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Atac, H.

Publications and source records attributed to Atac, H..

48 records · Page 3

Measurement of the neutron charge radius and the role of its constituents

The neutron is a cornerstone in our depiction of the visible universe. Despite the neutron zero-net electric charge, the asymmetric distribution of the positively- (up) and negatively-charged (down) quarks, a result of the complex quark-gluon dynamics, lead to a negative value for its squared charge radius, $\langle r^2_n\rangle$. The precise measurement of the neutron’s charge radius thus emerges as an essential part of unraveling its structure. Here we report on a $\langle r^2_n\rangle$ measurement, based on the extraction of the neutron electric form factor, $G^n_E$, at low four-momentum transfer squared (Q 2 ) by exploiting the long known connection between the N → Δ quadrupole transitions and the neutron electric form factor. Our result, $\langle r^2_n\rangle$=-0.110±0.008(fm 2 ), addresses long standing unresolved discrepancies in the $\langle r^2_n\rangle$ determination. The dynamics of the strong nuclear force can be viewed through the precise picture of the neutron’s constituent distributions that result into the non-zero $\langle r^2_n\rangle$ value.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Photoproduction of the f 2 ( 1270 ) Meson Using the CLAS Detector

The quark structure of the f 2 ( 1270 ) meson has, for many years, been assumed to be a pure quark-antiquark (q$\bar{q}$) resonance with quantum numbers J PC = 2 ++ . Recently, it was proposed that the f 2 ( 1270 ) is a molecular state made from the attractive interaction of two ρ mesons. Such a state would be expected to decay strongly to final states with charged pions due to the dominant decay ρ → π + π - , whereas decay to two neutral pions would likely be suppressed. Here, we measure for the first time the reaction γp → π 0 π 0 p , using the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer detector at Jefferson Lab for incident beam energies between 3.6 and 5.4 GeV. Differential cross sections, dσ/dt , for f 2 ( 1270 ) photoproduction are extracted with good precision due to low backgrounds and are compared to theoretical calculations.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Charge radii of the nucleon from its flavor dependent Dirac form factors

In this report we have determined the proton and the neutron charge radii from a global analysis of the proton and the neutron elastic form factors, after first performing a flavor decomposition of these form factors under charge symmetry in the light cone frame formulation. We then extracted the transverse mean-square radii of the flavor dependent quark distributions. In turn, these are related in a model-independent way to the proton and neutron charge radii but allow us to take into account motion effects of the recoiling nucleon for data at finite but high momentum transfer. In the proton case we find $\langle r_p \rangle$ = 0.852±0.002 (stat.) ± 0.009 (syst.) (fm), consistent with the proton charge radius obtained from muonic hydrogen spectroscopy. The current method improves on the precision of the $\langle r_p \rangle$; extraction based on the form factor measurements. Furthermore, we find no discrepancy in the $\langle r_p \rangle$ determination among the different electron scattering measurements, all of which, utilizing the current method of extraction, result in a value that is consistent with the smallest $\langle r_p \rangle$ extraction from the electron scattering measurements. Concerning the neutron case, past results relied solely on the neutron-electron scattering length measurements, which suffer from an underestimation of underlying systematic uncertainties inherent to the extraction technique. Utilizing the present method we have performed the first extraction of the neutron charge radius based on nucleon form factor data, and we find $\langle r^2_n \rangle$ = -0.122±0.004 (stat.) ± 0.010 (syst.) (fm 2 ).

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Photoproduction of η mesons off the proton for 1.2 < E γ < 4.7GeV using CLAS at Jefferson Laboratory

Photoproduction cross sections are reported for the reaction $\gamma p\to p\eta$ using energy-tagged photons and the CLAS spectrometer at Jefferson Laboratory. The $\eta$ mesons are detected in their dominant charged decay mode, $\eta\to \pi^+\pi^-\pi^0$, and results on differential cross sections are presented for incident photon energies between 1.2 and 4.7 GeV. These new $\eta$ photoproduction data are consistent with earlier CLAS results but extend the energy range beyond the nucleon resonance region into the Regge regime. The normalized angular distributions are also compared with the experimental results from several other experiments, and with predictions of $\eta$ MAID\,2018 and the latest solution of the Bonn-Gatchina coupled-channel analysis. Differential cross sections $d\sigma/dt$ are presented for incident photon energies $E_\gamma > 2.9$ GeV ($W > 2.5$ GeV), and compared with predictions which are based on Regge trajectories exchange in the $t$-channel (Regge models). Overall, the data confirm the expected dominance of $\rho$, $\omega$ vector-meson exchange in an analysis by the Joint Physics Analysis Center.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Extraction of Beam-Spin Asymmetries from the Hard Exclusive π + Channel off Protons in a Wide Range of Kinematics

