Engineering topics
Publications and source records attributed to Hinton, W..
Here, this technical note provides supplemental material for the archival publication of the measure- ments of polarization transfer observables in elastic e → p → e→p scattering from the GEp-III and GEp-2γ experiments in Jefferson Lab's Hall C.
Subsequent to the release of our original paper, we discovered in the context of preparing our technical supplement [1] for journal publication that a typographical error had existed in the text file that the analysis program used to construct the beam polarization "database" for both the original analysis, published in Ref. [2], and our final analysis. The electron-beam polarization P e and the analyzing power A y cancel exactly in the ratio R, which is proportional to the ratio P t / P l of the transferred polarization components. On the other hand, the extraction of the relative e dependence of P l / P Born l relies on knowledge of the beam polarization. As such, data taking was interrupted roughly every two days during the GEp - 2γ experiment to perform invasive measurements of the beam polarization using the Hall C Moller polarimeter [3].
Structure functions, as measured in lepton-nucleon scattering, have proven to be very useful in studying the partonic dynamics within the nucleon. Furthermore, it is experimentally difficult to separately determine the longitudinal and transverse structure functions, and consequently there are substantially less data available in particular for the longitudinal structure function. Here, we present separated structure functions for hydrogen and deuterium at low four-momentum transfer squared, Q 2 < 1 GeV 2 , and compare them with parton distribution parametrization and k T factorization approaches. While differences are found, the parametrizations generally agree with the data, even at the very low-Q 2 scale of the data. The deuterium data show a smaller longitudinal structure function and a smaller ratio of longitudinal to transverse cross section, R, than the proton. This suggests either an unexpected difference in R for the proton and the neutron or a suppression of the gluonic distribution in nuclei.
In this paper, interest in the behavior of nucleon electromagnetic form factors at large momentum transfers has steadily increased since the discovery, using polarization observables, of the rapid decrease of the ratio G p E /G p M of the proton's electric and magnetic form factors for momentum transfers Q 2 ≳ 1 GeV 2 , in strong disagreement with previous extractions of this ratio using the traditional Rosenbluth separation technique. The GEp-III and GEp-2$\gamma$ experiments were carried out in Jefferson Lab's (JLab's) Hall C from 2007-2008, to extend the knowledge of $G_E^p/G_M^p$ to the highest practically achievable $Q^2$ and to search for effects beyond the Born approximation in polarization transfer observables of elastic $\vec{e}p$ scattering. This article reports an expanded description of the common experimental apparatus and data analysis procedure, and the results of a final reanalysis of the data from both experiments, including the previously unpublished results of the full-acceptance data of the GEp-2$\gamma$ experiment. The Hall C High Momentum Spectrometer detected and measured the polarization of protons recoiling elastically from collisions of JLab's polarized electron beam with a liquid hydrogen target. A large-acceptance electromagnetic calorimeter detected the elastically scattered electrons in coincidence to suppress inelastic backgrounds. The final GEp-III data are largely unchanged relative to the originally published results. The statistical uncertainties of the final GEp-2$\gamma$ data are significantly reduced at $\epsilon = 0.632$ and $0.783$ relative to the original publication. The decrease with $Q^2$ of $G_E^p/G_M^p$ continues to $Q^2 = 8.5$ GeV$^2$, but at a slowing rate relative to the approximately linear decrease observed in earlier Hall A measurements. At $Q^2 = 2.5$ GeV$^2$, the proton form factor ratio $G_E^p/G_M^p$ shows no statistically significant $\epsilon$-dependence, as expected in the Born approximation. The ratio $P_\ell/P_\ell^{Born}$ of the longitudinal polarization transfer component to its Born value shows an enhancement of roughly 1.7\% at $\epsilon = 0.783$ relative to $\epsilon = 0.149$, with $\approx 2.2\sigma$ significance based on the total uncertainty, implying a similar effect in the transverse component $P_t$ that cancels in the ratio $R$.
Background: Measurements of forward exclusive meson production at different squared four-momenta of the exchanged virtual photon, Q 2 , and at different four-momentum transfer, t, can be used to probe QCD's transition from meson-nucleon degrees of freedom at long distances to quark-gluon degrees of freedom at short scales. Ratios of separated response functions in π⁻ and π⁺ electroproduction are particularly informative. Ratio for transverse photons may allow this transition to be more easily observed, while the ratio for longitudinal photons provides a crucial verification of the assumed pole dominance, needed for reliable extraction of the pion form factor from electroproduction data. Method: Data were acquired with 2.6-5.2 GeV electron beams and the HMS+SOS spectrometers in Jefferson Lab Hall C, at central Q 2 values of 0.6, 1.0, 1.6 GeV 2 at W=1.95 GeV, and Q 2 =2.45 GeV 2 at W=2.22 GeV. There was significant coverage in Φ And ϵ, which allowed separation of σ L,T,LT,TT . Results: σL shows a clear signature of the pion pole, with a sharp rise at small -t. In contrast, σ T is much flatter versus t. The longitudinal/transverse ratios evolve with Q 2 and t, and at the highest Q 2 =2.45 GeV 2 show a slight enhancement for π⁻ Production compared to π⁺. The π⁻/π⁺+ ratio for transverse photons exhibits only a small Q 2 -dependence, following a nearly universal curve with t, with a steep transition to a value of about 0.25, consistent with s-channel quark knockout. The σ TT /σ T ratio also drops rapidly with Q 2 , qualitatively consistent with s-channel helicity conservation. The π⁻/π⁺ ratio for longitudinal photons indicates a small isoscalar contamination at W=1.95 GeV, consistent with what was observed in our earlier determination of the pion form factor at these kinematics.
The study of exclusive π{sup ±} electroproduction on the nucleon, including separation of the various structure functions, is of interest for a number of reasons. The ratio R{sub L}=σ{sup π{sup -}}{sub L}/σ{sup π{sup +}}{sub L} is sensitive to isoscalar contamination to the dominant isovector pion exchange amplitude, which is the basis for the determination of the charged pion form factor from electroproduction data. A change in the value of R{sub T}=σ{sup π{sup -}}{sub T}/σ{sup π{sup +}}{sub T} from unity at small -t, to 1/4 at large -t, would suggest a transition from coupling to a (virtual) pion to coupling to individual quarks. Furthermore, the mentioned ratios may show an earlier approach to pQCD than the individual cross sections. We have performed the first complete separation of the four unpolarized electromagnetic structure functions above the dominant resonances in forward, exclusive π± electroproduction on the deuteron at central Q{sup 2} values of 0.6, 1.0, 1.6 GeV{sup 2} at W=1.95 GeV, and Q{sup 2}=2.45 GeV{sup 2} at W=2.22 GeV. Here, we present the L and T cross sections, with emphasis on R{sub L} and R{sub T}, and compare them with theoretical calculations. Results for the separated ratio RL indicate dominance of the pion-pole diagram at low -t, while results for R{sub T} are consistent with a transition between pion knockout and quark knockout mechanisms.