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Khandaker, M.

Publications and source records attributed to Khandaker, M..

84 records · Page 5

Measurement of target and double-spin asymmetries for the $\vec e\vec p\to e\pi^+ (n)$ reaction in the nucleon resonance region at low $Q^2$

We report measurements of target- and double-spin asymmetries for the exclusive channel $\vec e\vec p\to e\pi^+ (n)$ in the nucleon resonance region at Jefferson Lab using the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS). These asymmetries were extracted from data obtained using a longitudinally polarized NH$_3$ target and a longitudinally polarized electron beam with energies 1.1, 1.3, 2.0, 2.3 and 3.0 GeV. The new results are consistent with previous CLAS publications but are extended to a low $Q^2$ range from $0.0065$ to $0.35$ (GeV$/c$)$^2$. The $Q^2$ access was made possible by a custom-built Cherenkov detector that allowed the detection of electrons for scattering angles as low as $6^\circ$. These results are compared with the unitary isobar models JANR and MAID, the partial-wave analysis prediction from SAID and the dynamic model DMT. In many kinematic regions our results, in particular results on the target asymmetry, help to constrain the polarization-dependent components of these models.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Electroexcitation of the Δ + (1232) at low momentum transfer

We report on new p$(e,e^\prime p)\pi^\circ$ measurements at the $\Delta^{+}(1232)$ resonance at the low momentum transfer region. The mesonic cloud dynamics is predicted to be dominant and rapidly changing in this kinematic region offering a test bed for chiral effective field theory calculations. The new data explore the low $Q^2$ dependence of the resonant quadrupole amplitudes while extending the measurements of the Coulomb quadrupole amplitude to the lowest momentum transfer ever reached. The results disagree with predictions of constituent quark models and are in reasonable agreement with dynamical calculations that include pion cloud effects, chiral effective field theory and lattice calculations. The reported measurements suggest that improvement is required to the theoretical calculations and provide valuable input that will allow their refinements.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Photoproduction of the f 1 ( 1285 ) meson

The f 1 (1285) meson with mass 1281.0 ± 0.8 MeV/c 2 and width 18.4 ± 1.4 MeV (full width at half maximum) was measured for the first time in photoproduction from a proton target using CLAS at Jefferson Lab. Differential cross sections were obtained via the ηπ + π - , K + K 0 π - , and K - K 0 π + decay channels from threshold up to a center-of-mass energy of 2.8 GeV. The mass, width, and an amplitude analysis of the ηπ + π - final-state Dalitz distribution are consistent with the axial-vector J P = 1 + f 1 (1285) identity, rather than the pseudoscalar 0-η (1295). The production mechanism is more consistent with s -channel decay of a high-mass N * state and not with t -channel meson exchange. Decays to η π π go dominantly via the intermediate a$^±_0$ (980) π ∓ states, with the branching ratio Γ [a 0 π (no $\overline{K}K$) ] / Γ [ηππ (all) ] = 0.74 ± 0.09 . The branching ratios Γ ($\overline{K}K$ π )/ Γ (ηππ) = 0.216 ± 0.033 and Γ (γρ 0 ) / Γ (ηππ) = 0.047 ± 0.018 were also obtained. The first is in agreement with previous data for the f 1 (1285), while the latter is lower than the world average.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Precise determination of the deuteron spin structure at low to moderate Q 2 with CLAS and extraction of the neutron contribution

In this study, we present the final results for the deuteron spin structure functions obtained from the full data set collected with Jefferson Lab's CLAS in 2000-2001. Polarized electrons with energies of 1.6, 2.5, 4.2 and 5.8 GeV were scattered from deuteron ( 15 ND 3 ) targets, dynamically polarized along the beam direction, and detected with CLAS. From the measured double spin asymmetry, the virtual photon absorption asymmetry A d 1 and the polarized structure function g d 1 were extracted over a wide kinematic range (0.05 GeV2 < Q2 < 5 GeV2 and 0.9 GeV < W < 3 GeV). We use an unfolding procedure and a parametrization of the corresponding proton results to extract from these data the polarized structure functions A n 1 and g 1 n of the (bound) neutron, which are so far unknown in the resonance region, W < 2 GeV. We compare our final results, including several moments of the deuteron and neutron spin structure functions, with various theoretical models and expectations as well as parametrizations of the world data. The unprecedented precision and dense kinematic coverage of these data can aid in future extractions of polarized parton distributions, tests of perturbative QCD predictions for the quark polarization at large x, a better understanding of quark-hadron duality, and more precise values for higher-twist matrix elements in the framework of the Operator Product Expansion.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Polarization Transfer in Wide-Angle Compton Scattering and Single-Pion Photoproduction from the Proton

