D. McNulty

Proton G_E/G_M from beam-target asymmetry

The ratio of the protons electric to magnetic form factor, G{sub E}/G{sub M}, can be extracted in elastic electron-proton scattering by measuring cross sections, beam-target asymmetry, or recoil polarization. Separate determinations of G{sub E}/G{sub M} by cross sections and recoil polarization observables disagree for Q{sup 2}>1 (GeV/c){sup 2}. Measurement by a third technique might uncover an unknown systematic error in either of the previous measurements. The beam-target asymmetry has been measured for elastic electron-proton scattering at Q{sup 2} = 1.51 (GeV/c){sup 2} for target spin orientation aligned perpendicular to the beam momentum direction. This is the largest Q{sup 2} at which G{sub E}/G{sub M} has been determined by a beam-target asymmetry experiment. The result, {mu}G{sub E}/G{sub M}=0.884{+-}0.027{+-}0.029, is compared to previous world data.

New Measurement of the π0 Radiative Decay Width

High precision measurements of the differential cross sections for π0 photoproduction at forward angles for two nuclei, 12C and 208Pb, have been performed for incident photon energies of 4.9-5.5 GeV to extract the π0→γγ decay width. The experiment was done at Jefferson Lab using the Hall B photon tagger and a high-resolution multichannel calorimeter. The π0→γγ decay width was extracted by fitting the measured cross sections using recently updated theoretical models for the process. The resulting value for the decay width is Γ(π0→γγ)=7.82±0.14(stat)±0.17(syst)  eV. With the 2.8% total uncertainty, this result is a factor of 2.5 more precise than the current Particle Data Group average of this fundamental quantity, and it is consistent with current theoretical predictions.

Proton Spin Structure in the Resonance Region

We have examined the spin structure of the proton in the region of the nucleon resonances (1.085 GeV<W<1.910 GeV) at an average four momentum transfer of Q2=1.3 GeV2. Using the Jefferson Lab polarized electron beam, a spectrometer, and a polarized solid target, we measured the asymmetries A|| and A(perpendicular) to high precision, and extracted the asymmetries A1 and A2, and the spin structure functions g1 and g2. We found a notably nonzero A(perpendicular), significant contributions from higher-twist effects, and only weak support for polarized quark-hadron duality.

Probing Quark-Gluon Interactions with Transverse Polarized Scattering

We have extracted QCD matrix elements from our data on doubly polarized inelastic scattering of electrons on nuclei. We find the higher twist matrix element d˜2, which arises strictly from quark-gluon interactions, to be unambiguously nonzero. The data also reveal an isospin dependence of higher twist effects if we assume that the Burkhardt-Cottingham sum rule is valid. The fundamental Bjorken sum rule obtained from the a0 matrix element is satisfied at our low momentum transfer.

Production of Highly Polarized Positrons Using Polarized Electrons at MeV Energies

The Polarized Electrons for Polarized Positrons experiment at the injector of the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility has demonstrated for the first time the efficient transfer of polarization from electrons to positrons produced by the polarized bremsstrahlung radiation induced by a polarized electron beam in a high-Z target. Positron polarization up to 82% have been measured for an initial electron beam momentum of 8.19  MeV/c, limited only by the electron beam polarization. This technique extends polarized positron capabilities from GeV to MeV electron beams, and opens access to polarized positron beam physics to a wide community.

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 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.

in the Deep Inelastic Regime

Abstract A technique is presented for precision measurements of the area densities, ρT , of approximately 5% radiation length carbon and 208 Pb targets used in an experiment at Jefferson Laboratory to measure the neutral pion radiative width. The precision obtained in the area density for the carbon target is ±0.050%, and that obtained for the lead target through an X-ray attenuation technique is ±0.43%.

Measurements of

Abstract The MOLLER experiment proposed at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility plans a precision low energy determination of the weak mixing angle via the measurement of the parity-violating asymmetry in the scattering of high energy longitudinally polarized electrons from electrons bound in a liquid hydrogen target (Moller scattering). A relative measure of the scattering rate is planned to be obtained by intercepting the Moller scattered electrons with a circular array of thin fused silica tiles attached to air light guides, which facilitate the transport of Cherenkov photons generated within the tiles to photomultiplier tubes (PMTs). The scattered flux will also pass through the light guides of downstream tiles, generating additional Cherenkov as well as scintillation light and is a potential background. In order to estimate the rate of these backgrounds, a gas-filled tube detector was designed and deployed in an electron beam at the MAMI facility at Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany. Described in this paper is the design of a detector to measure separately the scintillation and Cherenkov responses of gas mixtures from relativistic electrons, the results of studies of several gas mixtures with comparisons to simulations, and conclusions about the implications for the design of the MOLLER detector apparatus.

d_{2}^{n}

High precision measurements of the differential cross sections for π0 photoproduction at forward angles for two nuclei, 12C and 208Pb, have been performed for incident photon energies of 4.9-5.5 GeV to extract the π0→γγ decay width. The experiment was done at Jefferson Lab using the Hall B photon tagger and a high-resolution multichannel calorimeter. The π0→γγ decay width was extracted by fitting the measured cross sections using recently updated theoretical models for the process. The resulting value for the decay width is Γ(π0→γγ)=7.82±0.14(stat)±0.17(syst)  eV. With the 2.8% total uncertainty, this result is a factor of 2.5 more precise than the current Particle Data Group average of this fundamental quantity, and it is consistent with current theoretical predictions.