No-Lose `Theorem' for Parity Violating Nucleon-Nucleon Scattering Experiments

Abstract

A purely left-chiral model of the weak interactions is used to show that the total parity-violating asymmetry in quark-quark scattering must grow with increasing energy. In the absence of other new physics, non-observation of a large asymmetry can therefore be used to infer an upper bound on the mass scale for new right-chiral weak vector bosons. Applying this idea to actual nucleon-nucleon scattering requires more involved calculations, as the dominant contribution appears to come from a component of diquark-quark scattering related to, but not identical to, wavefunction-mixing. Earlier criticism of this model by Simonius and Unger is refuted and a new calculation is proposed as an additional check on the result. Finally, we argue that the so-called `spin crisis' does not affect our conclusions. (Talk given at the BNL workshop on future directions in particle and nuclear physics at multi-GeV hadron beam facilities, March 4--6, 1993.)