Triangle Nuclear Theory Colloquium- Electroweak Structure and Reactions in Light Nuclei Using Quantum Monte Carlo Methods

Planned and on-going experiments searching for deviations from fundamental symmetries of the Standard Model-such as precision beta decays and neutrinoless double beta decay- will further illuminate our understanding of nature. The interpretation of these experimental measurements will require reliable nuclear theory calculations and an accurate understanding of nuclear structure in terms of the underlying nucleon dynamics. In this talk, I detail recent efforts to achieve such an understanding by approaching the problem of nuclear electroweak structure and reactions using quantum Monte Carlo methods to stochastically solve the many-body Schrodinger equation. Particular emphasis will be placed on calculations of beta decay, muon capture, and the magnetic structure of light nuclei with the Norfolk local chiral interactions and their consistent electroweak charge and current operators.