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DOE OSTI2025

The MUSE beamline calorimeter

The MUon Scattering Experiment (MUSE) was motivated by the proton radius puzzle arising from the discrepancy between muonic hydrogen spectroscopy and electron–proton measurements. The MUSE physics goals also include testing lepton universality, precisely measuring two-photon exchange contribution, and testing radiative corrections. MUSE addresses these physics goals through simultaneous measurement of high precision cross sections for electron–proton and muon–proton scattering using a mixed-species beam. The experiment will run at both positive and negative beam polarities. Measuring precise cross sections requires understanding both the incident beam energy and the radiative corrections. For this purpose, a lead-glass calorimeter was installed at the end of the beam line in the MUSE detector system. Here, in this article, we discuss the detector specifications, calibration and performance. We demonstrate that the detector performance is well reproduced by simulation, and meets experimental requirements.

Calorimeter↗

DOE OSTI2026

EXCLUSIVE NEUTRAL PION ELECTROPRODUCTION CROSS SECTION MEASUREMENTSWITHANEUTRALPARTICLE SPECTROMETER

Deep Virtual Compton Scattering (DVCS), the exclusive electron-proton scattering process ep ¿e'p'¿, provides access to generalized parton distributions (GPDs), which correlate information about the longitudinal momentum and transverse spatial structure of quarks inside the nucleon. Experiment E12-13-010 in Hall C at Jefferson Lab was designed to take high-precision measurements of the DVCS cross section over an extended kinematic range using the newly commissioned Neutral Particle Spectrometer (NPS). The NPS features a high-resolution electromagnetic calorimeter and a streaming data acquisition system optimized for operation at high luminosities. This thesis presents the detector and analysis work carried out to support the NPS DVCS program. In particular, it focuses on the hardware design, calibration, and performance of the calorimeter. A development of a waveform reconstruction analysis of the calorimeter signals enabled improved extraction of pulse amplitudes and times. The waveform analysis was also extended to operate in a multithreaded environment, substantially reducing processing time for large datasets. Analysis of exclusive neutral pion electroproduction events in the calorimeter gives a strong validation of the calorimeter’s performance and resolution. Together these developments establish a foundation for future analyses and extraction of the DVCS cross section and its use in constraining the GPDs.

Kerver, Mitchell [Old Dominion Univ., Norfolk, VA ↗

DOE OSTI2026

The MUSE Target Chamber Post Veto

The Muon Scattering Experiment (MUSE) was developed to address the proton radius puzzle through simultaneous electron–proton and muon-proton scattering using the Paul Scherrer Institute’s πM1 secondary beamline. MUSE uses a large-solid-angle, non-magnetic spectrometer to detect beam particles scattering from a liquid hydrogen cell contained within a vacuum chamber. Due to the large scattering windows, the structural integrity of the chamber is supported by posts located at small scattering angles. While out of the acceptance, particles in the tails of the beam distribution can strike these posts, causing a significant trigger background. We describe the design and performance of the Target Chamber Post Veto (TCPV) detector installed inside the vacuum chamber to remove these background events at the trigger level.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

DOE OSTI2024

Simulations, Modeling and Data Analysis of Parity Violating Electron Scattering Experiments

In the Standard Model (SM) of nuclear and particle physics, parity violation is incorporated through the representation of the weak interaction as a chiral gauge interaction. Only the left-handed components of particles and right-handed components of antiparticles participate in weak interactions in the Standard Model. This implies that parity is asymmetric for the weak interaction. Parity violating electron scattering (PVES) experiments are designed to probe the physics parameters related to the SM, with the possibility to discover physics beyond the SM (BSM) by measuring the parity violating asymmetry ¿¿¿ of longitudinally polarized electrons scattered off unpolarized targets with high precision. This dissertation will be focused on two PVES experiments, the next 208Pb Lead Radius Experiment (PREX-II), and the Measurement of a Lepton-Lepton Electroweak Reaction (MOLLER) experiment, as well as in some small sections, the Calcium Radius Experiment (CREX) and P2 experiment which are also PVES experiments). PREX-II and CREX experiments, performed in Hall A at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab), measured ¿¿¿ in the elastic scattering of longitudinally polarized electrons from 208Pb and 48Ca targets to provide a precise model independent determination of the neutron skin thickness of 208Pb and 48Ca nuclei, respectively. The MOLLER experiment, proposed to start in 2027 and also to be performed in Hall A at Jefferson Lab, is to measure ¿¿¿ of longitudinally polarized electrons scattered off unpolarized electrons (Møller scattering) to determine the weak charge of electrons ¿¿¿ and the weak mixing angle ¿¿ with high precision. As for the P2 experiment, which will be performed at the upcoming MESA accelerator in Mainz Germany, it is to measure the weak charge of proton ¿¿¿ using ¿¿¿ in the elastic electron-proton scattering of polarized electrons off unpolarized protons. The final results from the PREX-II experiment are presented as ¿¿¿=550±16 (¿¿¿¿)±8 (¿¿¿¿) parts-per-billion (ppb). Combining the PREX-I and PREX-II results, the neutron skin thickness from PREX experiments is determined as ¿¿-¿¿=0.283±0.071 ¿¿ in 208Pb. This thesis lists the software and computational contribution of the author to these PVES experiments, including writing scripts and software to help with the PREX-II/CREX experiments, analyzing data to provide useful information and systematic uncertainty for the PREX-II experiment, modeling and simulations for the MOLLER, and providing an alternative design of an electronic equipment for the P2 experiment.

