Isovector EMC Effect from Global QCD Analysis with MARATHON Data
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73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
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Short-range correlations and the nuclear EMC effect in deuterium and helium-3
Not Available
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
First Measurement of the Isospin-Dependence of Nuclear Structure Functions at 12 GeV Jefferson Lab
The structure functions of protons and neutrons provide crucial insight into how the strong nuclear force, as described by Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), manifests at everyday energies, allowing us to better understand precisely how quarks and gluons interact to form the basic building blocks of almost all visible mass in our universe. Despite more than 40 years of experimental and theoretical effort, the EMC effect – the observation that nuclear structure functions appear to be modified from those of free nucleons – is still not fully understood. One open question that remains is whether or not the modification of quark distributions is the same for all quark flavors. Determining the flavor (isospin) dependence of the EMC effect, which is predicted by several models, is essential for coming to a complete understanding of how QCD manifests in nuclei. To this end, inclusive electron Deep Inelastic Scattering (DIS) from nuclei with approximately constant atomic mass number A and variable proton-to-neutron ratio N/Z was measured in Jefferson Lab experiment E12-10-008 to look for isospin-dependent modification of nuclear structure functions. The preliminary EMC ratios presented here cover a kinematic range of 2.8 < Q2 < 8.1 GeV2 and 0.18 < xBj < 1.0. The size of the EMC effect in these nuclei is extracted by calculating the slope of the EMC ratio as a function of Bjorken x (xBj ) over the ranges 0.3 < xBj < 0.6 and 0.3 < xBj < 0.7; these slopes then are compared with existing world data. Our preliminary results do not appear to indicate significant isospin-dependence of the EMC effect, though a more careful study is needed once all results are confirmed.
Cotton, Cameron William [Univ. of Virginia, Charlo↗
QCD hidden-color hexadiquark in the core of nuclei
Hidden-color configurations are a key prediction of QCD with important physical consequences. In this work we examine a QCD color-singlet configuration in nuclei formed by combining six scalar [ud] diquarks in a strongly bound SU (3) C channel. The resulting hexadiquark state is a charge-2, spin-0, baryon number-4, isospin-0, color-singlet state. It contributes to alpha clustering in light nuclei and to the additional binding energy not saturated by ordinary nuclear forces in as well as the alpha-nuclei sequence of interest for nuclear astrophysics. We show that the strongly bound combination of six scalar isospin-0 [ud] diquarks within the nuclear wave function - relative to free nucleons - provides a natural explanation of the EMC effect measured by the CLAS collaboration's comparison of nuclear parton distribution function ratios for a large range of nuclei. Overall, these experiments confirmed that the EMC effect; i.e., the distortion of quark distributions within nuclei, is dominantly identified with the dynamics of neutron-proton (“isophobic”) short-range correlations within the nuclear wave function rather than proton-proton or neutron-neutron correlations.
73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
Hunting for an EMC–like effect for antiquarks
Not Available
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
Discovery versus precision in nuclear physics: A tale of three scales
At least three length scales are important in gaining a complete understanding of the physics of nuclei. These are the radius of the nucleus, the average inter-nucleon separation distance, and the size of the nucleon. The connections between the different scales are examined by using examples that demonstrate the direct connection between short-distance and high-momentum transfer physics and also that significant high-momentum content of wave functions is inevitable. The nuclear size is connected via the independent-pair approximation to the nucleon-nucleon separation distance, and this distance is connected via the concept of virtuality to the EMC effect. An explanation of the latter is presented in terms of light-front holographic wave functions of QCD. The net result is that the three scales are closely related, so that a narrow focus on any given specific range of scales may prevent an understanding of the fundamental origins of nuclear properties. It is also determined that, under certain suitable conditions, experiments are able to measure the momentum dependence of wave functions.
73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
Probing Nuclear Gluons with Heavy Flavor Production at EIC
The nuclear modifications of the parton densities in different regions of x (EMC effect, antishadowing, shadowing) reveal aspects of the fundamental QCD substructure of nucleon interactions in the nucleus. Here, we study the feasibility of measuring nuclear gluon densities at large x using open heavy flavor production (charm, beauty) in DIS at EIC. This in- cludes (a) charm production rates and kinematic dependences; (b) charm reconstruction at large x B using exclusive and inclusive modes, enabled by particle identification and vertex detection; (c) impact of inclusive charm data on nuclear gluon density.
