Search Results (22 total)

Kaon electroproduction from light nuclei and hydrogen, using ¹H, ²H, ³He, ⁴He, and carbon targets has been measured at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. The quasifree angular distributions of Λ and Σ hyperons were determined at Q²=0.35 (GeV/c)² and W=1.91 GeV. Electroproduction on hydrogen was measured at the same kinematics for reference.

We studied the reaction ¹²C(e,e^'p) in quasielastic kinematics at momentum transfers between 0.6 and 1.8 (GeV/c)² covering the single-particle region. From this the nuclear transparency factors are extracted using two methods. The results are compared to theoretical predictions obtained using a generalization of Glauber theory described in this paper. Furthermore, the momentum distribution in the region of the 1s-state up to momenta of 300 MeV/c is obtained from the data and compared to the correlated basis function theory and the independent-particle shell model.

The _Λ^3,4H and _Λ⁴H hypernuclear bound states have been observed for the first time in kaon electroproduction on ^3,4He targets. The production cross sections have been determined at Q²=0.35   GeV² and W=1.91   GeV. For either hypernucleus the nuclear form factor is determined by comparing the angular distribution of the ^3,4He(e,e^′K⁺)_Λ^3,4H processes to the elementary cross section ¹H(e,éK⁺)Λ on the free proton, measured during the same experiment.

We have carried out an (e,e^′p) experiment at high momentum transfer and in parallel kinematics to measure the strength of the nuclear spectral function S(k,E) at high nucleon momenta k and large removal energies E. This strength is related to the presence of short-range and tensor correlations, and was known hitherto only indirectly and with considerable uncertainty from the lack of strength in the independent-particle region. This experiment locates by direct measurement the correlated strength predicted by theory.

Electroproduction of the ω meson was investigated in the ¹H(e,e^′p)ω reaction. The measurement was performed at a four-momentum transfer Q²≈0.5  GeV². Angular distributions of the virtual photon-proton center-of-momentum cross sections have been extracted over the full angular range. These distributions exhibit a strong enhancement over t-channel parity exchange processes in the backward direction. According to a newly developed electroproduction model, this enhancement provides significant evidence of resonance formation in the γ*p→ωp reaction channel.

We report on precision measurements of the elastic cross section for electron-proton scattering performed in Hall C at Jefferson Lab. The measurements were made at 28 distinct kinematic settings covering a range in momentum transfer of 0.4<Q²<5.5  (GeV∕c)². These measurements represent a significant contribution to the world’s cross section data set in the Q² range, where a large discrepancy currently exists between the ratio of electric to magnetic proton form factors extracted from previous cross section measurements and that recently measured via polarization transfer in Hall A at Jefferson Lab. This data set shows good agreement with previous cross section measurements, indicating that if a heretofore unknown systematic error does exist in the cross section measurements, then it is intrinsic to all such measurements.

We report measurements of cross sections for the reaction ¹H(e,e^′K⁺)Y, for both the Λ and Σ⁰ hyperon states, at an invariant mass of W=1.84 GeV and four-momentum transfers 0.5<Q²<2 (GeV/c)². Data were taken for three values of virtual photon polarization ε, allowing the decomposition of the cross sections into longitudinal and transverse components. The Λ data are a revised analysis of prior work, whereas the Σ⁰ results have not been previously reported.

The quasielastic (e,e^′p) reaction was studied on targets of deuterium, carbon, and iron up to a value of momentum transfer Q² of 8.1 (GeV/c)². A nuclear transparency was determined by comparing the data to calculations in the plane-wave impulse approximation. The dependence of the nuclear transparency on Q² and the mass number A was investigated in a search for the onset of the color transparency phenomenon. We find no evidence for the onset of color transparency within our range of Q². A fit to the world’s nuclear transparency data reflects the energy dependence of the free-proton–nucleon cross section.

The first measurements of the d(γ,p)n differential cross section at forward angles and photon energies above 4 GeV were performed at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (JLab). The results indicate evidence of an angular dependent scaling threshold. Results at θ_cm  =  37° are consistent with the constituent counting rules for E_γ≳4 GeV, while those at 70° are consistent with the constituent counting rules for E_γ≳1.5 GeV.

Inclusive electron scattering data are presented for ²H, C, Fe, and Au targets at an incident electron energy of 4.045 GeV for a range of momentum transfers from Q²=1 to 7 (GeV/c)². Data were taken at Jefferson Laboratory for low values of energy loss, corresponding to values of Bjorken x≳1. The structure functions do not show scaling in x in this range, where inelastic scattering is not expected to dominate the cross section. The data do show scaling, however, in the Nachtmann variable ξ. This scaling appears to be the result of Bloom- Gilman duality in the nucleon structure function combined with the Fermi motion of the nucleons in the nucleus. The resulting extension of scaling to larger values of ξ opens up the possibility of accessing nuclear structure functions in the high-x region at lower values of Q² than previously believed.