Chen, Yufan↗

DOE OSTI2024

Simulations, Modeling and Data Analysis of Parity Violating Electron Scattering Experiments

Chen, Yufan↗

DOE OSTI2024

Nonresonant central exclusive production of charged-hadron pairs in proton-proton collisions at s = 13 TeV

The central exclusive production of charged-hadron pairs in p p collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV is examined, based on data collected in a special high- β * run of the LHC. The nonresonant continuum processes are studied with the invariant mass of the centrally produced two-pion system in the resonance-free region, m π + π − < 0.7 or m π + π − > 1.8 GeV . Differential cross sections as functions of the azimuthal angle between the surviving protons, squared exchanged four-momenta, and m π + π − are measured in a wide region of scattered proton transverse momenta, between 0.2 and 0.8 GeV, and for pion rapidities | y | < 2 . A rich structure of interactions related to double-pomeron exchange is observed. A parabolic minimum in the distribution of the two-proton azimuthal angle is observed for the first time. It can be interpreted as an effect of additional pomeron exchanges between the protons from the interference between the bare and the rescattered amplitudes. After model tuning, various physical quantities are determined that are related to the pomeron cross section, proton-pomeron and meson-pomeron form factors, pomeron trajectory and intercept, and coefficients of diffractive eigenstates of the proton. © 2024 CERN, for the CMS and TOTEMs Collaboration 2024 CERN

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2025

Proton reconstruction with the TOTEM Roman pot detectors for high- β * LHC data

The TOTEM Roman pot detectors are used to reconstruct the transverse momentum of scattered protons and to estimate the transverse location of the primary interaction. This paper presents new methods of track reconstruction, measurements of strip-level detection efficiencies, cross-checks of the LHC beam optics, and detector alignment techniques, along with their application in the selection of signal collision events. The track reconstruction is performed by exploiting hit cluster information through a novel method using a common polygonal area in the intercept-slope plane. The technique is applied in the relative alignment of detector layers with μm precision. A tag-and-probe method is used to extract strip-level detection efficiencies. The alignment of the Roman pot system is performed through time-dependent adjustments, resulting in a position accuracy of 3 μm in the horizontal and 60 μm in the vertical directions. The goal is to provide an optimal reconstruction tool for central exclusive physics analyses based on the high-β* data-taking period at $\sqrt({s})$ = 13 TeV in 2018.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

DOE OSTI2026

Constraining neutrino-nucleon form factors with charged-current scattering at the Electron-Ion Collider

Next-generation neutrino oscillation experiments such as the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment require percent-level knowledge of neutrino-nucleon interaction cross sections. The nucleon axial form factor 𝐹 𝐴 ⁡(𝑄 2 ), parametrized by the axial mass 𝑀 𝐴 , is the dominant source of uncertainty in the quasielastic channel, and the parity-violating structure function 𝑥⁢𝐹 3 is poorly constrained on free nucleons. We propose using charged-current (CC) electron-proton scattering at the Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) to address both problems simultaneously. The measurement exploits three key features of the EIC: (1) helicity-selective electron bunches provide in situ electromagnetic background rejection; (2) a longitudinally polarized proton target enables extraction of 𝐹 𝐴 ⁡(𝑄 2 ) through the target-spin asymmetry 𝐴 𝑈⁢𝐿 ; and (3) the 𝑦-distribution leverage in CC deep inelastic scattering (DIS) separates 𝐹 2 and 𝑥⁢𝐹 3 on a free proton, without nuclear corrections. Using a Fisher information analysis at $\sqrt{𝑠}$ =141 GeV with 500 fb −1 of integrated luminosity, we project the Cramér-Rao statistical floor of 𝛿⁢𝑀 𝐴 ≈0.03 GeV (3%). Incorporating first-order realistic detector effects, such as zero-degree calorimeter acceptance, 𝑄 2 smearing (5%), and background noise from helicity subtraction, the projected sensitivity is severely background-limited due to the small signal-to-background ratio (𝑆/𝐵 ≈ 3 ×10 −4 ) in the elastic channel. Achieving competitive sensitivity (𝛿⁢𝑀 𝐴 ≈ 0.14 GeV) would require ∼10 −7 background suppression, 3 orders of magnitude beyond current projections. The CC DIS 𝑦 distribution provides subpercent extraction of 𝑥⁢𝐹$^{𝑊^{−}}_{3}$ over 0.05 < 𝑥 < 0.5, representing the most robust electroweak measurement in the near term.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2026

