NPA Seminar: Ryan Plestid, Caltech, “Effective field theory for QED corrections to beta decay”

Precision beta decay experiments require high order QED corrections including the (very large) effects of the nuclear Coulomb field. In this talk I will present new work that explains how to construct a low-energy effective field theory for long-distance QED effects in beta decay. I will explain how:

1) The Fermi function arrises from a re-summation of leading loop diagrams.
2) Radiative corrections can be systematically organized and partially resummed using renormalization group techniques.
3) How these corrections relate to recently observed tension in first-row CKM unitarity.

Host: David Moore