Nucleon Axial Form Factors from Clover Fermion on 2+1+1-flavor HISQ Lattice

Abstract

The nucleon axial form factors -- axial $G_A$, induced pseudoscalar $\widetilde{G}_P$ and pseudoscalar $G_P$ -- have displayed large systematics in lattice QCD calculations. The major symptoms were the violation of the partially conserved axial current (PCAC) relation between the three form factors, and the underestimation of the induced pseudoscalar coupling $g_P^\ast$ and the axial charge radius $r_A$ compared to phenomenological estimates. The small $g_P^\ast$ was a consequence of the failure of the pion-pole dominance (PPD) hypothesis, especially at low $M_\pi^2$. The small charge radius $r_A$ and the underestimate of $g_A$ were related. The dominant systematic responsible is the lack of inclusion of low-energy ($N \pi$) states that are not manifest in the multiexponential fit to the nucleon two-point correlator. We show that this low-energy state can be determined from the three-point correlator $\langle N A_4 N \rangle $ with the insertion of the temporal component of the axial current $A_4$ within the nucleon state, ie, the strategy labeled $S_{A4}$ [1]. Including this low-energy state in fits to control excited-state contamination (ESC) gives results for $g_A$, $r_A$, and $g_P^\ast$ that are consistent with experimental/phenomenological values. However, the systematic uncertainties, especially in data at small $Q^2$, are now much larger.