Model-independent determination of the nucleon charge radius from lattice QCD

Abstract

Lattice QCD calculations of nucleon form factors are restricted to discrete values of the Euclidean four-momentum transfer. Therefore, the extraction of radii typically relies on parametrizing and fitting the lattice QCD data to obtain its slope close to zero momentum transfer. We investigate a new method, which allows to compute the nucleon radius directly from existing lattice QCD data, without assuming a functional form for the momentum dependence of the underlying form factor. The method is illustrated for the case of the isovector mean square charge radius of the nucleon $\langle r^2_\mathrm{isov} \rangle$ and the quark-connected contributions to $\langle r^2_p\rangle$ and $\langle r^2_n \rangle$ for the proton and neutron, respectively. Computations are performed using a single gauge ensemble with $N_f=2+1+1$ maximally twisted mass clover-improved fermions at physical quark mass and a lattice spacing of $a=0.08\mathrm{fm}$.