# Nucleon Magnetic Moments Beyond the Perturbative Chiral Regime

## I Introduction

The fundamental theory of the strong interactions, Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), is a nonperturbative field-theory in which the self-coupling of the gauge field leads to a nontrivial vacuum structure. The complexity of the QCD vacuum is manifest in nonvanishing vacuum expectation values of quark and gluon operator products having vacuum quantum numbers. The only known way to directly calculate the properties of QCD is through the formulation of a lattice gauge theory where the fields are described on a discrete space-time lattice.

The lattice formulation of QCD is well established . Recent advances in lattice action improvement on anisotropic lattices are greatly facilitating the reduction of systematic uncertainties associated with the finite lattice volume and the finite lattice spacing. However, direct simulation of QCD for light current quark masses, near the chiral limit, remains computationally intensive. As such, the present approach of calculating the properties of QCD using quark masses away from the chiral regime and extrapolating to the physical world is likely to persist for the foreseeable future.

The difficulty associated with this approach is illustrated by the rapid rise of the pseudoscalar mass for small increases in the quark mass away from the chiral limit as governed by

$$m_\pi ^2=2m_q\frac{0\left|\overline{q}q\right|0}{f_\pi ^2},$$
(1)   
where $`q`$ denotes a light quark. Typical quark masses considered in lattice simulations place $`m_\pi 500`$ MeV, a value significantly larger than the physical pion mass, $`\mu =139.6`$ MeV. A mass the order of 500 MeV is sufficient to largely suppress the pion cloud contribution to hadronic observables, whereas near the chiral limit, the pion cloud can make a significant contribution to them. Hence it is imperative to extrapolate any observable simulated on the lattice to the physical world using a function motivated by the physics of the pion cloud. Since the pion cloud contributions are small in lattice simulations, one has to look beyond the lattice simulation results at present.

Historically, lattice results were often linearly extrapolated with respect to $`m_\pi ^2`$ to the chiral limit, particularly in exploratory calculations. More recently the focus has turned to chiral perturbation theory ($`\chi `$PT), which provides predictions for the leading nonanalytic quark-mass dependence of observables in terms of phenomenological parameters .

Application of $`\chi `$PT to the extrapolation of lattice simulation data is now standard for hadron masses and decay constants . However, earlier attempts  to apply $`\chi `$PT predictions for the quark-mass dependence of baryon magnetic moments failed, as the higher order terms of the chiral expansion quickly dominate the truncated expansion as one moves away from the chiral limit. To one meson loop, $`\chi `$PT expresses the nucleon magnetic moments as 

$$\mu _N=\mu _0+c_1m_\pi +c_2m_\pi ^2\mathrm{log}m_\pi ^2+c_3m_\pi ^2+\mathrm{},$$
(2)   
where $`\mu _0`$ and $`c_3`$ are fitted phenomenologically and $`c_1`$ and $`c_2`$ are predicted by $`\chi `$PT. The $`m_\pi ^2\mathrm{log}m_\pi ^2`$ term quickly dominates as $`m_\pi `$ moves away from the chiral limit making contact with the lattice results untenable.

Lattice QCD results for baryon magnetic moments  remain predominantly based on linear quark mass (or $`m_\pi ^2`$) extrapolations of the moments expressed in natural magnetons. This approach systematically underestimates the measured moments by 10 to 20%. Finite lattice volume and spacing errors are expected to be some source of systematic error. However, $`\chi `$PT clearly indicates the linear extrapolation of the simulation results is also suspect. As such, it is imperative to find a method which can bridge the void between the realm of $`\chi `$PT and lattice simulations.

We report such a method, which provides predictions for the quark mass (or $`m_\pi ^2`$) dependence of nucleon magnetic moments well beyond the chiral limit. In particular, we use the cloudy bag model (CBM), which involves a relativistic quark model (the MIT bag) coupled to the pion field in such a way as to restore chiral symmetry . The corresponding pion loop corrections to physical observables reproduce the leading non-analytic behavior of $`\chi `$PT. However, the loop which gives rise to the leading non-analytic behavior involves two pion propagators. Because the loop is regulated by a form factor, related to the finite size of the hadron, its contribution is suppressed like $`1/m_\pi ^4`$ as $`m_\pi `$ becomes large. This feature makes it possible to address the larger quark masses simulated in lattice QCD in a convergent way.

With some tuning of the bag radius, the form factor at the $`\pi NN`$ vertex and the current quark mass, within the framework of the CBM, we find that it is possible to reproduce the lattice QCD simulations of nucleon magnetic moments and smoothly extrapolate to the experimentally measured values. We then propose a simple phenomenological relation designed to reproduce the leading nonanalytic structure of $`\chi `$PT and provide the Dirac-moment mass dependence in the heavy quark-mass regime. Finally, we illustrate how such a relation can be used in future lattice QCD calculations. These results may also be useful in clarifying issues surrounding the higher order terms of the chiral expansion of $`\chi `$PT.

## II Lattice QCD Simulation Data

We consider two independent lattice simulations of the nucleon electromagnetic form factors. Both calculations employ three-point function based techniques  utilizing the conserved vector current such that no renormalization is required in relating the lattice results to the continuum. Ref.  utilizes twenty-eight quenched gauge configurations on a $`24\times 12\times 12\times 24`$ periodic lattice at $`\beta =5.9`$, corresponding to a lattice spacing of 0.128(10) fm. Moments are obtained from the form factors at 0.16 GeV<sup>2</sup> by assuming equivalent $`q^2`$ dependencies for the electric and magnetic form factors. Ref.  utilizes twelve quenched gauge configurations on a $`16^3\times 24`$ periodic lattice at $`\beta =6.0`$. The nucleon mass  corresponds to a lattice spacing of 0.091(3) fm. Moments are obtained from dipole fits to the form factors. Uncertainties are statistical in origin and are estimated by a single elimination jackknife . Despite having different lattice volumes and lattice spacings, the results from the two calculations agree well within errors. However, experience suggests that the lattice spacings and volumes used in these investigations may give rise to scaling violations and finite size effects the order of 15 to 20% from the infinite volume continuum limit.

Ideally, one would like to perform the analysis of chiral corrections, using results from full QCD, as opposed to quenched QCD. Unfortunately, such results are not yet available. Instead we will utilize these results under the standard approach of correcting the lattice scale by fixing the lattice spacing using the nucleon mass. In the absence of any known way to correct for the nonperturbative effects of quenching, we will assume that these lattice results are a reasonable representation of full QCD. Since the quark masses simulated on the lattice are somewhat heavy, the dominant contributions from quark loops neglected in the quenched approximation are largely perturbative and accounted for in the renormalization of the lattice spacing. As we shall see, the errors due to quenching are likely the same order of magnitude as the statistical uncertainties.

## III The Cloudy Bag Model

The linearized CBM Lagrangian with the pseudoscalar pion-quark coupling (to order $`1/f_\pi `$ ) is given by 

$``$ $`=`$ $`\left[\overline{q}(i\gamma ^\mu _\mu m_q)qB\right]\theta _V{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}\overline{q}q\delta _S`$ (4)   
$`+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}(_\mu 𝝅)^2{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}m_\pi ^2𝝅^2{\displaystyle \frac{i}{2f_\pi }}\overline{q}\gamma _5𝝉𝝅q\delta _S,`$   
where $`B`$ is the bag constant, $`f_\pi `$ is the $`\pi `$ decay constant, $`\theta _V`$ is a step function (unity inside the bag volume and vanishing outside) and $`\delta _S`$ is a surface delta function. In a lowest order perturbative treatment of the pion field, the quark wave function is not affected by the pion field and is simply given by the MIT bag solution . Our calculation is carried out in the Breit frame with the center-of-mass correction for the bag performed via Peierls-Thouless projection. The detailed formulas for calculating nucleon electromagnetic form factors in the CBM are given in Ref. .

In the CBM, a baryon is viewed as a superposition of a bare quark core and bag plus meson states. Both the quark core and the meson cloud contribute to the baryon magnetic moments. These two sources are balanced around a bag radius, $`R=0.71.1`$ fm . A large bag radius suppresses the contributions from the pion cloud, and enhances the contribution from the quark core. The minimal coupling principle is used for the electromagnetic interaction. The nucleon magnetic moments can be written as $`\mu _N=G_M^{(q)}(0)+G_M^{(\pi )}(0)`$, where $`G_M^{(q)}`$ is due to $`\gamma qq`$ coupling and $`G_M^{(\pi )}`$ from $`\gamma \pi \pi `$ coupling. To one loop, the CBM reproduces the leading non-analytic behavior of $`\chi `$PT. The processes included in this calculation are illustrated in Fig. 1.

For the $`\pi NN`$ vertex, we take the conventional $`\pi NN`$ coupling constant, $`f_{\pi NN}^2=0.0771`$. Instead of the generic form, the $`\pi NN`$ form factor is replaced by the phenomenological, monopole form, $`u(k)=(\mathrm{\Lambda }^2\mu ^2)/(\mathrm{\Lambda }^2+k^2)`$, where $`k`$ is the loop momentum and $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ is a cut-off parameter.

