First Lattice QCD Study of the Sigma -> n Axial and Vector Form Factors with SU(3) Breaking Corrections

We present the first quenched lattice QCD study of the form factors relevant for the hyperon semileptonic decay Sigma -> n l nu. The momentum dependence of both axial and vector form factors is investigated and the values of all the form factors at zero-momentum transfer are presented. Following the same strategy already applied to the decay K0 -> pi- l nu, the SU(3)-breaking corrections to the vector form factor at zero-momentum transfer, f1(0), are determined with great statistical accuracy in the regime of the simulated quark masses, which correspond to pion masses above ~ 0.7 GeV. Besides f1(0) also the axial to vector ratio g1(0) / f1(0), which is relevant for the extraction of the CKM matrix element Vus, is determined with significant accuracy. Due to the heavy masses involved, a polynomial extrapolation, which does not include the effects of meson loops, is performed down to the physical quark masses, obtaining f1(0) = -0.948 +/- 0.029 and g1(0) / f1(0) = -0.287 +/- 0.052, where the uncertainties do not include the quenching effect. Adding a recent next-to-leading order determination of chiral loops, calculated within the Heavy Baryon Chiral Perturbation Theory in the approximation of neglecting the decuplet contribution, we obtain f1(0) = -0.988 +/- 0.029(lattice) +/- 0.040(HBChPT). Our findings indicate that SU(3)-breaking corrections are moderate on both f1(0) and g1(0). They also favor the experimental scenario in which the weak electricity form factor, g2(0), is large and positive, and correspondingly the value of |g1(0) / f1(0)| is reduced with respect to the one obtained with the conventional assumption g2(q**2) = 0 based on exact SU(3) symmetry.