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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 55 records · Page 3
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

Monte Carlo Global QCD Analyses of the Pion Parton Distribution Functions

As the lightest hadron, the pion presents itself as a dichotomy. While being the pseudo Goldstone boson associated with chiral symmetry breaking, it is simultaneously regarded as the lightest pseudoscalar meson typically composed of constituent quark and antiquark. As the chiral symmetry shares the same global symmetry as QCD, studying the pion and its internal structure is key in understanding one of the four fundamental forces of nature, namely the quantum chromodynamic strong interaction. We study the pion's parton distribution functions (PDFs), which are universal quantities that describe the structure of the pion in terms of its constituent quarks, antiquarks, and gluons. Our goal is to discover what the available data reveal for these universal quantities, namely the PDFs. Through the use of factorization theorems and perturbative QCD, we use Monte Carlo (MC) methods to extract the PDFs from the available Drell-Yan (DY) and leading neutron (LN) data. While the DY process involves two hadrons colliding, the LN electroproduction involves an electron beam incident on a target nucleon. We can constrain well the pion PDFs at large momentum fraction using DY data, and at low momentum fraction using LN data. We also use threshold resummation in the DY process to gather predictable higher order terms associated with the soft gluon radiation because their contributions to the cross section are nontrivial. In this dissertation, we parametrize the pion PDFs and fit those parameters to the available data. We make use of Bayesian inference and use MC techniques to sample the parameter space. Three sets of results are presented. We first extract the pion PDFs by fitting the DY and LN data. Then, we include transverse momentum dependent DY data in conjunction with the DY and LN data to extract the pion PDFs. Finally, we apply various methods of threshold resummation to the DY cross section and extract pion PDFs. The pion PDFs presented here are the first global QCD analyses performed as well as the first MC extracted pion PDFs, which are at the forefront of the pion PDF community.

Barry, Patrick↗
DOE OSTI2015

Design and Simulation of the nuSTORM Pion Beamline

The nuSTORM (neutrinos from STORed Muons) proposal presents a detailed design for a neutrino facility based on a muon storage ring, with muon decay in the production straight section of the ring providing well defined neutrino beams. The facility includes a primary high-energy proton beam line, a target station with pion production and collection, and a pion beamline for pion transportation and injection into a muon decay ring. The nuSTORM design uses “stochastic injection”, in which pions are directed by a chicane, referred to as the Orbit Combination Section (OCS), into the production straight section of the storage ring. Pions that decay within that straight section provide muons within the circulating acceptance of the ring. Furthermore, the design enables injection without kickers or a separate pion decay transport line. The beam line that the pions traverse before being extracted from the decay ring is referred to as the pion beamline. Our paper describes the design and simulation of the pion beamline, and includes full beam dynamics simulations of the system.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Dispersion relation for hadronic light-by-light scattering: two-pion contributions

In our third paper of a series dedicated to a dispersive treatment of the hadronic light-by-light (HLbL) tensor, we derive a partial-wave formulation for two-pion intermediate states in the HLbL contribution to the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon (g - 2) μ , including a detailed discussion of the unitarity relation for arbitrary partial waves. We show that obtaining a final expression free from unphysical helicity partial waves is a subtle issue, which we thoroughly clarify. As a by-product, we obtain a set of sum rules that could be used to constrain future calculations of γ*γ* → ππ. We validate the formalism extensively using the pion-box contribution, defined by two-pion intermediate states with a pion-pole left-hand cut, and demonstrate how the full known result is reproduced when resumming the partial waves. Using dispersive fits to high-statistics data for the pion vector form factor, we provide an evaluation of the full pion box, a$π-box\atop{μ}$ =-15.9(2) × 10 -11 . As an application of the partial-wave formalism, we present a first calculation of ππ-rescattering effects in HLbL scattering, with γ*γ* → ππ helicity partial waves constructed dispersively using ππ phase shifts derived from the inverse-amplitude method. In this way, the isospin-0 part of our calculation can be interpreted as the contribution of the f0(500) to HLbL scattering in (g - 2) μ . We also argue that the contribution due to charged-pion rescattering implements corrections related to the corresponding pion polarizability and show that these are moderate. Our final result for the sum of pion-box contribution and its S-wave rescattering corrections reads a$π-box\atop{μ}$ + a$ππ, π-pole LHC\atop{μ, J=0}$ = -24(1) × 10 -11 .