Wide-angle exclusive Compton scattering and single-pion photoproduction from the proton have been investigated via measurement of the polarization transfer from a circularly polarized photon beam to the recoil proton. The wide-angle Compton scattering polarization transfer was analyzed at an incident photon energy of 3.7 GeV at a proton scattering angle of theta(p)(cm) cm = 70 degrees. The longitudinal transfer K-LL, measured to be 0.645 +/- 0.059 +/- 0.048, where the first error is statistical and the second is systematic, has the same sign as predicted for the reaction mechanism in which the photon interacts with a single quark carrying the spin of the proton. However, the observed value is similar to 3 times larger than predicted by the generalized-parton-distribution-based calculations, which indicates a significant unknown contribution to the scattering amplitude.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Measurements of $ep \to e^\prime π^+n$ at W = 1.6 - 2.0 GeV and extraction of nucleon resonance electrocouplings at CLAS

Differential cross sections of the exclusive process $e p \to e^\prime \pi^+ n$ were measured with good precision in the range of the photon virtuality $Q^2 = 1.8 - 4.5$ GeV$^2$, and the invariant mass range of the $\pi^+ n$ final state W = 1.6 - 2.0 GeV using the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer. Data were collected with nearly complete coverage in the azimuthal and polar angles of the $n\pi^+$ center-of-mass system. More than 37,000 cross section points were measured. The contributions of the isospin $I = {1\over 2}$ resonances $N(1675){5\over 2}^-$, $N(1680){5\over 2}^+$ and $N(1710){1\over 2}^+$ were extracted at different values of $Q^2$ using a single-channel, energy-dependent resonance amplitude analysis. Two different approaches, the unitary isobar model and the fixed-$t$ dispersion relations, were employed in the analysis. We observe significant strength of the $N(1675){5\over 2}^-$ in the $A_{1/2}$ amplitude, which is in strong disagreement with quark models that predict both transverse amplitudes to be strongly suppressed. For the $N(1680){5\over 2}^+$ we observe a slow changeover from the dominance of the $A_{3/2}$ amplitude at the real photon point ($Q^2=0$) to a $Q^2$ where $A_{1/2}$ begins to dominate. The scalar amplitude $S_{1/2}$ drops rapidly with $Q^2$ consistent with quark model prediction. For the $N(1710){1\over 2}^+$ resonance our analysis shows significant strength for the $A_{1/2}$ amplitude at $Q^2 < 2.5$ GeV$^2$.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Towards a Resolution of the Proton Form Factor Problem: New Electron and Positron Scattering Data

There is a significant discrepancy between the values of the proton electric form factor, GpE, extracted using unpolarized and polarized electron scattering. Calculations predict that small two-photon exchange (TPE) contributions can significantly affect the extraction of GpE from the unpolarized electron-proton cross sections. We determined the TPE contribution by measuring the ratio of positron-proton to electron-proton elastic scattering cross sections using a simultaneous, tertiary electron-positron beam incident on a liquid hydrogen target and detecting the scattered particles in the Jefferson Lab CLAS detector. This novel technique allowed us to cover a wide range in virtual photon polarization (epsilon) and momentum transfer (Q2) simultaneously, as well as to cancel luminosity-related systematic errors. The cross section ratio increases with decreasing ε at Q2=1.45 GeV2. This measurement is consistent with the size of the form factor discrepancy at Q2≈1.75 GeV2 and with hadronic calculations including nucleon and Delta intermediate states, which have been shown to resolve the discrepancy up to 2-3 GeV2.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗

Longitudinal target-spin asymmetries for deeply virtual Compton scattering

A measurement of the electroproduction of photons off protons in the deeply inelastic regime was performed at Jefferson Lab using a nearly 6-GeV electron beam, a longitudinally polarized proton target and the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer. Target-spin asymmetries for ep → e'p'y events, which arise from the interference of the deeply virtual Compton scattering and the Bethe-Heitler processes, were extracted over the widest kinematics in Q 2 , x B , t and Φ, for 166 four-dimensional bins. In the framework of Generalized Parton Distributions (GPDs), at leading twist the t dependence of these asymmetries provides insight on the spatial distribution of the axial charge of the proton, which appears to be concentrated in its center. In conclusion, these results bring important and necessary constraints for the existing parametrizations of chiral-even GPDs.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