EMC effect↗
Study of Nuclear Structure Functions at Jefferson Lab
This thesis presents a study of nuclear modification of quark distributions (the EMC effect) using inclusive electron-scattering data from Jefferson Lab Hall C, with emphasis on experiment E12-10-008 (XEM2). The analysis spans nuclei from light to heavy targets and combines measurements at multiple spectrometer settings to constrain EMC ratios over a broad range in Bjorken-x and Q2. A complete analysis framework was developed to extract charge-normalized and efficiency-corrected yields, including detector calibrations, beam-current calibration, density-loss corrections for cryogenic targets, background subtraction, radiative and Coulomb corrections, and systematic studies. Instrumental cross-checks, including HMS–SHMS comparisons and reconstruction studies, show that residual spectrometer differences are predominantly multiplicative in the kinematic region relevant to the EMC analysis. The extracted EMC ratios are broadly consistent with previous measurements while extending coverage across many nuclei. The EMC slope increases from light to heavy nuclei and shows signs of saturation at large A. After accounting for the dominant A dependence, the results are consistent with no isospin dependence, but also consistent with the predicted modification from the isovector model.
Sharda, Abhyuday [Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, T↗
Across the Scales of the Nucleus: Understanding Short Range Correlations from Medium Modification to Probe Independence
The atomic nucleus presents an intricate system due to the non-linear forces described by Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) that govern its structure. The range of scales involved is remarkable; the most massive nuclei weigh approximately five orders of magnitude more than the quarks that compose them. The nucleus can be analyzed at various levels, from quarks to hadrons to the nucleus as a whole. Short-Range Correlations (SRCs) within the nucleus play a significant role that spans these diverse scales. At the most fundamental level, SRCs influence the interaction between nucleons. The nucleon-nucleon (NN) interaction, arising from QCD, is crucial in determining nuclear properties. SRCs serve as valuable probes for measuring this NN interaction, as the nucleons within SRCs become effectively decoupled from the rest of the nucleus. Multiple experimental techniques, including electron scattering, have been employed to investigate the NN interaction through SRCs. However, our first project demonstrates that inclusive measurements alone are inadequate to constrain this interaction fully. Moving to the scale of the nucleus, SRCs contribute to the high-momentum tail of the nuclear spectral function. While the low-momentum region is characterized by nucleons exhibiting bulk properties, nucleons begin to pair into SRCs at higher momenta. Our research aims to bridge the understanding between the mean-field portion of the nucleus and its high-momentum SRC components. Additionally, SRCs affect the quark structure of protons, as evidenced by the EMC effect, which indicates that quarks behave differently when protons are embedded within a nucleus—an effect referred to as medium modification. This thesis explores the correlation between SRCs and medium modification across various experimental setups. Finally, we seek to establish an interpretation of the nuclear ground state. Accomplishing this requires demonstrating that our SRC observables are independent of the probe’s scale and scheme. The concluding project of this thesis illustrates how we utilize triple coincidence quasi-elastic scattering across a range of (Q2) values to develop a model-dependent framework for understanding SRC distributions within the nucleus’s ground-state wavefunction.
Denniston, A. W. Denniston [University of Tel Aviv↗
Measuring recoiling nucleons from the nucleus with the future Electron Ion Collider
Short range correlated nucleon-nucleon (NN) pairs are an important part of the nuclear ground state. They are typically studied by scattering an electron from one nucleon in the pair and detecting its spectator correlated partner (spectator-nucleon tagging). The Electron Ion Collider (EIC)should be able to detect these nucleons, since they are boosted to high momentum in the lab frame by the momentum of the ion beam. To determine the feasibility of these studies with the planned EIC detector configuration, we have simulated quasi-elastic scattering for two electron and ion beam energy configurations: 5 GeV electrons and 41 GeV/A ions, and 10 GeV electrons and 110 GeV/A ions. We show that the knocked-out and recoiling nucleons can be detected over a wide range of initial nucleon momenta. We also show that these measurements can achieve much larger momentum transfers than current fixed target experiments. By detecting both low and high initial-momentum nucleons,the EIC will provide the data that should allow scientists to definitively show if the EMC effect and short-range correlation are connected, and to improve our understanding of color transparency
Hauenstein, F. (ORCID:0000000212652212)↗
Tomography of pions and protons via transverse momentum dependent distributions
We perform the first simultaneous extraction of parton collinear and transverse degrees of freedom from low-energy fixed-target Drell-Yan data in order to compare the transverse momentum dependent (TMD) parton distribution functions (PDFs) of the pion and proton. We demonstrate that the transverse separation of the quark field encoded in TMDs of the pion is more than 4𝜎 smaller than that of the proton. Additionally, we find the transverse separation of the quark field decreases as its longitudinal momentum fraction decreases. In studying the nuclear modification of TMDs, we find clear evidence for a transverse EMC effect. We comment on possible explanations for these intriguing behaviors, which call for a deeper examination of tomography in a variety of strongly interacting quark-gluon systems.
