D. Flay

Measurements of parity-violating asymmetries in electron-deuteron scattering in the nucleon resonance region.

We report on parity-violating asymmetries in the nucleon resonance region measured using inclusive inelastic scattering of 5-6 GeV longitudinally polarized electrons off an unpolarized deuterium target. These results are the first parity-violating asymmetry data in the resonance region beyond the Δ(1232). They provide a verification of quark-hadron duality-the equivalence of the quark- and hadron-based pictures of the nucleon-at the (10-15)% level in this electroweak observable, which is dominated by contributions from the nucleon electroweak γZ interference structure functions. In addition, the results provide constraints on nucleon resonance models relevant for calculating background corrections to elastic parity-violating electron scattering measurements.

Precision Measurement of the Neutron Twist-3 Matrix Element d^n_2: Probing Color Forces

Double-spin asymmetries and absolute cross sections were measured at large Bjorken x  (0.25≤x≤0.90), in both the deep-inelastic and resonance regions, by scattering longitudinally polarized electrons at beam energies of 4.7 and 5.9 GeV from a transversely and longitudinally polarized (3)He target. In this dedicated experiment, the spin structure function g(2)((3)He) was determined with precision at large x, and the neutron twist-3 matrix element d(2)(n) was measured at ⟨Q(2)⟩ of 3.21 and 4.32  GeV(2)/c(2), with an absolute precision of about 10(-5). Our results are found to be in agreement with lattice QCD calculations and resolve the disagreement found with previous data at ⟨Q(2)⟩=5  GeV(2)/c(2). Combining d(2)(n) and a newly extracted twist-4 matrix element f(2)(n), the average neutron color electric and magnetic forces were extracted and found to be of opposite sign and about 30  MeV/fm in magnitude.

Rosenbluth Separation of the π0 Electroproduction Cross Section

We present deeply virtual π^{0} electroproduction cross-section measurements at x_{B}=0.36 and three different Q^{2} values ranging from 1.5 to 2  GeV^{2}, obtained from Jefferson Lab Hall A experiment E07-007. The Rosenbluth technique is used to separate the longitudinal and transverse responses. Results demonstrate that the cross section is dominated by its transverse component and, thus, is far from the asymptotic limit predicted by perturbative quantum chromodynamics. Nonetheless, an indication of a nonzero longitudinal contribution is provided by the measured interference term σ_{LT}. Results are compared with several models based on the leading-twist approach of generalized parton distributions (GPDs). In particular, a fair agreement is obtained with models in which the scattering amplitude includes convolution terms of chiral-odd (transversity) GPDs of the nucleon with the twist-3 pion distribution amplitude. This experiment, together with previous extensive unseparated measurements, provides strong support to the exciting idea that transversity GPDs can be accessed via neutral pion electroproduction in the high-Q^{2} regime.

Precision Measurements of

We have performed precision measurements of the double-spin virtual-photon asymmetry A_1 on the neutron in the deep inelastic scattering regime, using an open-geometry, large-acceptance spectrometer and a longitudinally and transversely polarized ^3He target. Our data cover a wide kinematic range 0.277 ≤ x ≤0.548 at an average Q^2 value of 3.078 (GeV/c)^2, doubling the available high-precision neutron data in this x range. We have combined our results with world data on proton targets to make a leading-order extraction of the ratio of polarized-to-unpolarized parton distribution functions for up quarks and for down quarks in the same kinematic range. Our data are consistent with a previous observation of an A_1^n zero crossing near x=0.5. We find no evidence of a transition to a positive slope in (Δd+Δd)/(d+d) up to x=0.548x=0.548.

A_1^n

We report on new p(e,e′p)π∘p(e,e′p)π∘ measurements at the Δ+(1232)Δ+(1232) resonance at the low momentum transfer region, where the mesonic cloud dynamics is predicted to be dominant and rapidly changing, offering a test bed for chiral effective field theory calculations. The new data explore the Q2Q2 dependence of the resonant quadrupole amplitudes and for the first time indicate that the Electric and the Coulomb quadrupole amplitudes converge as Q2→0Q2→0. The measurements of the Coulomb quadrupole amplitude have been extended to the lowest momentum transfer ever reached, and suggest that more than half of its magnitude is attributed to the mesonic cloud in this region. The new data disagree with predictions of constituent quark models and are in reasonable agreement with dynamical calculations that include pion cloud effects, chiral effective field theory and lattice calculations. The measurements indicate that improvement is required to the theoretical calculations and provide valuable input that will allow their refinements.

