Effective Field Theory and Time-Reversal Violation in Light Nuclei

Original · EN

Thanks to the unnaturally small value of the QCD vacuum angle θ< 10⁻¹⁰, time-reversal (T) violation offers a window into physics beyond the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics. We review the effective-field-theory framework that establishes a clean connection between T-violating mechanisms, which can be represented by higher-dimensional operators involving SM fields and symmetries, and hadronic interactions, which allow for controlled calculations of low-energy observables involving strong interactions. The chiral properties of T-violating mechanisms leads to a pattern that should be identifiable in measurements of the electric dipole moments of the nucleon and light nuclei.