Project description
Scattering amplitudes shed light on neutron stars
Quarks exist in six ‘flavours’, including ‘strange’. Three quarks bound together by the strong force form baryons, a type of hadron that includes protons and neutrons. The strong force also binds hadrons in nuclei. The presence of strange quarks alters the properties of atomic nuclei and nuclear matter, thereby affecting the mass and radius of neutron stars. Without understanding of baryons containing strange quarks (a subclass of baryon called hyperon), scientists cannot quantitatively predict neutron star masses and radii. The ERC-funded StrangeScatt project plans to shed light on this by computing two- and three-hadron scattering amplitudes between nucleons (protons or neutrons) and hyperons directly from the theory describing interactions mediated by the strong force.
Objective
StrangeScatt will assess the role of strange quarks in nuclear physics by performing first-principles computations of scattering amplitudes to study interactions between hadrons with strange quarks. The presence of strange quarks alters the properties of atomic nuclei and nuclear matter. For instance, the relationship between the mass and radius of neutron stars depends on the dynamics of strange quarks produced in their core. However, quantitative predictions of neutron star masses and radii are complicated by our ignorance of the fundamental interactions of baryons with strange quarks (hyperons). Such predictions are timely given the advent of dedicated neutron star observatories, multi-messenger astronomy, and earth-based experiments involving baryon resonances and nuclear matter.
Nuclear interactions are rooted in QCD, the fundamental force which binds quarks inside hadrons and hadrons inside nuclei. The bridge between few-body and many-body dynamics is made systematically with effective theories of the strong nuclear force, which require as input few-hadron scattering amplitudes as well as their quark-mass dependence. This project will compute two- and three-hadron scattering amplitudes between nucleons and hyperons directly from QCD using high-performance computer simulations on a space-time lattice.
Lattice QCD computations of scattering amplitudes have improved markedly thanks to algorithms developed by the PI, so that accurate and precise first-principles computations of are finally within reach. The unique ability of lattice computations to vary the up, down, and strange quark masses near their physical values is necessary for fully predictive effective theories. The PI's experience in lattice QCD computations of scattering amplitudes makes him ideally suited for StrangeScatt, which supports ground-based experiments and astrophysical observations by probing the role of strangeness in hadron interactions, nuclei, and nuclear matter.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesastronomy
- natural sciencesphysical sciencestheoretical physicsparticle physicsquarks
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Keywords
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC GrantsHost institution
44801 Bochum
Germany