Speaker
Description
Modern first-principles (or “ab initio”) many-body simulations make it possible to compute the structure of atomic nuclei from scratch, starting from effective field theories of quantum chomodynamics. Recent developments have extended the reach of these simulations to the heaviest stable isotopes, to higher precision, and to new applications including many studies of fundamental interactions in nuclei. Particularly key in these applications to possible new physics in nuclei is the predictive power of first-principles simulations combined with the possibility to systematically quantify remaining theory uncertainties. If observed, $\mu \to e$ conversion in nuclei would be a clear signal of charged lepton flavor violation, giving insight into possible physics beyond the standard model. However, to discriminate between different new physics models generating charged lepton flavor violation, one needs to isolate the nuclear structure contributions to the process, where in particular the neutron responses are important, but relatively uncertain. We provide precise predictions for leading nuclear contributions to electron to muon conversion in nuclei, allowing for improved constraints on proposed theories of charged lepton flavor violation.
