainty in neutrino-oscillation studies. A precise $νA$ scattering model, in which multinucleon effects are incorporated, is pivotal for an accurate interpretation of the data. [Purpose] In $νA$ interactions, meson-exchange currents (MECs) can induce two-nucleon ($2N$) knockout from the target nucleus, resulting in a two-particle two-hole (2p2h) final state. They also affect single nucleon ($1N$) knockout reactions, yielding a one-particle one-hole (1p1h) final state. Both channels affect the inclusive s…
By introducing electromagnetic formfactors in the spacelike region we extend an effective, gauge invariant Lagrangian model considering Born terms, baryon resonances up to 1.7 GeV and vector meson contributions (Rho, Omega) to calculate electroproduction of Pi-mesons. This model forms the basis for predictions of pion induced dilepton production on the nucleon. Therefore, the implemented formfactors are constructed in such a way that their analytic continuation into the timelike region is possible. It is shown that the seagull term and the N*(1520) resonance play a dominant role in the dilepto…
Deuteron Compton scattering below pion photoproduction threshold is considered in the framework of the nonrelativistic diagrammatic approach with the Bonn OBE potential. A complete gauge-invariant set of diagrams is taken into account which includes resonance diagrams without and with NN-rescattering and diagrams with one- and two-body seagulls. The seagull operators are analyzed in detail, and their relations with free- and bound-nucleon polarizabilities is discussed. It is found that both dipole and higher-order polarizabilities of the nucleon are needed for a quantitative description of rec…
For more than half a century, nucleons are considered to move continuously in the nuclei. Recent electron-scattering experiments indicate about 20$\sim$25\% nucleons in heavier nuclei are involved in the neutron-proton short-range correlations. Nucleons in the nuclei thus have abnormal behavior unlike those in the non-interaction fermi gas. In the neutron-rich nuclei, around the Fermi momentum, the neutron-proton short-range correlations lead to a momentum gap in the proton momentum distribution, which is circumstantially supported by the pionic experimental data. Likewise, there should also b…
We calculate the strange quark and antiquark distributions of the nucleon by using the effective chiral quark model, and find that the strange-antistrange asymmetry can bring a contribution of about 60--100% to the NuTeV deviation of $\sin^{2}θ_{w}$ from the standard value measured in other electroweak processes. The results are insensitive to different inputs. The light-flavor quark asymmetry of $\bar{d}-\bar{u}$ is also investigated and found to be consistent with the experimental measurements. Therefore the chiral quark model provides a successful picture to understand the NuTeV anomaly, as…
A symmetry-preserving continuum approach to the two valence-body bound-state problem is used to calculate the valence, glue and sea distributions within the pion; unifying them with, inter alia, electromagnetic pion elastic and transition form factors. The analysis reveals the following momentum fractions at the scale $ζ_2:=2\,$GeV: $\langle x_{\rm valence} \rangle = 0.48(3)$, $\langle x_{\rm glue} \rangle = 0.41(2)$, $\langle x_{\rm sea} \rangle = 0.11(2)$; and despite hardening induced by the emergent phenomenon of dynamical chiral symmetry breaking, the valence-quark distribution function, …
Pion valence, glue and sea distributions are calculated using a continuum approach to the two valence-body bound-state problem. Since the framework is symmetry preserving, physical features of the distributions are properly expressed. The analysis reveals that the emergent phenomenon of dynamical chiral symmetry breaking causes a hardening of the valence-quark distribution function, ${q}^π(x)$. Nevertheless, this distribution exhibits the $x\simeq 1$ behaviour predicted by quantum chromodynamics (QCD). At the scale $ζ_2:=2\,$GeV, the following momentum fractions are predicted: $\langle x_{\rm …
