Constraints on the two-pion contribution to hadronic vacuum polarization

Author(s)
Gilberto Colangelo, Martin Hoferichter, Peter Stoffer
Abstract

At low energies hadronic vacuum polarization (HVP) is strongly dominated by two-pion intermediate states, which are responsible for about 70% of the HVP contribution to the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon, a(mu)(HVP). Lattice-QCD evaluations of the latter indicate that it might be larger than calculated dispersively on the basis of e(+) e(-) -> hadrons data, at a level which would contest the long-standing discrepancy with the a(mu) measurement. In this Letter we study to which extent this 2 pi contribution can be modified without, at the same time, producing a conflict elsewhere in low-energy hadron phenomenology. To this end we consider a dispersive representation of the e(+) e(-) -> 2 pi process and study the correlations which thereby emerge between a(mu)(HVP), the hadronic running of the fine-structure constant, the P-wave pi pi phase shift, and the charge radius of the pion. Inelastic effects play an important role, despite being constrained by the Eidelman-Lukaszuk bound. We identify scenarios in which a(mu)(HVP) can be altered substantially, driven by changes in the phase shift and/or the inelastic contribution, and illustrate the ensuing changes in the e(+) e(-) -> 2 pi cross section. In the combined scenario, which minimizes the effect in the cross section, a uniform shift around 4% is required. At the same time both the analytic continuation into the space-like region and the pion charge radius are affected at a level that could be probed in future lattice-QCD calculations. (C) 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V.

Organisation(s)
Particle Physics
External organisation(s)
University of California, San Diego, Universität Bern
Journal
Physics Letters. Section B: Nuclear, Elementary Particle and High-Energy Physics
Volume
814
No. of pages
8
ISSN
0370-2693
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physletb.2021.136073
Publication date
01-2021
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
103034 Particle physics
Keywords
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Nuclear and High Energy Physics
Portal url
https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/en/publications/constraints-on-the-twopion-contribution-to-hadronic-vacuum-polarization(1bc7d7d1-55b7-4333-8f4e-2f95164d725b).html