Strange Electric Form Factor of the Proton

TL;DR

This paper combines charge symmetry, chiral extrapolation, and lattice QCD to accurately determine the strange electric charge radius of the proton, providing insights into hidden flavor contributions.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method integrating multiple techniques to precisely evaluate the strange electric form factor of the proton.

Findings

Value of G_E^s at Q^2=0.1 GeV^2 agrees with current data

Theoretical error is comparable to future experimental uncertainties

Results constrain the role of hidden flavor in nucleon structure

Abstract

By combining the constraints of charge symmetry with new chiral extrapolation techniques and recent low-mass quenched lattice QCD simulations of the individual quark contributions to the electric charge radii of the baryon octet, we obtain an accurate determination of the strange electric charge radius of the proton. While this analysis provides a value for G_E^s(Q^2=0.1 GeV^2) in agreement with the best current data, the theoretical error is comparable with that expected from future HAPPEx results from JLab. Together with the earlier determination of G_M^s, this result considerably constrains the role of hidden flavor in the structure of the nucleon.