The parity-violating asymmetry including QED corrections in high-energy electron-nucleus collisions

TL;DR

This paper calculates the parity-violating asymmetry in high-energy electron-nucleus collisions, including QED corrections, and finds these effects alter the asymmetry by less than one percent.

Contribution

It provides a nonperturbative calculation of QED corrections to parity-violating asymmetry in electron-nucleus scattering at GeV energies.

Findings

QED effects change the asymmetry by less than 1% at GeV energies.

The calculations match experimental geometries for specific nuclei.

Similar minimal effects are observed at 150 MeV for certain nuclei.

Abstract

The parity-violating asymmetry, accounting for the vector and axial-vector vertex plus self-energy correction as well as for vacuum polarization, is calculated nonperturbatively by solving the corresponding Dirac equation for the electronic scattering states. Investigating the nuclei $^{27}$Al, $^{48}$Ca and $^{208}$Pb at collision energies in the GeV region and at forward scattering angles matching the experimental geometries, it is found that the combined QED effects change the parity-violating asymmetry by less than one percent. The same is true for $^{12}$C and $^{208}$Pb at an energy of 150 MeV.