Theoretical uncertainties in the nuclear matrix elements of neutrinoless double beta decay: The transition operator
- Institut für Kernphysik, Technische Universität Darmstadt, 64289 Darmstadt, Germany and ExtreMe Matter Institute EMMI, GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH, 64291 Darmstadt (Germany)
We explore the theoretical uncertainties related to the transition operator of neutrinoless double-beta (0νββ) decay. The transition operator used in standard calculations is a product of one-body currents, that can be obtained phenomenologically as in Tomoda [1] or Šimkovic et al. [2]. However, corrections to the operator are hard to obtain in the phenomenological approach. Instead, we calculate the 0νββ decay operator in the framework of chiral effective theory (EFT), which gives a systematic order-by-order expansion of the transition currents. At leading orders in chiral EFT we reproduce the standard one-body currents of Refs. [1] and [2]. Corrections appear as two-body (2b) currents predicted by chiral EFT. We compute the effects of the leading 2b currents to the nuclear matrix elements of 0νββ decay for several transition candidates. The 2b current contributions are related to the quenching of Gamow-Teller transitions found in nuclear structure calculations.
- OSTI ID:
- 22262679
- Journal Information:
- AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 1572, Issue 1; Conference: MEDEX '13: Workshop on calculation of double-beta-decay materx elements, Prague (Czech Republic), 11-14 Jun 2013; Other Information: (c) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0094-243X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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