Lattice QCD determination of the $γZ$ box contribution to the proton weak charge
Abstract
We present the first lattice QCD determination of the $γZ$ box contribution to parity-violating electron-proton scattering, $\square_{γZ}$ , a key ingredient for the precise tests of the Standard Model via the proton weak charge. Our calculation covers the electron beam energies up to $E =155 MeV$. For the axial-vector component, we achieve reduced uncertainties across the entire energy range compared with phenomenological estimates. For the vector component, the uncertainties remain slightly larger after continuum extrapolation. At $E = 0$, where the vector part vanishes, we obtain $\square_{γZ}= 0.00412(9)$ , reducing the uncertainty by a factor of $2$ relative to the most precise previous determination. Incorporating this result yields an updated weak charge of $Q_{W}^{p}= 0.06987(50)$ . The calculated energy dependence of $\square_{γZ}$ further provides a first-principles input for the upcoming P2 experiment at Mainz, which will operate at the optimized beam energy of $155 MeV$ to extract $Q_{W}^p$.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Quantum Chromodynamics and Particle Interactions
Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies
Nuclear physics research studies
Publication details
- Journal / source
- arXiv (Cornell University)
- Publication date
- 10 January 2026
- Document type
- Preprint