Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-2019

DOI

10.1103/PhysRevC.100.035502

Publication Title

Physical Review C

Volume

100

Issue

3

Pages

035502 (6 pg.)

Abstract

An ab initio Green’s function Monte Carlo (GFMC) method is introduced for calculating total rates of muon weak capture in light nuclei with mass number A ≤ 12. As a first application of the method, we perform a calculation of the rate in 3H and 4He in a dynamical framework based on realistic two- and three-nucleon interactions and realistic nuclear charge-changing weak currents. The currents include one- and two-body terms induced by π-and ρ-meson exchange, and N-to-Δ excitation, and are constrained to reproduce the empirical value of the Gamow-Teller matrix element in tritium. We investigate the sensitivity of theoretical predictions to current parametrizations of the nucleon axial and induced pseudoscalar form factors as well as to two-body contributions in the weak currents. The large uncertainties in the measured 4He rates obtained from bubble-chamber experiments (carried out over 50 years ago) prevent us from drawing any definite conclusions. No data exist for 3H, but results are compared to those of a recent Faddeev calculation as a validation of the present GFMC method.

Comments

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©2019 American Physical Society

Original Publication Citation

Lovato, A., Rocco, N., & Schiavilla, R. (2019). Muon capture in nuclei: An ab initio approach based on green's function Monte Carlo methods. Physical Review C, 100(3), 035502. doi:10.1103/PhysRevC.100.035502

ORCID

0000-0001-6049-6683 (Schiavilla)

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