Light-Neutrino Exchange and Long-Distance Contributions to 0v2β Decays: An Exploratory Study on ππ → ee

We present an exploratory lattice QCD calculation of the neutrinoless double beta decay pi pi -> ee. Under the mechanism of light-neutrino exchange, the decay amplitude involves significant long-distance contributions. The calculation reported here, with pion masses m(pi) = 420 and 140 MeV, demonstrates that the decay amplitude can be computed from first principles using lattice methods. At unphysical and physical pion masses, we obtain that amplitudes are 24% and 9% smaller than the predication from leading order chiral perturbation theory. Our findings provide the lattice QCD inputs and constraints for effective field theory. A follow-on calculation with fully controlled systematic errors will be possible with adequate computational resources.