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
Neutron Valence Structure from Nuclear Deep Inelastic Scattering
Mechanisms of spin-flavor SU(6) symmetry breaking in Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) are studied via an extraction of the free neutron structure function from a global analysis of deep inelastic scattering (DIS) data on the proton and on nuclei from $A = 2$ (deuterium) to 208 (lead). Modification of the structure function of nucleons bound in atomic nuclei (known as the EMC effect) are consistently accounted for within the framework of a universal modification of nucleons in short-range correlated (SRC) pairs. Our extracted neutron-to-proton structure function ratio $F_2^n/F_2^p$ becomes constant for $x_B \ge 0.6$, equalling $0.47 \pm 0.04$ as $x_B \rightarrow 1$, in agreement with theoretical predictions of perturbative QCD and the Dyson Schwinger equation, and in disagreement with predictions of the Scalar Diquark dominance model. Finally, we also predict $F_2^{^3\mathrm{He}}/F_2^{^3\mathrm{H}}$, recently measured, yet unpublished, by the MARATHON collaboration, the nuclear correction function that is needed to extract $F_2^n/F_2^p$ from $F_2^{^3\mathrm{He}}/F_2^{^3\mathrm{H}}$, and the theoretical uncertainty associated with this extraction.
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
Shining a Light on the Nucleus: Photonuclear Measurements from Correlations to Charmonium
The atomic nucleus is comprised of a collection of nucleons (protons and neutrons), which are bound together by the nucleon-nucleon (NN) interaction that originates from Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD). While most nucleons experience the force from the rest of the nu- cleus as a single net “mean-field” interaction that binds them relatively weakly, a small but impactful fraction are in configurations called “Short-Range Correlations” (SRCs), in which they pair with another nucleon at very short distance to experience strong interactions, sig- nificant binding, and high momentum. Hard, high-energy scattering reactions in which an SRC pair is broken apart, knocking both nucleons out of the nucleus, provide the ability to probe the details of these SRC configurations in the nucleus. Previous measurements have had limited statistics and kinematic reach, and the theoretical tools available were in- sufficient to draw quantitative conclusions regarding the ground-state properties of SRCs. The studies described in this thesis represent the first global analysis of SRC breakup mea- surements in order to present a unified picture of SRCs within light- to medium-size nuclei. This includes the use of a novel theoretical framework, the Generalized Contact Formalism, which connects scattering cross-section measurements and the ground-state properties of the SRC pair, to quantitatively interpret a variety of electron-scattering measurements. This is brought to culmination by a report on the first measurement of SRC pairs via the use of hard meson photoproduction reactions, which, despite differing significantly from the me- chanics of electron-scattering, is well-described under a common framework, pointing to a consistent and universal picture of SRCs across reaction channels. I also report on the first measurement of J/¿ photoproduction in the near- and below-threshold kinematic region, giving the first insights to the gluonic structure of bound nucleons in the large-x “valence” region and providing constraints on a gluonic “EMC effect”. In addition to these studies, I provide details on the search for Primakoff production of axion-like particles using the pho- toproduction data taken for this experiment, and I conclude by describing studies of nucleon spin structure measurements that will be performed at the forthcoming U.S. Electron-Ion Collider.
Pybus, Jackson↗
Tagged deep inelastic scattering measurement on deuterium with the LAD experiment
Here, the origin of the modification of the quark structure of nucleons in the nuclear medium can be tested with tagged recoil nucleon measurements from deep inelastic scattering off electrons on deuterium. The LAD experiment at the Thomas Jefferson National Laboratory (JLab) will measure the modification of the neutron structure function for high-momentum, highly-virtual neutrons by measuring the spectator recoil protons in coincidence with the scattered electron. An update on the experimental setup and projected results is presented. The experiment will collect data in Fall 2024.
73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
Criteria for Determining the Safety of Wireless Technologies at Nuclear Power Plants
This report provides an initial discussion of the potential impact to safety-related/important-to-safety (SR/ITS) systems by the possible expanded use of wireless technologies. One aspect of this discussion is focused on a review of Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.180 Rev. 2 to determine whether any revisions are necessary to reflect the current state of practice in evaluating and protecting instrumentation and control (I&C) systems and components from electromagnetic interference (EMI) or radiofrequency interference (RFI) on safety and nonsafety I&C. Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) is the ability of a device or system to function satisfactorily in its electromagnetic (EM) environment, which is achieved by limiting the unintentional generation, propagation, and reception of EM energy that may cause unwanted effects such as EMI. The goal of EMC is to ensure the correct operation of different types of equipment in a common EM environment.
