Electroweak structure with quantum Monte Carlo methods and local chiral interactions

Understanding electroweak interactions in light nuclei is crucial for future fundamental physics searches, such as for neutrinoless double $\beta$-decay and long-baseline experiments measuring neutrino oscillation parameters. In order to disentangle new physics signals from nuclear physics effects, an accurate understanding of the underlying nuclear dynamics is necessary. To achieve this, we use quantum Monte Carlo methods to calculate matrix elements of one- and two-body electroweak current operators consistent with the Norfolk interaction, a high-quality local chiral interaction with two- and three-nucleon forces. This combination of approaches for $A \leq 12$ nuclei allows for a systematic analysis of the relative contribution from different current operators to our predictions and provides insight into the model sensitivity of $\beta$-decay matrix elements, muon capture rates, and neutrinoless double $\beta$-decay transition densities and matrix elements.