Proposal For the Determination of the ρ-Meson Decay Width from Lattice QCD

The increase in computing power in recent years has made it possible to study the strong interaction between hadrons using the lattice formulation of Quantum Chromodynamics (lattice QCD). The early studies are however tentative and require improvements to obtain definitive results. One objective of lattice QCD calculations is to recover experimentally known values to a high precision to confirm that QCD is the correct underlying theory of the strong interactions. Another objective is to provide information which is not accessible experimentally. For example, in the evolution of supernova it is important to understand the Σ−-neutron interaction, and a lattice QCD study of this interaction would offer valuable input. In the following, we propose to study the ρ resonance appearing in the angular momentum l = 1 and isospin I = 1 elastic scattering channel of the two-pion system. A method for the determination of the ρ-meson decay-width and mass using lattice QCD that will improve on previous attempts is presented.