21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
Reactivity of Carbonate Solvent Electrolytes on Lithium Silicon Anodes
Silicon (Si) is promising for lithium-ion battery (LIB) anodes due to their high theoretical capacity and low electrochemical potential. However, significant challenges remain, including severe volumetric expansion during cycling and the electrochemical instability of electrolytes, which leads to the formation of a nonuniform solid electrolyte interphase (SEI). To investigate SEI formation mechanisms, computational molecular dynamics simulations offer valuable insights. In this work, we examine the trajectories and charge transfer behavior of lithium hexafluorophosphate (LiPF 6 ) salt with various solvent compositions using density functional theory (DFT) and ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD). Among the tested electrolyte systems, LiPF 6 with vinylene carbonate (VC) added to ethyl methyl carbonate (EMC) exhibits the lowest reactivity with the Si anode. In contrast, the effects of fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC) and VC depend on whether the primary solvent is EMC alone or a mixture of ethylene carbonate (EC) and EMC. Moreover, we show that electrolyte reactivity varies with the degree of lithiation of the Si anode (LiSi vs Li 15 Si 4 ) and under different charge states. To decouple electrolyte reactivity from surface effects, we analyze the dissociation and formation energies of individual species from solvated configurations. Overall, these first-principles-based findings provide a strategic foundation for electrolyte design to improve cycling stability and extend calendar life in LIBs using Si anodes.
37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
Average hydrodynamic radius analysis reveals critical solvation thresholds in high-concentration lithium electrolytes
Understanding the solvation structures of lithium salts in carbonate- and ether-based electrolytes is central to explaining the exceptional stability of high-concentration electrolytes (HCEs) and localized high-concentration electrolytes (LHCEs). Conventional techniques such as vibrational spectroscopy and one-dimensional NMR provide only limited information, typically restricted to coordination ratios and ion-pair distributions, without revealing the actual size and mass of solution complexes. Here, in this study, we introduce an average hydrodynamic radius (AHR) analysis based on internally referenced DOSY NMR, which enables direct estimation of the average volume and molecular weight of lithium–solvent complexes in solution. Using LiFSI–EMC and LiFSI–EMC–TTE electrolytes, we demonstrate that the onset of effective lithium metal stabilization and aluminum corrosion suppression coincides with the formation of very large complexes, whose average volume exceeds 300 times that of free EMC molecules. This finding supports a new “blocking mechanism,” wherein bulky solvated complexes impede direct solvent access to reactive surfaces. The AHR analysis thus not only clarifies the fundamental origin of HCE and LHCE effectiveness, but also provides a broadly applicable experimental framework for probing complex solvation structures and guiding rational electrolyte design.
Concentrated electrolytes↗
Investigating the effect of screen-printed structured graphite electrodes with low tortuosity for high-capacity and fast-charging lithium-ion batteries
A flexible screen-printed graphite electrode was fabricated as an anode for developing fast-charging lithium-ion batteries with low tortuosity. A homogenous anode ink was prepared by mixing graphite as the active material, carbon black (C45) as the conductive additive, and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) as the binder in N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) solvent. The ink was deposited on a flexible copper foil via a stainless-steel screen consisting of an array of pores, that act as secondary pore networks (SPNs), using the screen-printing process. Lithium-ion battery half-cells were assembled using the printed graphite anode, lithium metal foil as the counter electrode, and 1.2 M lithium hexafluorophosphate (LiPF 6 ) in ethyl carbonate: ethyl methyl carbonate (EC: EMC = 3:7) as the electrolyte. The effect of SPNs on the cell performance was investigated by performing formation, rate and cycling tests on the assembled cells, at different C-rates. It was observed that the cells consisting of SPNs with a pore size of 100 μm and edge-to-edge distance of 100 μm between the pores exhibited significantly higher specific capacities of 168 and 129 mAh/g when compared to reference cells without SPNs, which had capacities of 120 and 85 mAh/g, at high C-rates of 4 C and 6 C, respectively. The cells with SPNs also demonstrated excellent cycling performance with ~ 95% capacity retention after 100 cycles at 2 C.
Fast charging lithium-ion battery↗