Longitudinal spin transfer to Λ hyperons in semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering with the CLAS12 spectrometer

The polarization of Λ hyperons is preserved in the angular distribution of their decay products. This property allows one to study the spin structure of the Λ. In semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering where a high energy lepton interacts with a nucleon target and one or more hadrons and the scattered lepton are detected in the final state, the probability for a struck quark to impart the polarization of the lepton to the Λ may be measured. In particular, in electron-proton scattering this quantity may be related to the longitudinal light quark polarization of the Λ. Currently, limited experimental data cannot discriminate between different models of Λ spin structure. This work reports on the measurement of the longitudinal spin transfer 𝐷$^{Λ}_{𝐿⁢𝐿′}$ to the Λ using data taken by the CLAS12 spectrometer at Jefferson Lab with a 10.6 GeV longitudinally polarized electron beam and an unpolarized hydrogen target. This measurement is the most precise to date, and, in comparison with theory predictions, it offers valuable insight into the relative dominance of current and target fragmentation in Λ production.

deep inelastic scattering↗

DOE OSTI2026

Observing the effects of numbers of valence nucleons on 0$^{+}_{𝑔⁡𝑠}$ → 2$^{+}_{1}$ transitions in deformed nuclei by comparing proton and neutron transition matrix elements

We examined the ratios of neutron and proton transition matrix elements, 𝑀 𝑛 /𝑀 𝑝 , for the 0$^{+}_{𝑔⁡𝑠}$ → 2$^{+}_{1}$ transitions in 48 even-even stable nuclei with 𝑁 > 20 for which electromagnetic matrix elements were compiled by Pritychenko et al. and for which high-quality inelastic proton-scattering data were available. Several deformed rare-earth nuclei have (𝑀 𝑛 /𝑀 𝑝 )/(𝑁/𝑍) values significantly below 1.0, which is not consistent with a simple liquid-drop picture. However, this phenomenon can be explained using a schematic picture in which 𝑀 𝑝 reaches a maximum at proton midshell (𝑍 = 66) and 𝑀𝑛 reaches its maximum at neutron midshell (𝑁 = 104). Several midmass vibrational nuclei have 𝑀 𝑛 /𝑀 𝑝 values significantly below 𝑁/𝑍, which is not consistent with the expectation that 𝑀 𝑛 /𝑀 𝑝 = 𝑁/𝑍 in such nuclei. As a result, a shell-model investigation of these observations might yield insights about this behavior.

Collective levels↗

DOE OSTI2024

Observation and differential cross section measurement of neutral current DIS events with an empty hemisphere in the Breit frame

The Breit frame provides a natural frame to analyze lepton–proton scattering events. In this reference frame, the parton model hard interactions between a quark and an exchanged boson defines the coordinate system such that the struck quark is back-scattered along the virtual photon momentum direction. In Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), higher order perturbative or non-perturbative effects can change this picture drastically. As Bjorken-x decreases below one half, a rather peculiar event signature is predicted with increasing probability, where no radiation is present in one of the two Breit-frame hemispheres and all emissions are to be found in the other hemisphere. At higher orders in $\alpha$ s or in the presence of soft QCD effects, predictions of the rate of these events are far from trivial, and that motivates measurements with real data. We report on the first observation of the empty current hemisphere events in electron–proton collisions at the HERA collider using data recorded with the H1 detector at a center-of-mass energy of 319 GeV. The fraction of inclusive neutral-current DIS events with an empty hemisphere is found to be 0.0112 ± 3.9% stat ± 4.5% syst ± 1.6% mod in the selected kinematic region of 150 < Q 2 < 1500 GeV 2 and inelasticity 0.14 < y < 0.7. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 351.1 pb -1 , sufficient to enable differential cross section measurements of these events. The results show an enhanced discriminating power at lower Bjorken-x among different Monte Carlo event generator predictions.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2024

