Hyperon-Nucleon Interactions from Quantum Chromodynamics and the Composition of Dense Nuclear Matter

S. R. Beane, E. Chang, S. D. Cohen, W. Detmold, H.-W. Lin, T. C. Luu, K. Orginos, A. Parreño, M. J. Savage, and A. Walker-Loud (NPLQCD Collaboration)

Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 172001 – Published 23 October 2012

Abstract

The low-energy $n Σ^{-}$ interactions determine, in part, the role of the strange quark in dense matter, such as that found in astrophysical environments. The scattering phase shifts for this system are obtained from a numerical evaluation of the QCD path integral using the technique of lattice QCD. Our calculations, performed at a pion mass of $m_{π} \sim 389 MeV$ in two large lattice volumes and at one lattice spacing, are extrapolated to the physical pion mass using effective field theory. The interactions determined from lattice QCD are consistent with those extracted from hyperon-nucleon experimental data within uncertainties and strengthen model-dependent theoretical arguments that the strange quark is a crucial component of dense nuclear matter.

Received 19 April 2012

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.109.172001

Authors & Affiliations

S. R. Beane¹, E. Chang², S. D. Cohen³, W. Detmold^4,5,6, H.-W. Lin³, T. C. Luu⁷, K. Orginos^4,5, A. Parreño², M. J. Savage³, and A. Walker-Loud^8,9 (NPLQCD Collaboration)

¹Department of Physics, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire 03824-3568, USA
²Departamento d’Estructura i Constituents de la Matèria, Institut de Ciències del Cosmos (ICC), Universitat de Barcelona, Martí Franquès 1, E08028, Spain
³Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195-1560, USA
⁴Department of Physics, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia 23187-8795, USA
⁵Jefferson Laboratory, 12 000 Jefferson Avenue, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
⁶Center for Theoretical Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
⁷N Division, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94551, USA
⁸Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
⁹Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA