Magnetic Moments of Light Nuclei from Lattice Quantum Chromodynamics

Abstract

We present the results of lattice QCD calculations of the magnetic moments of the lightest nuclei, the deuteron, the triton, and [superscript 3]He, along with those of the neutron and proton. These calculations, performed at quark masses corresponding to m[subscript π] ~ 800 MeV, reveal that the structure of these nuclei at unphysically heavy quark masses closely resembles that at the physical quark masses. In particular, we find that the magnetic moment of [superscript 3]He differs only slightly from that of a free neutron, as is the case in nature, indicating that the shell-model configuration of two spin-paired protons and a valence neutron captures its dominant structure. Similarly a shell-model-like moment is found for the triton, μ3[subscript H] ~ μ[subscript p]. The deuteron magnetic moment is found to be equal to the nucleon isoscalar moment within the uncertainties of the calculations. Furthermore, deviations from the Schmidt limits are also found to be similar to those in nature for these nuclei. These findings suggest that at least some nuclei at these unphysical quark masses are describable by a phenomenological nuclear shell model.