G. Jin

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.

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

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

The techniques for optical calibration of Jefferson Labs large-acceptance magnetic hadron spectrometer, BigBite, have been examined. The most consistent and stable results were obtained by using a method based on singular value decomposition. In spite of the complexity of the optics, the particles positions and momenta at the target have been precisely reconstructed from the coordinates measured in the detectors by means of a single back-tracing matrix. The technique is applicable to any similar magnetic spectrometer and any particle type. For 0.55 GeV/c protons, we have established the vertex resolution of 1.2 cm, angular resolutions of 7 mrad and 16 mrad (in-plane and out-of-plane, respectively), and a relative momentum resolution of 1.6%.

d_{2}^{n}

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.