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The chiral perturbation theory (ChPT) of pions is extended to include vector mesons as well as pertinent degrees of freedom. By counting the typical momentum scale of vector mesons as order of $Q$ and vector meson masses as of the order of $\Lambda_\chi$, a consistent theory could be obtained. The explicit renormalization procedure of the theory is presented for the form factors of the pion up to one-loop accuracy. The resulting theory prediction for the form factors is in good agreement with the experimental data for a wide range of momentum transfers. The vector-meson dominance mechanism is also discussed in the systematic framework of ChPT.

We estimate the Big Bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) constraint on the majoron in the mass range between $1\,{\rm MeV}$ to $10\,{\rm GeV}$ which dominantly decays into the standard model neutrinos. When the majoron lifetime is shorter than $1\,{\rm sec}$, the injected neutrinos mainly heat up background plasma, which alters the relation between photon temperature and background neutrino temperature. For a lifetime longer than $1\,{\rm sec}$, most of the injected neutrinos directly contribute to the protons-to-neutrons conversion. In both cases, deuterium and helium abundances are enhanced, while the constraint from the deuterium is stronger than that from the helium. $^7{\rm Li}$ abundance gets decreased as a consequence of additional neutrons, but the parameter range that fits the observed $^7{\rm Li}$ abundance is excluded by the deuterium constraint. We also estimate other cosmological constraints and compare them with the BBN bound., Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, v2: major revision made by including correct n/p conversion induced by modified thermal neutrinos, slight changes in the result, references added, version accepted in PRD

An effective theory to treat the dense nuclear medium by the perturbative expansion method is proposed as a natural extension of the Heavy Baryon Chiral Perturbation Theory (HBChPT). Treating the Fermi momentum scale as a separate scale of the system, we get an improved convergence and the conceptually clear interpretation. We compute the pion decay constant and the pion velocity in the nuclear medium, and find their characters different from what the usual HBChPT predicts. We also obtain the Debye screening scale at the normal nuclear matter density, and the damping scale of the pion wave. Those results indicate that the present theory, albeit its improvement over the HBChPT, has the limitation yet to go over to the medium of about 1.3 times of normal matter density due to the absence of the intrinsic density dependence of the coupling constants. We discuss how we overcome this limitation in terms of the renormalization method., Comment: 39 pages and 7 eps figures

The $Hep$ process is a weak-interaction reaction, $He3 + p \to He4 + e^+ + \nu_e$, which occurs in the sun. There is renewed interest in $Hep$ owing to current experimental efforts to extract from the observed solar neutrino spectrum information on non-standard physics in the neutrino sector. $Hep$ produces highest-energy solar neutrinos, although their flux is quite modest. This implies that the $Hep$ neutrios can at some level influence the solar neutrino spectrum near its upper end. Therefore, a precise interpretation of the observed solar neutrino spectrum requires an accurate estimate of the $Hep$ rate. This is an interesting but challenging task. We describe the difficulties involved and how the recent theoretical developments in nuclear physics have enabled us to largely overcome these difficulties. A historical survey of $Hep$ calculations is followed by an overview of the latest developments. We compare the results obtained in the conventional nuclear physics approach and those obtained in a newly developed effective field theory approach. We also discuss the current status of the experiments relevant to $Hep$., Comment: Published in Ann. Rev. Nuc. Part. Sci. vol. 54, 19 (2004). AR209 macros are included

An effective field theory technique that combines the standard nuclear physics approach and chiral perturbation theory is applied to the $hen$ process, ${}^{3}{He}+n\to {}^{4}{He}+ \gamma$. For the initial and final nuclear states, high-precision wave functions are generated via the variational Monte Carlo method using the Argonne $v_{14}$ potential and Urbana VIII trinucleon interactions, while the relevant transition operators are calculated up to ${\cal O}(Q^4)$ in HB$\chi$PT. The imposition of the renormalization condition that the magnetic moments of ${}^{3}{He}$ and ${}^{3}{H}$ be reproduced allows us to carry out a parameter-free calculation of the $hen$ cross section. The result, $\sigma=(60\pm 3\pm 1) \mu b$, is in reasonable agreement with the experimental values, $(54\pm 6) \mu b$ and $(55\pm 3) \mu b$. This agreement demonstrates the validity of the calculational method previously used for estimating the reaction rate of the solar $hep$ process.

