Grant: Subatomic Physics Envelope - Individual

Investigation on the origin, evolution and structure of strongly interacting (hadronic) matter requires both experimental and theoretical effort. Chiral Perturbation Theory has been tremendously successful in describing low-energy hadronic interactions in the non-perturbative regime of Quantum Chromodynamics. The main purpose of our theoretical research is to take advantage of the new symbolic computing methods and to bring subatomic physics computations to the next level by developing a computational model with a consistent power counting scheme within relativistic Chiral Perturbation Theory. Our recently developed Computational Hadronic Model already incorporates the octet of baryons, pseudoscalar mesons, and decuplet of resonances, and first we plan to expand it with vector meson sector. After that, we will apply our new models, starting with the calculations of the electromagnetic nucleon formfactors using all of the possible degrees of freedoms of the effective chiral theory of strong interactions. The next application will be directed to virtual Compton scattering which will provide broader understanding of the dynamical structure of the baryons. Our new Computational Hadronic Model, supplemented by the vector meson sector, can also be applied to the studies of the impact of the hadronic radiative corrections on the parity violating lepton-nucleon scattering and hence dramatically improve precision in the tests of Standard Model. In the most general sense, we will develop and use the advanced symbolic computational methods to study various reactions in hadronic physics with a high degree of precision. Although any practical outcomes of basic research such as a subatomic theory cannot be predicted immediately, such basic research is pushing the frontiers of human knowledge, and will eventually lay the foundations for new technologies.