Homehep-latarXiv:2605.29902

Electromagnetic pion mass splitting using a Pauli-Villars-regulated photon propagator

hep-lathep-ph2026-05v1license

Abstract

We present a lattice QCD calculation of the charged-neutral pion mass splitting Mπ+Mπ0M_{\pi^+} - M_{\pi^0} at O(αem)\mathcal{O}(\alpha_\mathrm{em}) using a recently proposed framework based on a Pauli-Villars (PV) regulated photon propagator defined in the continuum and infinite-volume limit, with Λ\Lambda acting as an additional UV cutoff scale. The use of this propagator avoids power-law finite-volume effects, allowing for a straightforward treatment of the infinite-volume limit. We perform the calculation using CLS ensembles, studying finite-volume effects, the continuum limit and the extrapolation to the physical point for several values of the scale Λ\Lambda. By means of the Cottingham formula, we further decompose the result into elastic and inelastic contributions at fixed Λ\Lambda. Our final result, after removing the cutoff scale Λ\Lambda, is Mπ+Mπ0=4.56(22)M_{\pi^+} - M_{\pi^0} = 4.56(22) MeV, in good agreement with the experimental measurement. This calculation serves as a validation of the formalism in a well-controlled setting and offers useful insights into the application of electromagnetic corrections to other observables.

Comments: 30 pages, 13 figures, 5 tables

Cite

@article{arxiv.2605.29902,
  title  = {Electromagnetic pion mass splitting using a Pauli-Villars-regulated photon propagator},
  author = {Alessandro De Santis and Dominik Erb and Harvey B. Meyer},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2605.29902},
  year   = {2026}
}