We have measured beam-spin asymmetries to extract the $\sin\phi$ moment $A_{LU}^{\sin\phi}$ from the hard exclusive $\vec{e} p \to e^\prime n \pi^+$ reaction above the resonance region, for the first time with nearly full coverage from forward to backward angles in the center-of-mass. The $A_{LU}^{\sin\phi}$ moment has been measured up to 6.6 GeV$^{2}$ in $-t$, covering the kinematic regimes of Generalized Parton Distributions (GPD) and baryon-to-meson Transition Distribution Amplitudes (TDA) at the same time. The experimental results in very forward kinematics demonstrate the sensitivity to chiral-odd and chiral-even GPDs. In very backward kinematics where the TDA framework is applicable, we found $A_{LU}^{\sin\phi}$ to be negative, while a sign change was observed near 90$^\circ$ in the center-of-mass. The unique results presented in this paper will provide critical constraints to establish reaction mechanisms that can help to further develop the GPD and TDA frameworks.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

First measurement of direct photoproduction of the a 2 (1320) 0 meson on the proton

We present the first measurement of the reaction γ p → a 2 ( 1320 ) 0 p in the photon energy range 3.5– 5.5 Ge V and four-momentum transfer squared 0.2 < - t < 2.0 Ge V 2 . Data were collected with the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer detector at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. The a 2 resonance was detected by measuring the reaction γ p → π 0 η p and reconstructing the π 0 η invariant mass. The most prominent feature of the differential cross section is a dip at -t ≈ 0.55 Ge V 2 . This can be described in the framework of Regge phenomenology, where the exchange degeneracy hypothesis predicts a zero in the reaction amplitude for this value of the four-momentum transfer.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Probing Few-Body Nuclear Dynamics via H 3 and He 3 ( e , e ' p ) pn Cross-Section Measurements

Here, we report the first measurement of the (e, e' p) three-body breakup reaction cross sections in helium-3 ( 3 He) and tritium ( 3 H) at large momentum transfer ($\langle{Q^2}\rangle$ ≈ 1.9 (GeV/c) 2 ) and x B > 1 kinematics, where the cross section should be sensitive to quasielastic (QE) scattering from single nucleons. The data cover missing momenta 40 ≤ p miss ≤ 500 MeV/c that, in the QE limit with no rescattering, equals the initial momentum of the probed nucleon. The measured cross sections are compared with state-of-the-art ab-initio calculations. Overall good agreement, within ±20%, is observed between data and calculations for the full p miss range for 3 H and for 100 ≤ p miss ≤ 350 MeV/c for 3 He. Including the effects of rescattering of the outgoing nucleon improves agreement with the data at p miss > 250 MeV/c and suggests contributions from charge-exchange (SCX) rescattering. The isoscalar sum of 3 He plus 3 H, which is largely insensitive to SCX, is described by calculations to within the accuracy of the data over the entire pmiss range. This validates current models of the ground state of the three-nucleon system up to very high initial nucleon momenta of 500 MeV/c.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Exclusive π 0 p electroproduction off protons in the resonance region at photon virtualities 0.4 GeV 2 ≤ Q 2 ≤ 1 GeV 2

The limited electroproduction process e p → e ' p ' π 0 was measured in the range of photon virtualities Q 2 = 0.4 – 1.0 GeV 2 and the invariant mass range of the p π 0 system of W = 1.1 – 1.8 GeV. These kinematics are covered in exclusive π 0 electroproduction off the proton with nearly complete angular coverage in the p π 0 center-of-mass system and with high statistical accuracy. Nearly 36 000 cross-section points were measured, and the structure functions σ T + ε σ L , σ L T , and σ T T , were extracted via fitting the φ π 0 dependence of the cross section. A Legendre polynomial expansion analysis demonstrates the sensitivity of our data to high-lying N * and Δ * resonances with M > 1.6 GeV. As part of a broad effort to determine the electrocouplings of the N * and Δ * resonances using both single- and double-pion electroproduction, this dataset is key for the reliable extraction of the high-lying resonance electrocouplings from the combined isospin analysis of the N π and π + π - p channels.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