Timelike Compton Scattering from a longitudinally polarised target with CLAS12 at Jefferson Lab

Explorations into the internal dynamics of hadrons are constantly evolving, and the requirement for experimental results to verify theoretical models of hadron structure is paramount. A key area in this field is the study of Generalised Parton Distributions (GPDs), which are functions used to model the momenta of quarks and gluons within hadrons, and the methods to access GPDs experimentally. One such scattering process that allows access to these is Timelike Compton Scattering. TCS complements existing Deeply Virtual Compton Scattering experiments and allows investigation into the universality of GPDs through access to the real and imaginary parts of the parton helicity independent GPD Hq via beam spin asymmetries (BSA), and it provides novel access to the real and imaginary parts of the parton helicity dependent GPD ˜Hq through target polarisation asymmetries (TSA). This thesis work presents a comparative study with the first published BSA for TCS at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (JLab), alongside a first time extraction of a Target Spin Asymmetry with the Summer 2022 data taking run. JLab hosts the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) which provides a 12 GeV electron beam to four experimental halls. Hall-B contains the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer, which took data across three run periods on a longitudinally polarised NH3 and ND3 fixed target from 2022-2023, to extract measurements of electron-proton scattering, from which a TCS signal could be extracted. The thesis discusses work done to understand and eliminate contributions from the non-/low-polarised nuclear background, testing pre-established cuts to eliminate pion background from a dilepton (e+e-) final state and modifying them as needed for the new experimental run, and attempts to hone in on a clean TCS signal from which to extract the two asymmetry observables. A comparison with existing BSA results was performed; however, the statistical errors are too large to draw a significant conclusion as to whether there is agreement across each bin. More data is needed for a multidimensionally binned extraction. A proof of principle was achieved in the TSA measurements, with two out of four kinematic bins showing preliminary agreement in shape with theoretical values. Again, the errors are significant due to the contributions from the nuclear background. To support these conclusions, a further study was done, which takes into account an estimate of the asymmetries with the full available dataset (this thesis is based only on data taken in the summer set; at the time of writing processing was still being conducted for the final two datasets), as well as an estimate including additional future experiment days that were awarded in July 2024. Additional work was done on a secondary project exploring the feasibility of measuring TCS at the upcoming Electron Ion Collider, supporting the design proposal for the detector for the first interaction region and giving a positive outlook for the future of these types of measurements beyond JLab.

Gates, Kayleigh [Univ. of Glasgow, Scotland (Unite↗

DOE OSTI2024

Cultural Shifts in High Energy Physics Collaboration from the Cold War to the Present: A Historical and Philosophical Perspective

Here, this article employs empirical history and the philosophy of science to study cultural convergences and divergences in international collaborations in high energy physics. We examine two cases: (1) E-36, an experiment on small angle proton-proton scattering conducted during the Cold War at the National Accelerator Laboratory (NAL) in the USA by Soviet and US scientists and (2) an ongoing collaborative experiment, NICA, at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR, Dubna), which is a project devoted to heavy-ion physics. The JINR, particularly its Laboratory of High Energy Physics (formerly the “Laboratory of High Energies”) is the main mediating actor between these two cases (i.e., E-36 and NICA), as the majority of Soviet participants in E-36 were representatives of the Institute. Using empirical data collected through archival searches, field observations conducted at JINR in 2018–2019, and in-depth interviews, we tell a story of cultural differences in high energy physics by applying the concepts of ‘trading zones’ (P. Galison) and the translation of interests in actor-networks (B. Latour, M. Callon and others). We analyze three types of cultural diversity (specialization, nationality, and generational) in light of the implications of temporal context and the dichotomy between East and West, showing the roles cultural diversity plays in scientific collaboration (which is an integral part of as well as obstacle to scientific research that can nevertheless provide learning opportunities). Our study aims to demonstrate how disunity and diversity may function in scientific research and how high energy physics collaborations can remain productive despite sometimes deep divergences, including those between East and West.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2026

Intrinsic energy and time resolution of the Jefferson Lab Hall C Neutral Particle Spectrometer

The Neutral Particle Spectrometer (NPS) is an advanced calorimeter designed to measure neutral electro- magnetic particles with high precision in energy, time, and position, under conditions of high luminosity and significant background. Integrated into the experimental setup of Hall C at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, the NPS plays a critical role in studies of nucleon structure through exclusive and semi- inclusive reaction channels. Here, this paper presents an assessment of the detector’s performance characteristics, specifically its energy and timing resolution, derived from elastic electron–proton scattering data. We report an energy resolution between 1.2% and 1.3% in the 4.5–7.3 GeV range, and an intrinsic timing resolution better than 200 ps for energies above 500 MeV. These results serve as a reference for current and future precision measurements in hadronic physics.