In the standard CBM treatment, where the pion is treated as an elementary field, the current quark mass, $`m_q`$, is not directly linked to $`m_\pi `$. Most observables are not sensitive to this parameter, as long as it is in the range of typical current quark masses. For our present purpose it is vital to relate the $`m_q`$ inside the bag with $`m_\pi `$. Current lattice simulations indicate that $`m_\pi ^2`$ is approximately proportional to $`m_q`$ over a wide range of quark masses . Hence, in order to model the lattice results, we scale the mass of the quark confined in the bag as $`m_q=\left(m_\pi /\mu \right)^2m_q^{(0)}`$, with $`m_q^{(0)}`$ being the current quark mass corresponding to the physical pion mass. $`m_q^{(0)}`$ is treated as an input parameter to be tuned and lies in the range 6 to 7 MeV.

The parameters of the CBM are obtained as follows. The bag constant $`B`$ and the phenomenological parameter $`z_0`$ are fixed by the physical nucleon mass and the stability condition, $`dM_N/dR=0`$, for a given $`R_0`$ and $`m_q^{(0)}`$. For each subsequent value of the pion mass or the quark mass considered, $`\omega _0`$ and $`R`$ are determined simultaneously from the linear boundary solution of the bag and the stability condition, which provides $`R^4=(3\omega _0z_0)/(4\pi B)`$. Using the lattice data and the experimental measurement, the parameters $`R_0`$, $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ and $`m_q^{(0)}`$ are tuned to reproduce the experimental moment while accommodating the lattice data.

Fig. 2 shows the mass dependence of the bag model properties and the pion-cloud contribution $`G_M^\pi (0)`$. The bare bag probability, $`Z_2`$, the quark ground state frequency, $`\omega _0`$, and the bag radius, $`R`$, are plotted as a function of $`m_\pi ^2`$. As $`m_\pi `$ increases, the pion-cloud contribution decreases very quickly and becomes quite small for large quark masses – especially in the range corresponding to the current lattice calculations. On the other hand, the bag properties evolve relatively slowly. As a result, the dominant influences of $`R_0`$, $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ governing the $`\pi NN`$ coupling, and $`m_q^{(0)}`$ are located in separate regions of $`m_\pi `$. The magnitude of the magnetic moments in the small $`m_\pi `$ region is controlled by $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ and $`R_0`$, while a variation of $`m_q^{(0)}`$ is more effective in the large $`m_\pi `$ region, where the pion cloud nearly vanishes.

## IV Discussion of Results

The nucleon magnetic moments calculated in the CBM are shown in Fig. 3 for the proton, and Fig. 4 for the neutron by the solid line. The lattice results ($``$ , $`\mathrm{}`$ ) are also plotted in these figures. It is possible to simultaneously reproduce the existing lattice simulation results for the nucleon magnetic moments at large $`m_\pi `$ as well as their physical values using CBM parameters within previously established ranges. These parameters are summarized in Table I. The dashed lines in Figs. 3 and 4 indicate the corresponding results for the MIT bag model. There, without the pion cloud, the $`m_\pi ^2`$ dependence of the magnetic moments becomes nearly linear. This clearly shows the significance of the meson cloud, especially in the small $`m_\pi `$ regime.

Since the pion cloud in the quenched approximation is quite different from that of full QCD , one might regard the difference between the CBM and MIT model results (i.e. the pion contribution) as indicative of the absolute systematic error associated with the quenched approximation. For the quark masses actually simulated on the lattice, this error is the order of 15%. However, some of this difference is already accounted for in the lattice results through a renormalization of the lattice spacing used in expressing the moments in nuclear magnetons. Hence, for the purposes of this investigation, it is reasonable to accept the quenched results as an approximate representation of the full QCD result.