in the Deep Inelastic Regime

We report on the results of the E06-014 experiment performed at Jefferson Lab in Hall A, where a precision measurement of the twist-3 matrix element d_2 of the neutron (d^n_2) was conducted. The quantity dn_2 represents the average color Lorentz force a struck quark experiences in a deep inelastic electron scattering event off a neutron due to its interaction with the hadronizing remnants. This color force was determined from a linear combination of the third moments of the ^3He spin structure functions, g_1 and g_2, after nuclear corrections had been applied to these moments. The structure functions were obtained from a measurement of the unpolarized cross section and of double-spin asymmetries in the scattering of a longitudinally polarized electron beam from a transversely and a longitudinally polarized ^3He target. The measurement kinematics included two average Q^2 bins of 3.2  GeV^2 and 4.3  GeV^2, and Bjorken-x 0.25≤ x ≤0.90 covering the deep inelastic and resonance regions. We have found that d^n_2 is small and negative for ⟨Q^2⟩=3.2  GeV^2, and even smaller for ⟨Q^2⟩=4.3  GeV^2, consistent with the results of a lattice QCD calculation. The twist-4 matrix element f^n_2 was extracted by combining our measured d^n_2 with the world data on the first moment in x of g^n_1, Γ^n_1. We found f^n_2 to be roughly an order of magnitude larger than dn2. Utilizing the extracted d^n_2 and f^n_2 data, we separated the Lorentz color force into its electric and magnetic components, F^(y,n)_E and F^(y,n)_B, and found them to be equal and opposite in magnitude, in agreement with the predictions from an instanton model but not with those from QCD sum rules. Furthermore, using the measured double-spin asymmetries, we have extracted the virtual photon-nucleon asymmetry on the neutron A^n_1, the structure function ratio g^n_1/F^n_1, and the quark ratios (Δu+Δu)/(u+u) and (Δd+Δd)/(d+d). These results were found to be consistent with deep-inelastic scattering world data and with the prediction of the constituent quark model but at odds with the perturbative quantum chromodynamics predictions at large x.

Electroexcitation of the Δ+(1232) at low momentum transfer

M. Mihovilovič, ∗ G. Jin, E. Long, Y.-W. Zhang, K. Allada, B. Anderson, J. R. M. Annand, T. Averett, W. Boeglin, P. Bradshaw, A. Camsonne, M. Canan, G. D. Cates, C. Chen, J. P. Chen, E. Chudakov, R. De Leo, X. Deng, A. Deltuva, 13 A. Deur, C. Dutta, L. El Fassi, D. Flay, S. Frullani, F. Garibaldi, H. Gao, S. Gilad, R. Gilman, O. Glamazdin, J. Golak, S. Golge, J. Gomez, O. Hansen, D. W. Higinbotham, T. Holmstrom, J. Huang, H. Ibrahim, C. W. de Jager, E. Jensen, X. Jiang, M. Jones, H. Kang, J. Katich, H. P. Khanal, A. Kievsky, P. King, W. Korsch, J. LeRose, R. Lindgren, H.-J. Lu, W. Luo, L. E. Marcucci, P. Markowitz, M. Meziane, R. Michaels, B. Moffit, P. Monaghan, N. Muangma, S. Nanda, B. E. Norum, K. Pan, D. Parno, E. Piasetzky, M. Posik, V. Punjabi, A. J. R. Puckett, X. Qian, Y. Qiang, X. Qui, S. Riordan, A. Saha, † P. U. Sauer, B. Sawatzky, R. Schiavilla, 9 B. Schoenrock, M. Shabestari, A. Shahinyan, S. Širca, 1, ‡ R. Skibiński, J. St. John, R. Subedi, V. Sulkosky, W. A. Tobias, W. Tireman, G. M. Urciuoli, M. Viviani, D. Wang, K. Wang, Y. Wang, J. Watson, B. Wojtsekhowski, H. Wita la, Z. Ye, X. Zhan, Y. Zhang, X. Zheng, B. Zhao, and L. Zhu

Measurements of

We report the first longitudinal-transverse separation of the deeply virtual exclusive π^{0} electroproduction cross section off the neutron and coherent deuteron. The corresponding four structure functions dσ_{L}/dt, dσ_{T}/dt, dσ_{LT}/dt, and dσ_{TT}/dt are extracted as a function of the momentum transfer to the recoil system at Q^{2}=1.75  GeV^{2} and x_{B}=0.36. The ed→edπ^{0} cross sections are found compatible with the small values expected from theoretical models. The en→enπ^{0} cross sections show a dominance from the response to transversely polarized photons, and are in good agreement with calculations based on the transversity generalized parton distributions of the nucleon. By combining these results with previous measurements of π^{0} electroproduction off the proton, we present a flavor decomposition of the u and d quark contributions to the cross section.

d_{2}^{n}

The internal structure of nucleons (protons and neutrons) remains one of the greatest outstanding problems in modern nuclear physics. By scattering high-energy electrons off a proton we are able to resolve its fundamental constituents and probe their momenta and positions. Here we investigate the dynamics of quarks and gluons inside nucleons using deeply virtual Compton scattering (DVCS)—a highly virtual photon scatters off the proton, which subsequently radiates a photon. DVCS interferes with the Bethe-Heitler (BH) process, where the photon is emitted by the electron rather than the proton. We report herein the full determination of the BH-DVCS interference by exploiting the distinct energy dependences of the DVCS and BH amplitudes. In the regime where the scattering is expected to occur off a single quark, measurements show an intriguing sensitivity to gluons, the carriers of the strong interaction.It remains a challenge to find the structure and the distribution of the constituents of nucleons. Here the authors use a scattering method to get information about the gluons and quarks inside a proton and separate the contribution of Bethe-Heitler from the deeply virtual Compton scattering process.

and

We have performed precision measurements of the double-spin virtual-photon asymmetry A_1 on the neutron in the deep inelastic scattering regime, using an open-geometry, large-acceptance spectrometer and a longitudinally and transversely polarized ^3He target. Our data cover a wide kinematic range 0.277 ≤ x ≤0.548 at an average Q^2 value of 3.078 (GeV/c)^2, doubling the available high-precision neutron data in this x range. We have combined our results with world data on proton targets to make a leading-order extraction of the ratio of polarized-to-unpolarized parton distribution functions for up quarks and for down quarks in the same kinematic range. Our data are consistent with a previous observation of an A_1^n zero crossing near x=0.5. We find no evidence of a transition to a positive slope in (Δd+Δd)/(d+d) up to x=0.548x=0.548.