Publications by authors named "A Walker-Loud"

This Letter presents the first lattice QCD computation of the coupled channel πΣ-K[over ¯]N scattering amplitudes at energies near 1405 MeV. These amplitudes contain the resonance Λ(1405) with strangeness S=-1 and isospin, spin, and parity quantum numbers I(J^{P})=0(1/2^{-}). However, whether there is a single resonance or two nearby resonance poles in this region is controversial theoretically and experimentally.

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We compute the electromagnetic corrections to neutron β decay using a low-energy hadronic effective field theory. We identify new radiative corrections arising from virtual pions that were missed in previous studies. The largest correction is a percent-level shift in the axial charge of the nucleon proportional to the electromagnetic part of the pion-mass splitting.

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Observation of neutrinoless double beta decay, a lepton number violating process that has been proposed to clarify the nature of neutrino masses, has spawned an enormous world-wide experimental effort. Relating nuclear decay rates to high-energy, beyond the standard model (BSM) physics requires detailed knowledge of nonperturbative QCD effects. Using lattice QCD, we compute the necessary matrix elements of short-range operators, which arise due to heavy BSM mediators, that contribute to this decay via the leading order π^{-}→π^{+} exchange diagrams.

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The axial coupling of the nucleon, g, is the strength of its coupling to the weak axial current of the standard model of particle physics, in much the same way as the electric charge is the strength of the coupling to the electromagnetic current. This axial coupling dictates the rate at which neutrons decay to protons, the strength of the attractive long-range force between nucleons and other features of nuclear physics. Precision tests of the standard model in nuclear environments require a quantitative understanding of nuclear physics that is rooted in quantum chromodynamics, a pillar of the standard model.

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Standard methods for including electromagnetic interactions in lattice quantum chromodynamics calculations result in power-law finite-volume corrections to physical quantities. Removing these by extrapolation requires costly computations at multiple volumes. We introduce a photon mass to alternatively regulate the infrared, and rely on effective field theory to remove its unphysical effects.

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