On the ππ continuum in the nucleon form factors and the proton radius puzzle

We present an improved determination of the ππ continuum contribution to the isovector spectral functions of the nucleon electromagnetic form factors. Our analysis includes the most up-to-date results for the ππ → anti NN partial waves extracted from Roy-Steiner equations, consistent input for the pion vector form factor, and a thorough discussion of isospin-violating effects and uncertainty estimates. As an application, we consider the ππ contribution to the isovector electric and magnetic radii by means of sum rules, which, in combination with the accurately known neutron electric radius, are found to slightly prefer a small proton charge radius. (orig.)