Radiative Corrections to Superallowed $\beta$ Decays in Effective Field Theory

Journal Article · 17 November 2024 · Physical Review Letters

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.133.211801 · OSTI ID:2477717

Cirigliano, Vincenzo ; Dekens, Wouter ; de Vries, Jordy ; Gandolfi, Stefano ; Hoferichter, Martin ; Mereghetti, Emanuele

The accuracy of $V_{ud}$ determinations from superallowed $\beta$ decays critically hinges on control over radiative corrections. Recently, substantial progress has been made on the single-nucleon, universal corrections, while nucleus-dependent effects, typically parametrized by a quantity ${\delta }_{\mathrm{NS}}$ , are much less well constrained. Here, we lay out a program to evaluate this correction from effective field theory (EFT), highlighting the dominant terms as predicted by the EFT power counting. Moreover, we compare the results to a dispersive representation of ${\delta }_{\mathrm{NS}}$ and show that the expected momentum scaling applies even in the case of low-lying intermediate states. Our EFT framework paves the way toward calculations of ${\delta }_{\mathrm{NS}}$ and thereby addresses the dominant uncertainty in $V_{ud}$ . Published by the American Physical Society 2024

• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
• Grant/Contract Number: FG02-00ER41132; 89233218CNA000001; SC0023663
• OSTI ID: 2477717
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters, Journal Name: Physical Review Letters Journal Issue: 21 Vol. 133; ISSN 0031-9007; ISSN PRLTAO
• Publisher: American Physical SocietyCopyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English