Speaker
Thomas R. Richardson
(Duke University)
Description
Low energy experiments that search for Beyond the Standard Model (BSM) physics often rely on nuclear targets.
Therefore, it is imperative that we obtain a clear theoretical picture of the nuclear physics involved.
Effective field theory (EFT) provides a model-independent framework to capture the nuclear physics in terms of few-nucleon currents.
However, every operator in an EFT is accompanied by an undetermined low energy coefficient that must be determined from data or a nonperturbative quantum chromodynamics (QCD) calculation such as a lattice calculation.
For many processes, these determinations are not yet possible; thus, other theoretical constraints are necessary in order to guide the interpretation of experimental bounds.
Here, we review recent constraints obtained from the large-$N_c$ limit of QCD, where $N_c$ is the number of colors, for BSM few-nucleon currents relevant for neutrinoless double beta decay and dark matter direct detection.
Primary author
Thomas R. Richardson
(Duke University)
