Neutral weak currents in pion electroproduction on the nucleon

Abstract

Parity violating asymmetry in inclusive scattering of longitudinally polarized electrons by unpolarized protons with $π^0$ or $π^+$ meson production, is calculated as a function of the momentum transfer squared $Q^2$ and the total energy $W$ of the $πN$-system. This asymmetry, which is induced by the interference of the one-photon exchange amplitude with the parity-odd part of the $Z^0$-exchange amplitude, is calculated for the $γ^*(Z^*)+p\to N+π$ processes ($γ^*$ is a virtual photon and $Z^*$ a virtual Z-boson) considering the $Δ$-contribution in the $s-$channel, the standard Born contributions and vector meson ($ρ$ and $ω$) exchanges in the $t-$channel. Taking into account the known isotopic properties of the hadron electromagnetic and neutral currents, we show that the P-odd term is the sum of two contributions. The main term is model independent and it can be calculated exactly in terms of fundamental constants. It is found to be linear in $Q^2$. The second term is a relatively small correction which is determined by the isoscalar component of the electromagnetic current. Near threshold and in the $Δ$-region, this isoscalar part is much smaller (in absolute value) than the isovector one: its contribution to the asymmetry depend on the polarization state (longitudinal or transverse) of the virtual photon.