D. W. Higinbotham

Precision Rosenbluth measurement of the proton elastic form factors

We report the results of a new Rosenbluth measurement of the proton electromagnetic form factors at Q2 values of 2.64, 3.20, and 4.10 GeV2. Cross sections were determined by detecting the recoiling proton, in contrast to previous measurements which detected the scattered electron. Cross sections were determined to 3%, with relative uncertainties below 1%. The ratio mu(p)G(E)/G(M) was determined to 4%-8% and showed mu(p)G(E)/G(M) approximately 1. These results are consistent with, and much more precise than, previous Rosenbluth extractions. They are inconsistent with recent polarization transfer measurements of similar precision, implying a systematic difference between the techniques.

Probing Cold Dense Nuclear Matter

The protons and neutrons in a nucleus can form strongly correlated nucleon pairs. Scattering experiments, in which a proton is knocked out of the nucleus with high-momentum transfer and high missing momentum, show that in carbon-12 the neutron-proton pairs are nearly 20 times as prevalent as proton-proton pairs and, by inference, neutron-neutron pairs. This difference between the types of pairs is due to the nature of the strong force and has implications for understanding cold dense nuclear systems such as neutron stars.

Parity-violating electron scattering from 4He and the strange electric form factor of the nucleon.

We have measured the parity-violating electroweak asymmetry in the elastic scattering of polarized electrons from ^4He at an average scattering angle= 5.7 degrees and a four-momentum transfer Q^2 = 0.091 GeV^2. From these data, for the first time, the strange electric form factor of the nucleon G^s_E can be isolated. The measured asymmetry of A_PV = (6.72 +/- 0.84 (stat) +/- 0.21 (syst) parts per million yields a value of G^s_E = -0.038 +/- 0.042 (stat) +/- 0.010 (syst), consistent with zero.

Precision Measurements of the Nucleon Strange Form Factors at Q**2 ~ 0.1-GeV**2

We report new measurements of the parity-violating asymmetry A_PV in elastic scattering of 3 GeV electrons off hydrogen and 4He targets with~6.0 degrees. The 4He result is A_PV = (+6.40 +/- 0.23 (stat) +/- 0.12 (syst)) x10^-6. The hydrogen result is A_PV = (-1.58 +/- 0.12 (stat) +/- 0.04 (syst)) x10^-6. These results significantly improve constraints on the electric and magnetic strange form factors G_E^s and G_M^s. We extract G_E^s = 0.002 +/- 0.014 +/- 0.007 at= 0.077 GeV^2, and G_E^s + 0.09 G_M^s = 0.007 +/- 0.011 +/- 0.006 at= 0.109 GeV^2, providing new limits on the role of strange quarks in the nucleon charge and magnetization distributions.

Constraints on the nucleon strange form factors at Q2∼0.1 GeV2

We report the most precise measurement to date of a parity-violating asymmetry in elastic electron-proton scattering. The measurement was carried out with a beam energy of 3.03 GeV and a scattering angle=6 degrees, with the result A_PV = -1.14 +/- 0.24 (stat) +/- 0.06 (syst) parts per million. From this we extract, at Q^2 = 0.099 GeV^2, the strange form factor combination G_E^s + 0.080 G_M^s = 0.030 +/- 0.025 (stat) +/- 0.006 (syst) +/- 0.012 (FF) where the first two errors are experimental and the last error is due to the uncertainty in the neutron electromagnetic form factor. This result significantly improves current knowledge of G_E^s and G_M^s at Q^2 ~0.1 GeV^2. A consistent picture emerges when several measurements at about the same Q^2 value are combined: G_E^s is consistent with zero while G_M^s prefers positive values though G_E^s=G_M^s=0 is compatible with the data at 95% C.L.

Short Range Correlations and the EMC Effect

This Letter shows quantitatively that the magnitude of the EMC effect measured in electron deep inelastic scattering at intermediate x(B), 0.35≤x(B)≤0.7, is linearly related to the short range correlation (SRC) scale factor obtained from electron inclusive scattering at x(B)≥1. The observed phenomenological relationship is used to extract the ratio of the deuteron to the free pn pair cross sections and F(2)(n)/F(2)(p), the ratio of the free neutron to free proton structure functions. We speculate that the observed correlation is because both the EMC effect and SRC are dominated by the high virtuality (high momentum) nucleons in the nucleus.