Fundamental issues involving nuclei in the celebrated solar neutrino problem are discussed in terms of an effective field theory adapted to nuclear few-body systems, with a focus on the proton fusion process and the hep process. Our strategy in addressing these questions is to combine chiral perturbation theory -- an effective field theory of QCD -- with an accurate nuclear physics approach to arrive at a more effective effective field theory that reveals and exploits a subtle role of the chiral-symmetry scale in short-distance effects encoded in short-range nuclear correlations. Our key argument is drawn from the close analogy of the principal weak matrix element figuring in the hep process to the suppressed matrix elements in the polarized neutron-proton capture at threshold currently being measured in the laboratories., Comment: 11 pages. Invited talk given by MR at the International Conference on Few-Body Problems, Taipei, Taiwan, 6-10 March 2000

The $pp\to pp\pi^0$ cross section near threshold is computed up to one-loop order including the initial and final state interactions using the hybrid heavy baryon chiral perturbation theory and the counting rule a la Weinberg. With the counter terms whose coefficients are fixed by the resonance-saturation assumption, we find that the one-loop contributions are as important as the tree-order contribution and bring the present theoretical estimation of the total cross section close to the experimental data. The short-ranged contributions are controlled by means of a cutoff, and a mild cutoff dependence is observed when all diagrams of the given chiral order are summed. To the order treated, however, the expansion is found to converge rather slowly, calling for further studies of the process., Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures

Based on the effective field theory previously formulated by us to accurately postdict all low-energy two-nucleon properties as well as predict certain electroweak transitions in heavy nuclei, we make parameter-free predictions for the polarized np capture process \vec{n}+\vec{p} --> d +\gamma presently being measured at the Institut Laue-Langevin in Grenoble. Other participants of this meeting are invited to make their own predictions using their preferred approaches and join the bet for the best prediction to confront the forthcoming experiment., Comment: 19 pages, sprocl.sty needed. Talk given by MR at the Workshop on "Nuclear Physics with Effective Field Theories," Institute for Nuclear Theory, University of Washington, February 25-26, 1999, to appear in World Scientific

We show how effectively effective quantum field theories work in nuclear physics. Using the physically transparent cut-off regularization, we study the simplest nuclear systems of two nucleons for both bound and scattering states at a momentum scale much less than the pion mass. We consider all the static properties of the deuteron, the two-nucleon scattering phase-shifts, the n + p --> d + \gamma process at thermal energy and the solar proton fusion process p + p --> d + e(+) + \nu(e), and we demonstrate that these are all described with great accuracy in the expansion to the next-to-leading order. We explore how a "new" degree of freedom enters in an effective theory by turning on and off the role of the pion in the Lagrangian., Comment: 27 pages, Latex, 3 eps files, epsfig needed, slightly modified, to be published in Nucl. Phys. A

The proton burning process p + p -> d + e(+) + \nu(e), important for the stellar evolution of main-sequence stars of mass equal to or less than that of the Sun, is computed in effective field theory using chiral perturbation expansion to the next-to-next-to leading chiral order. This represents a model-independent calculation consistent with low-energy effective theory of QCD comparable in accuracy to the radiative np capture at thermal energy previously calculated by first using very accurate two-nucleon wavefunctions backed up by an effective field theory technique with a finite cut-off. The result obtained thereby is found to support within theoretical uncertainties the previous calculation of the same process by Bahcall and his co-workers., Comment: 30 pages, 2 eps files, aaspp4.sty needed, slightly modified, to be published in Ap. J

The properties of low-energy neutron-proton systems are studied in an effective field theory where only nucleons figure as relevant degrees of freedom. With a finite momentum cut-off regularization scheme, we show that the large scattering lengths of the np systems do not spoil the convergence of the effective field theory, which turns out to be extremely successful in reproducing, with little cut-off dependence, the deuteron properties, the np 1S0 scattering amplitude and most significantly, the M1 transition amplitude entering into the radiative np capture process., Comment: 11 pages, LaTeX, two eps figures, uses epsfig.sty and sprocl.sty. Invited talk at the APCTP Workshop on Astro-Hadron Physics, Seoul, Korea, October 1997

We illustrate how effective field theories work in nuclear physics by using an effective Lagrangian in which all other degrees of freedom than the nucleonic one have been integrated out to calculate the low-energy properties of two-nucleon systems, viz, the deuteron properties, the np 1S0 scattering amplitude and the M1 transition amplitude entering into the radiative np capture process. Exploiting a finite cut-off regularization procedure, we find all the two-nucleon low-energy properties to be accurately described with little cut-off dependence, in consistency with the general philosophy of effective field theories., Comment: 4 pages, RevTeX, two eps files. Slightly modified. To appear in Rapid Communication Section of Phys. Rev. C