## V Encapsulating Form

Having established the quark mass dependence of the nucleon moments over a very wide range, we now turn to encapsulating these results in a simple analytic form that might be used in future lattice QCD extrapolations of simulation results. The following function

$$\mu _N(m_\pi )=\frac{\mu _N^{(0)}}{1+\alpha m_\pi +\beta m_\pi ^2},$$
(5)   
is matched to the CBM model results by tuning the three parameters $`\mu _N^{(0)}`$, $`\alpha `$ and $`\beta `$. These fits are also illustrated in figures 3 and 4. This functional form provides the correct limiting behavior as a function of $`m_\pi `$. As $`m_\pi 0`$, Eq. (5) may be expanded as

$$\mu _N(m_\pi )=\mu _N^{(0)}\left[1\alpha m_\pi +(\alpha ^2\beta )m_\pi ^2+\mathrm{}\right],$$
(6)   
such that the leading nonanalytic behavior is proportional to $`m_\pi `$ as required by $`\chi `$PT. For large $`m_\pi `$, Eq. (5) leads to

$$\mu _N(m_\pi )=\frac{\mu _N^{(0)}}{\beta m_\pi ^2}\left(1\frac{\alpha }{\beta m_\pi }+\mathrm{}\right),$$
(7)   
such that the magnetic moments decrease as $`1/m_q`$ for increasing quark mass, precisely as the Dirac moment requires. In short, this function reproduces the leading nonanalytic behavior of $`\chi `$PT, provides the desired mass dependence of the Dirac moment in the heavy quark mass limit and also has the required shape in our region of interest. The resulting parameters for this fit are also listed in Table I.

Because the leading nonanalytic terms predicted in $`\chi `$PT for baryon magnetic moments are proportional to the pseudoscalar meson mass, the kaon cloud is often regarded as the most important and dominant contribution. Instead, in the CBM with its natural high momentum cut-off, the overall contribution of the kaon loop is strongly suppressed. Moreover, the kaon cloud contribution to the nucleon magnetic moments will not display the same significant curvature associated with the pion cloud. In consequence, the kaon cloud contributions may simply be absorbed into the fit parameters $`\mu _N^{(0)}`$ and $`\beta `$.

To evaluate the ability of Eq. (5) to encompass the CBM predictions, the lattice QCD data and maintain the correct leading nonanalytic behavior of $`\chi `$PT, we compare the coefficient of $`m_\pi `$ in Eq. (6) with that predicted by $`\chi `$PT. Table II summarizes numerical values for this coefficient. The one-loop corrected estimates for the $`D`$ and $`F`$ coefficients provide better agreement between $`\chi `$PT and experiment for many observables . The similarity between this $`\chi `$PT estimate and the coefficient from the encapsulating form is encouraging.

## VI Extrapolation of Lattice QCD Data

Future lattice QCD studies of octet baryon magnetic moments will make better contact with experiment by adopting the one-loop corrected coefficient of $`m_\pi `$ from $`\chi `$PT and performing a two parameter fit of Eq. (5) to the simulation data . The utility of this approach is illustrated in Fig. 5. The nucleon magnetic moments at the physical pion mass obtained from this extrapolation are

$$\mu _p=2.85(22)\mu _N\text{and}\mu _n=1.90(15)\mu _N$$
(8)   
and agree surprisingly well with the experimental measurements, 2.793 and $``$1.913 $`\mu _N`$ respectively. The fit parameters $`(\mu ^{(0)},\beta )`$ in units of $`(\mu _N,\text{GeV}^2)`$ are $`(3.39(23),0.58(16))`$ and $`(2.40(16),0.41(16))`$ for the proton and neutron respectively. We note that the data required to do a fit of the lattice results in which covariances are taken into account is no longer available. As such, the uncertainties quoted here should be regarded as indicative only.

## VII Conclusions

In summary, we have explored the quark mass dependence of nucleon magnetic moments. Quark masses beyond the regime of chiral perturbation theory have been accessed via the cloudy bag model which reproduces the leading nonanalytic behavior of $`\chi `$PT and provides internal structure for the hadron under investigation. We find that the predictions of the CBM are succinctly described by a simple formula which reproduces the leading nonanalytic behavior of $`\chi `$PT in the limit $`m_\pi 0`$ and provides the anticipated Dirac moment behavior in the limit $`m_\pi \mathrm{}`$. The significance of nonlinear behavior in extrapolating nucleon magnetic moments as a function of $`m_q`$ to the chiral regime has been evaluated. We find that the leading nonanalytic term of the chiral expansion dominates from the chiral limit up to the physical pion mass. Beyond the physical mass, higher order terms become important and dominate. This curvature, neglected in previous linear extrapolations of the lattice data, can easily account for the departures of earlier lattice estimates from experimental measurements. As finite volume and lattice spacing artifacts are eliminated in future lattice QCD simulations, it will be interesting to see if the fit parameters adjust accordingly to maintain and perhaps improve the level of agreement seen in this investigation. We advocate the use of the function in Eq. (5) in future lattice QCD investigations of octet baryon magnetic moments.

###### Acknowledgements.

We thank Tony Williams for helpful discussions. This work is supported by the Australian Research Council.