Constraints on the nucleon strange form factors at Q(2)similar to 0.1 GeV2

We report the most precise measurement to date of a parity-violating asymmetry in elastic electron-proton scattering. The measurement was carried out with a beam energy of 3.03 GeV and a scattering angle=6 degrees, with the result A_PV = -1.14 +/- 0.24 (stat) +/- 0.06 (syst) parts per million. From this we extract, at Q^2 = 0.099 GeV^2, the strange form factor combination G_E^s + 0.080 G_M^s = 0.030 +/- 0.025 (stat) +/- 0.006 (syst) +/- 0.012 (FF) where the first two errors are experimental and the last error is due to the uncertainty in the neutron electromagnetic form factor. This result significantly improves current knowledge of G_E^s and G_M^s at Q^2 ~0.1 GeV^2. A consistent picture emerges when several measurements at about the same Q^2 value are combined: G_E^s is consistent with zero while G_M^s prefers positive values though G_E^s=G_M^s=0 is compatible with the data at 95% C.L.

Hard probes of short-range nucleon-nucleon correlations

Abstract One of the primary goals of nuclear physics is providing a complete description of the structure of atomic nuclei. While mean-field calculations provide detailed information on the nuclear shell structure for a wide range of nuclei, they do not capture the complete structure of nuclei, in particular the impact of small, dense structures in nuclei. The strong, short-range component of the nucleon–nucleon potential yields hard interactions between nucleons which are close together, generating a high-momentum tail to the nucleon momentum distribution, with momenta well in excess of the Fermi momentum. This high-momentum component of the nuclear wave-function is one of the most poorly understood parts of nuclear structure. Utilizing high-energy probes, we can isolate scattering from high-momentum nucleons, and use these measurements to examine the structure and impact of short-range nucleon–nucleon correlations. Over the last decade we have moved from looking for evidence of such short-range structures to mapping out their strength in nuclei and examining their isospin structure. This has been made possible by high-luminosity and high-energy accelerators, coupled with an improved understanding of the reaction mechanism issues involved in studying these structures. We review the general issues related to short-range correlations, survey recent experiments aimed at probing these short-range structures, and lay out future possibilities to further these studies.

The challenge of the EMC effect: Existing data and future directions

Since the discovery that the ratio of inclusive charged lepton (per-nucleon) cross-sections from a nucleus A to the deuteron is not unity — even in deep inelastic scattering kinematics — a great deal of experimental and theoretical effort has gone into understanding the phenomenon. The EMC effect, as it is now known, shows that even in the most extreme kinematic conditions the effects of the nucleon being bound in a nucleus cannot be ignored. In this paper, we collect the most precise data available for various nuclear to deuteron ratios, as well as provide a commentary on the current status of the theoretical understanding of this thirty year old effect.

Hadrons in the nuclear medium

Quantum chromodynamics (QCD), the microscopic theory of strong interactions, has not yet been applied to the calculation of nuclear wavefunctions. However, it certainly provokes a number of specific questions and suggests the existence of novel phenomena in nuclear physics which are not part of the traditional framework of the meson–nucleon description of nuclei. Many of these phenomena are related to high nuclear densities and the role of colour in nucleonic interactions. Quantum fluctuations in the spatial separation between nucleons may lead to local high-density configurations of cold nuclear matter in nuclei, up to four times larger than typical nuclear densities. We argue here that experiments utilizing the higher energies available upon completion of the Jefferson Laboratory energy upgrade will be able to probe the quark–gluon structure of such high-density configurations and therefore elucidate the fundamental nature of nuclear matter. We review three key experimental programmes: quasi-elastic electro-disintegration of light nuclei, deep inelastic scattering from nuclei at x > 1 and the measurement of tagged structure functions. These interrelated programmes are all aimed at the exploration of the quark structure of high-density nuclear configurations. The study of the QCD dynamics of elementary hard processes is another important research direction and nuclei provide a unique avenue to explore these dynamics. In particular, we argue that the use of nuclear targets and large values of momentum transfer at energies available with the Jefferson Laboratory upgrade would allow us to determine whether the physics of the nucleon form factors is dominated by spatially small configurations of three quarks. Similarly, one could determine if hard two-body processes such as exclusive vector meson electroproduction are dominated by production of mesons in small-size q configurations.