Weak charged current induced electron and positron scattering off proton at JLab and MAMI energies

Abstract The development of next-generation, high-luminosity, and high-precision charged-lepton beam facilities at JLab and MAMI has opened, in recent years, a new frontier in the exploration of weak interaction processes induced by electrons and positrons in the neutral current sector, which can also be used to study weak interaction processes induced by charged currents. In particular, these processes in the intermediate energy regime play a crucial role in understanding electroweak dynamics, nucleon structure, and hadronic response functions. In this review, we present a comprehensive analysis of some of the electron induced weak CC processes on the free proton due to quasielastic scattering channels. We also study the inelastic production of spin 1/2 and 3/2 resonances, as well as the inelastic production of η and K mesons, and the associated particle production of strange particles in electron and positron induced weak CC processes on free proton. Furthermore, in the quasielastic scattering sector, the polarization observables of the produced baryons as well as the possibility of using a polarized proton target, where spin asymmetries may be observed are investigated, highlighting their sensitivity to the underlying weak interaction dynamics. This review provides essential theoretical benchmarks for interpreting precision measurements of various observables in the electron and positron interaction with the proton target in the few-GeV energy domain of weak interaction physics in the charged current sector, directly relevant to the present and future experiments at JLab and MAMI. Beyond its phenomenological relevance, the explored kinematic region offers a unique and independent opportunity to constrain the axial vector sector of the weak interaction. In particular, it provides a discussion of alternative ways to determine MA in the quasielastic scattering region and the axial vector form factors in resonance excitations, free from the uncertainties present in their determination from the study of (anti)neutrino-induced weak processes.