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Measurement of the Pion Exclusive Electro-Production Cross-Section in the E12-19-006 Experiment in Hall-C at Jefferson Lab

One of the most effective methods for exploring the transition from hadronic degrees of freedom to quark-gluon degrees of freedom in Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) is through the investigation of \exclusive" pion and kaon electro-production reactions at various Q2 and ?t values. The E12-19-006 experiment is conducted within the confi?nes of experimental Hall C at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, USA, for such studies. The primary aim of the experiment is to ?first enhance our comprehension of the pion electro-production cross-section and its form factor at Q2 = 0.38 and 0.42 GeV2. This is the fi?rst run period of the E12-19-006 experiment which ran in summer 2019. A more profound understanding of the pion electro-production reaction, 1H(e,e'?+)n, at low Q2 is deemed essential to employ this electro-production reaction (an indirect technique) for the high Q2 studies, thereby delving deeper into the realm of QCD. Consequently, this dissertation presents a thorough analysis of the experimental data acquired in the ?first run period of the E12-19-006 experiment. In pursuit of precision, a series of systematic studies (target boiling correction study, the elastic reaction cross-section measurements, study for determining vari- ous kinematics o?sets, etc.) are conducted to discern the accuracy of the analyzed data, a prerequisite for the use of Rosenbluth separation technique to separate the pion electro-production cross-section terms in t bins. The separated pion electro-production cross-section through the Rosenbluth separation technique is then used to extract the pion electromagnetic form factor. In this dissertation, the pion electro-production cross-section is carefully dissected into its four constituent components: longitudinal (?L), transverse (?T ), longitudinal-transverse (?LT ), and transverse-transverse (?TT ), using the full version of Rosenbluth separation technique for the Q2 = 0.38 GeV2. The technique is simultaneously fi?tted to the unseparated pion electro-production cross-sections at the three values of polarization of the virtual photon (?), i.e., ? = 0.286, 0.629 and 0.781. An iterative process is applied to re?ne the parameters of the model cross-sections until the yield ratio of experimental and Monte Carlo simulation converges. In this study, 21 iterations are conducted to re?ne the model cross-section parameters. The fi?nal pion electro-production cross-section terms are then determined for 7 t bins using the optimized parameters of the model cross-sections.

Kumar, Vijay↗
DOE OSTI2024

Measurement of the differential cross section for neutral pion production in charged-current muon neutrino interactions on argon with the MicroBooNE detector

We present a measurement of neutral pion production in charged-current interactions using data recorded with the MicroBooNE detector exposed to Fermilab’s booster neutrino beam. The signal comprises one muon, one neutral pion, any number of nucleons, and no charged pions. Studying neutral pion production in the MicroBooNE detector provides an opportunity to better understand neutrino-argon interactions, and is crucial for future accelerator-based neutrino oscillation experiments. Using a dataset corresponding to 6.86 ×10 20 protons on target, we present single-differential cross sections in muon and neutral pion momenta, scattering angles with respect to the beam for the outgoing muon and neutral pion, as well as the opening angle between the muon and neutral pion. Data extracted cross sections are compared to generator predictions. We report good agreement between the data and the models for scattering angles, except for an over-prediction by generators at muon forward angles. Similarly, the agreement between data and the models as a function of momentum is good, except for an underprediction by generators in the medium momentum ranges, 200–400 MeV for muons and 100–200 MeV for pions.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2017

Measurement of Charged Current Coherent Pion Production by Neutrinos on Carbon at MINER$\nu$A