Detector performance↗

DOE OSTI2026

Single spin asymmetry in e+p → e′ +B↑ +X

We study an exotic type of single spin asymmetry in unpolarized electron-proton scattering, in which the outgoing electron momentum exhibits a left-right asymmetry relative to the transverse spin of the leading baryon B in the target fragmentation region. We lay out two theoretical frameworks for describing this effect: The twist-three fracture function at high-Q2 and the spin-dependent odderon in the high energy limit.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2025

Order-by-order uncertainties of nucleon-nucleon Wolfenstein amplitudes in chiral effective field theory

Quantum mechanical invariance principles dictate the most general operator structure that can be present in the nucleon-nucleon (NN) interaction. Five independent operators appear in the on-shell NN amplitude together with five corresponding coefficient functions. The usual choice for these coefficient functions is known as the NN Wolfenstein amplitudes. We analyze the order-by-order convergence of each of the five NN Wolfenstein amplitudes predicted by a semilocal coordinate space potential implementation of chiral effective field theory (𝜒⁢EFT). We do this at laboratory kinetic energies between 25 and 200 MeV for both neutron-proton and proton-proton scattering. Our analysis uses the Gaussian-process methods developed by the BUQEYE Collaboration to describe the contributions of each 𝜒⁢EFT order, and so yields truncation uncertainties for each Wolfenstein amplitude that are correlated across scattering angles. We combine information on the size of different orders in the EFT to infer the 𝜒⁢EFT breakdown scale for each amplitude, finding, on average, Λ 𝑏 between 750 and 800 MeV. Furthermore, with this choice of Λ 𝑏 , the EFT truncation uncertainties cover both higher-order results and empirical Wolfenstein amplitudes well for all orders other than the leading order.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2024

Photon-odderon interference in exclusive χ c charmonium production at the Electron-Ion Collider

Exclusive C = + 1 scalar, axial-vector, and tensor quarkonium production in high-energy electron-proton scattering requires a C -odd t -channel exchange of a photon or a three-gluon ladder. We derive the expressions for the corresponding amplitudes. The relative phase of the photon vs three-gluon exchange amplitudes is determined by the sign of the light-front matrix element of the eikonal color current operator d a b c J + a J + b J + c at moderate x , and is not affected by small- x QCD evolution. Model calculations predict constructive interference, which is particularly strong for momentum transfer | t | ∼ 1 GeV 2 where the cross section for χ c J production exceeds that for pure photon exchange by up to a factor of 4. Exclusive χ c J electroproduction at the high luminosity Electron-Ion Collider occurs with well measurable rates and measurements of these processes should find evidence for the perturbative odderon exchange. We also compute the total electroproduction cross section as a function of energy and provide first estimates of the number of χ c J events per month at the Electron-Ion Collider design luminosity. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2024

Photoproduction of K + K − Pairs in Ultraperipheral Collisions

K + K − pairs may be produced in photonuclear collisions, either from the decays of photoproduced ϕ ( 1020 ) mesons or directly as nonresonant K + K − pairs. Measurements of K + K − photoproduction probe the couplings between the ϕ ( 1020 ) and charged kaons with photons and nuclear targets. The kaon-proton scattering occurs at energies far above those available elsewhere. We present the first measurement of coherent photoproduction of K + K − pairs on lead ions in ultraperipheral collisions using the ALICE detector, including the first investigation of direct K + K − production. There is significant K + K − production at low transverse momentum, consistent with coherent photoproduction on lead targets. In the mass range 1.1 < M K K < 1.4 GeV / c 2 above the ϕ ( 1020 ) resonance, for rapidity | y K K | < 0.8 and p T , K K < 0.1 GeV / c , the measured coherent photoproduction cross section is d σ / d y = 3.37 ± 0.61 ( stat ) ± 0.15 ( syst ) mb . The center-of-mass energy per nucleon of the photon-nucleus (Pb) system W γ Pb , n ranges from 33 to 188 GeV, far higher than previous measurements on heavy-nucleus targets. The cross section is larger than expected for ϕ ( 1020 ) photoproduction alone. The mass spectrum is fit to a cocktail consisting of ϕ ( 1020 ) decays, direct K + K − photoproduction, and interference between the two. The confidence regions for the amplitude and relative phase angle for direct K + K − photoproduction are presented. © 2024 CERN, for the ALICE Collaboration 2024 CERN

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