We investigate the Q² dependence of inclusive electron-proton scattering F₂ structure function data in both the nucleon resonance region and the deep inelastic region, at momentum transfers below 5 (GeV/c)². From these data we construct moments of F₂, down to momentum transfers of Q²≈0.1 (GeV/c)². The second moment is only slowly varying with Q² down to Q²≈1 (GeV/c)², which is a reflection of duality. Below Q² of 1 (GeV/c)², the Q² dependence of the moments is predominantly governed by the elastic contribution, whereas the inelastic channels still seem governed by local duality.

A newly obtained sample of inclusive electron-nucleon scattering data has been analyzed for precision tests of quark-hadron duality. The data are in the nucleon resonance region, and span the range 0.3<Q²<5.0 (GeV/c)². Duality is observed both in limited and extended regions around the prominent resonance enhancements. Higher twist contributions to the F₂ structure function are found to be small on average, even in the low Q² regime of ≈0.5 (GeV/c)². Using duality, an average scaling curve is obtained. In all cases, duality appears to be a nontrivial property of the nucleon structure function.

A newly obtained data sample of inclusive electron-nucleon scattering from both hydrogen and deuterium targets is analyzed. These JLab data span the nucleon resonance region up to four-momentum transfers of 5 (GeV/c)². The data are found to follow an average scaling curve. The inclusion of low-momentum transfer data yields a scaling curve resembling deep inelastic neutrino-nucleus scattering data, suggesting a sensitivity to valencelike structure only.

The differential cross section for ²H(γ,d)π⁰ has been measured at deuteron center-of-mass angles of 90° and 136°. This work reports the first data for this reaction above a photon energy of 1 GeV, and permits a test of the apparent constituent counting rule and reduced nuclear amplitude behavior as observed in elastic ed scattering. Measurements were performed up to a photon energy of 4.0 GeV, and are in good agreement with previous lower energy measurements. Overall, the data are inconsistent with both constituent-counting rule and reduced nuclear amplitude predictions.

The differential cross section for the process p(e,e^′p)η has been measured at Q²=2.4 and 3.6 (GeV/c)² at center-of-mass energies encompassing the S₁₁(1535) resonance. The latter point is the highest-Q² exclusive measurement of this process to date. The resonance width and the helicity-1/2 transition amplitude are extracted from the data, and evidence for the possible onset of scaling in this reaction is shown. A lower bound of ≈0.45 is placed on the S₁₁(1535)→pη branching fraction.

Inclusive electron scattering is measured with 4.045 GeV incident beam energy from C, Fe, and Au targets. The measured energy transfers and angles correspond to a kinematic range for Bjorken x>1 and momentum transfers from Q²  =  1–7 (GeV/c)². When analyzed in terms of the y-scaling function the data show for the first time an approach to scaling for values of the initial nucleon momenta significantly greater than the nuclear matter Fermi momentum (i.e., >0.3 GeV/c).

We studied the electroproduction of the Δ(1232) resonance via the reaction p(e,e^′p)π⁰ at four-momentum transfers Q²  =  2.8 and 4.0 GeV². This is the highest Q² for which exclusive resonance electroproduction has ever been observed. Decay angular distributions for Δ→pπ⁰ were measured over a wide range of barycentric energies covering the resonance. The N–Δ transition form factor G_M^* and ratios of resonant multipoles E₁₊/M₁₊ and S₁₊/M₁₊ were extracted from the decay angular distributions. These ratios remain small, indicating that perturbative QCD is not applicable for this reaction at these momentum transfers.

The first measurements of the differential cross section for the d(γ,p)n reaction up to 4.0 GeV were performed at the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) at Thomas Jefferson Laboratory. We report the cross sections at the proton center-of-mass angles of 36°, 52°, 69°, and 89°. These results are in reasonable agreement with previous measurements at lower energy. The 89° and 69° data show constituent-counting-rule behavior up to 4.0 GeV photon energy. The 52° and 36° data disagree with the counting-rule behavior. The quantum chromodynamics (QCD) model of nuclear reactions involving reduced amplitudes disagrees with the present data.

The ¹H(e,e^′K⁺)Λ reaction was studied as a function of the squared four-momentum transfer, Q², and the virtual photon polarization, ɛ. For each of four Q² settings, 0.52, 0.75, 1.00, and 2.00 (GeV/c)², the longitudinal and transverse virtual photon cross sections were extracted in measurements at three virtual photon polarizations. The Q² dependence of the σ_L/σ_T ratio differs significantly from current theoretical predictions. This, combined with the precision of the measurement, implies a need for revision of existing calculations.

Recoil proton polarization observables were measured for both the p(e→,e^′p→) and d(e→,e^′p→)n reactions at two values of Q² using a newly commissioned proton focal plane polarimeter at the MIT-Bates Linear Accelerator Center. The hydrogen and deuterium spin-dependent observables D_ℓℓ and D_ℓt, the induced polarization P_n, and the form factor ratio G_E^p/G_M^p were measured under identical kinematics. The deuterium and hydrogen results are in good agreement with each other and with the plane-wave impulse approximation (PWIA).