Weak charge and weak radius of 12C

Abstract

We present a feasibility study of a simultaneous subpercent extraction of the weak charge and the weak radius of the 12C nucleus using parity-violating electron scattering, based on a largely model-independent assessment of the uncertainties. The corresponding measurement is considered to be carried out at the future MESA facility in Mainz with beam=155MeV. We find that a combination of a 0.3% precise measurement of the parity-violating asymmetry at forward angles with a 10% measurement at backward angles will allow to determine the weak charge and the weak radius of 12C with 0.4% and 0.5% precision, respectively. These values could be improved to 0.3% and 0.2% for a 3% backward measurement. This experimental program will have impact on precision low-energy tests in the electroweak sector and nuclear structure.