Neutrino-nucleus coherent pion production is a rare neutrino scattering process where the squared four-momentum transferred to the nucleus is small, a lepton and pion are produced in the forward direction, and the nucleus remains in its initial state. This process is an important background in neutrino oscillation experiments. Measurements of coherent pion production are needed to constrain models which are used to predict coherent pion production in oscillation experiments. This thesis reports measurements of νµ and νµ charged current coherent pion production on carbon for neutrino energies in the range 2 < Eν < 20 GeV. The measurements were made using data from MINERνA, which is a dedicated neutrino-nucleus scattering experiment that uses a fi scintillator tracking detector in the high-intensity NuMI neutrino beam at Fermilab. Coherent interactions were isolated from the data using only model-independent signatures of the reaction, which are a forward muon and pion, no evidence of nuclear breakup, and small four-momentum transfer to the nucleus. The measurements were compared to the coherent pion production model used by oscillation experiments. The data and model agree in the total interaction rate and are similar in the dependence of the interaction rate on the squared four- momentum transferred from the neutrino. The data and model disagree significantly in the pion kinematics. The measured νµ and νµ interaction rates are consistent, which supports model predictions that the neutrino and antineutrino interaction rates are equal.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
NASA NTRS2023

DDFRG2: Double-Differential FRaGmentation Model with Pion Production

A set of Double-Differential FRaGmentation (DDFRG) models for production of fragments from nucleon-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions, relevant to space radiation, is currently being developed. DDFRG1 was a previous model developed for production of protons and light ions. A new model for pion production is developed in the present work and is called DDFRG2, which is based upon thermal production of pions from a central fireball source. The Lorentzinvariant double-differential cross section is calculated in the central fireball frame, and is Lorentz transformed to the laboratory frame, which results in a closed-form analytic formula involving no numerical integration, and which can be run very efficiently in radiation transport codes. The Lorentz-invariant double-differential cross section is then integrated over angle to give the singledifferential energy spectral distribution. Two versions of the DDFRG2 pion production are developed, namely DDFRG2-SIMPLE and DDFRG2-FULL. Both versions produce pion production Lorentz-invariant double-differential cross sections and also pion production single-differential spectral (energy) distributions. The SIMPLE version contains only one adjustable parameter. The FULL version contains three additional adjustable parameters. Both DDFRG2 versions are compared to over 1,000 data points. The SIMPLE version describes the p + 12 C → π − much better than the current HZETRN pion model. For other reactions, the SIMPLE version is of comparable quality to the current HZETRN pion model compared to data. For both the p + 12 C → π − reaction and all other reactions, DDFRG2-FULL describes the data much more accurately than the current HZETRN pion model.

John W. Norbury↗
DOE OSTI2016

Pion Electromagnetic Form Factor in Virtuality Distribution Formalism

We discuss two applications of the {\it Virtuality Distribution Amplitudes} (VDA) formalism developed in our recent papers. We start with an overview of the main properties of the pion distribution amplitude emphasizing the quantitative measures of its width, and possibility to access them through the pion transition form factor studies. We formulate the basic concepts of the VDA approach and introduce the pion {\it transverse momentum distribution amplitude} (TMDA) which plays, in a covariant Lagrangian formulation, a role similar to that of the pion wave function in the 3-dimensional Hamiltonian light-front approach. We propose simple factorized models for soft TMDAs, and use them to describe existing data on the pion transition form factor, thus fixing the scale determining the size of the transverse-momentum effects. Finally, we apply the VDA approach to the one-gluon exchange contribution for the pion electromagnetic form factor. We observe a very late $Q^2 \gtrsim 20$ GeV$^2$ onset of transition to the asymptotic pQCD predictions and show that in the $Q^2 \lesssim 10$ GeV$^2$ region there is essentially no sensitivity to the shape of the pion distribution amplitude. Furthermore, the magnitude of the one-gluon exchange contribution in this region is estimated to be an order of magnitude below the Jefferson Lab data, thus leaving the Feynman mechanism as the only one relevant to the pion electromagnetic form factor behavior for accessible $Q^2$.

Radyushkin, Anatoly V.↗