The axial-vector coupling constant in nuclear medium is systematically studied using chiral perturbation theory. For normal nuclear matter, the first non-trivial corrections are estimated based on the independent particle approximation taking into account nuclear correlations in nuclear medium. The one-pion-exchange (OPE) two-body interactions turn out to enhance the coupling constant by $\delta g_A/g_A\simeq (0.09 \sim 0.15)$. The role of the four-nucleon contact interaction, whose low-energy constants are yet to be determined, is analyzed in connection with the empirical quenching factor of $\delta g_A/g_A\simeq -0.2$ in the presence of the nuclear short-range correlation. Conventional approaches are discussed in the light of our result., Comment: Some errors in the References are fixed. LaTeX file with four eps files. 10 pages

Exchange vector currents are calculated up to one-loop order (corresponding to next-to-next-to-leading order) in chiral perturbation theory. As an illustration of the power of the approach, we apply the formalism to the classic nuclear process $n+p\rightarrow d +\gamma$ at thermal energy. The exchange current correction comes out to be $(4.5 \pm 0.3)$ \% in amplitude giving a predicted cross section $\sigma= (334\pm 3)\ {\mbox mb}$ in excellent agreement with the experimental value $(334.2\pm 0.5)\ {\mbox mb}$. Together with the axial charge transitions computed previously, this result provides a strong support for the power of chiral Lagrangians in nuclear physics. As a by-product of our results, we suggest an open problem in the application of chiral Lagrangian approach to nuclear processes that has to do with giving a physical meaning to the short-range correlations that play an important role in nuclei., Comment: 42 pages, uuencoded 7 figures (epsfig.sty included), LaTeX

We calculate the cross-section for the thermal $n+p\rightarrow d+\gamma$ process in chiral perturbation theory to next-to-next-to-leading order using heavy-fermion formalism. The exchange current correction is found to be $(4.5\pm 0.3)~\%$ in amplitude and the chiral perturbation at one-loop order gives the cross section $\sigma_{th}^{np}=(334\pm 2)\ {\mbox mb}$ which is in agreement with the experimental value $(334.2\pm 0.5)\ {\mbox mb}$. Together with the axial charge transitions, this provides a strong support for the power of chiral Lagrangians for nuclear physics., Comment: 9 pages, revtex, uses epsfig.sty, 2 uuencoded figures

We calculate shell-model matrix elements of the axial-charge exchange current operators that have been obtained up to the next-to-leading order from heavy-fermion chiral perturbation theory. It is found that loop corrections to the soft one-pion-exchange contribution are small (around 10 \%) and have no significant dependence on the nuclear mass number or on the valence-nucleon orbits. These results render further support to the chiral-filtering conjecture., Comment: 19 pages, LaTeX, SNUTP 94-29, USC(NT)-94-2

Chiral perturbation theory in heavy-fermion formalism is developed for meson-exchange currents in nuclei and applied to nuclear axial- charge transitions. Calculation is performed to the next-to-leading order in chiral expansion which involves graphs up to one loop. The result turns out to be very simple. The previously conjectured notion of "chiral filter mechanism" in the time component of the nuclear axial current and the space component of the nuclear electromagnetic current is verified to that order. As a consequence, the phenomenologically observed soft-pion dominance in the nuclear process is given a simple interpretation in terms of chiral symmetry in nuclei. In this paper, we focus on the axial current, relegating the EM current which can be treated in a similar way to a separate paper. We discuss the implication of our result on the enhanced axial-charge transitions observed in heavy nuclei and clarify the relationship between the phenomenological meson-exchange description and the chiral Lagrangian description., Comment: LATEX, 55 pages (11 figures not included, supplied upon request);SNUTP 92-97

We develop a systematic chiral perturbation expansion for the calculation of meson-exchange currents in nuclei and apply the formalism to nuclear axial currents. We summarize the principal results of such a calculation to one loop order on nuclear axial-charge transitions which provides a strong support to the conjecture of ``chiral filter phenomenon" in nuclear medium. The use of heavy baryon chiral perturbation theory enables us to obtain a remarkably simple result valid next to the leading order in chiral counting. The dominant role of a soft-pion exchange in axial-charge transitions in heavy nuclei is confirmed. An important, {\it albeit} indirect, consequence of our result on the empirically observed enhancement in axial-charge transitions in heavy nuclei is pointed out., Comment: 11 pages, LaTeX file, SNUTP 92-82