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Clean measurements of the nucleon axial-vector and free-neutron magnetic form factors
We discuss the feasibility of a weak charged current experiment using a low energy electron beam. A first goal is to measure the Q{sup 2} dependence of the axial-vector form factor g{sub a}(Q{sup 2}). It can be measured model-independently and as robustly as for electromagnetic form factors from typical electron scattering experiments, in contrast to the methods used so far to measure g{sub a}(Q{sup 2}). If g{sub a}(Q{sup 2}) follows a dipole form, the axial mass can be extracted with a better accuracy than the world data altogether. The most important detection equipment would be a segmented neutron detector with good momentum and angular resolution that is symmetric about the beam direction, and covers a moderate angular range. A high intensity beam (100 uA) is necessary. Beam polarization is highly desirable as it provides a clean measurement of the backgrounds. Beam energies between 70 and 110 MeV are ideal. This range would provide a Q{sup 2} mapping of g{sub a} between 0.01 <Q{sup 2}< 0.04 GeV{sup 2}. 60 days of beam can yield 14 data points with a subpercent statistical and point to point uncorrelated uncertainties on each point. Such an experiment may also allow to measure the free-neutron magnetic form factor G{sub M}{sup n}. The experiment employs the usual techniques of electron-nucleon scattering and presents no special difficulty. Higher energy extensions are possible. They could yield measurements of g{sub a}(Q{sup 2}) up to Q{sup 2}=3 GeV{sup 2} and the possibility to access other form factors, such as the almost unknown pseudoscalar form factor g{sub P}. However, the experiments become much more challenging as soon as beam energies pass the pion production threshold.
Precision Measurement of the Proton Magnetic Form Factor at High Q2
Elastic electromagnetic form factors characterize the distribution of electric charge and magnetization current inside the nucleon and reflect the internal structure determined by Quantum Chromodynamics. Existing data on the proton magnetic form factor at high Q2 (the 4-momentum transfer squared) have large statistical and systematic uncertainties. The GMp experiment E12-07-108 was one of the first set of experiments to run in Hall A at Jefferson Lab after the 12 GeV upgrade with the goal of this experiment to precisely measure the electron-proton elastic cross section for Q2 up to 17 GeV2 with an accuracy of better than 2% - several times better than existing data in this Q2 range. This will allow further tests of form factor scaling predicted by pQCD and, additionally, will be an important benchmark for many other experiments where elastic electron-proton scattering is used for normalization. Since, GMp data were taken at lower ?(virtual photon polarization) than SLAC data, the measured cross sections recieve a smaller contribution from the electric form factor. This dissertation analyzed the GMp experiment data for five different kinematic settings determining the form factor with total uncertainties nearly two times smaller than the existing data at these Q2. This dissertation also presents the results of all Fall 2016 and Spring 2016 GMp experiment data. The proton magnetic form factors were extracted using both the Rosenbluth separation method and a parameterization of the form factor ratio (?pGpE=GpM) obtained from a fit to the existing cross section data. At the end of this thesis, the extracted GMp form factor data is compared to the existing data. The results for ?pGpE=GpM from Rosenbluth separations are found to be consistent with previous extractions, but with significantly reduced uncertainties, further highlighting the discrepancy with the polarization transfer technique. This data set can provide significant additional constraints on contributions from two-photon exchange.
Spin 3/2 and 5/2 nucleon resonances in kaon electroproduction
We have analyzed the available kaon electroproduction data by using the field theoretical approach involving spin 3/2 and 5/2 nucleon resonances. To this end we extend our previous isobar model for photoproduction to the finite Q{sup 2} region by making use of different electromagnetic form factors. The result indicates that kaon electroproduction data can be nicely described by the photoproduction isobar model, provided that the inserted electromagnetic form factors in all electromagnetic vertices are constructed from a combination of dipole and exponential form factors is included in all electromagnetic vertices.
The proton form factor measurements at Jefferson Lab, past and future
Use of the double-polarization technique to obtain the elastic nucleon form factors has resulted in a dramatic improvement of the quality of two of the four nucleon electromagnetic form factors, G{sub Ep} and G{sub En}. It has also changed our understanding of the proton structure, having resulted in a distinctly different Q{sup 2}-dependence for both G{sub Ep} and G{sub Mp}, contradicting the prevailing wisdom of the 1990’s based on cross section measurements, namely that G{sub Ep} and G{sub Mp} obey a “scaling” relation μG{sub Ep} ∼ G{sub Mp}. A related consequence of the faster decrease of G{sub Ep} revealed by the Jefferson Lab (JLab) polarization results was the disappearance of the early scaling F{sub 2}/F{sub 1} ∼ 1/Q{sup 2} predicted by perturbative QCD. In three experiments, GEp(1), GEp(2) and GEp(3), in Halls A and C at JLab, the ratio of the proton’s electromagnetic elastic form factors, G{sub Ep}/G{sub Mp}, was measured up to four momentum transfer Q{sup 2} of 8.5 GeV{sup 2} with high precision, using the recoil polarization technique. The initial discovery that the proton form factor ratio measured in these three experiments decreases approximately linearly with four-momentum transfer, Q{sup 2}, for values above ∼ 1 GeV{sup 2}, was modified by the GEp(3) results, which suggests a slowing down of this decrease. There is an approved experiment, GEp(5), to continue these measurements to 15 GeV{sup 2}. A dedicated experimental setup, the super bigbite spectrometer (SBS), will be built for this purpose. It will be equipped with a new focal plane polarimeter to measure the polarization of the recoil protons. In this presentation, I will review the status of the proton elastic electromagnetic form factors, mention succinctly a number of theoretical approaches to describe results and show some features required for the future GEp(5) experiment.
Charge symmetry breaking effects in pion and kaon structure
Charge symmetry breaking (CSB) effects associated with the u and d quark mass difference are investigated in the quark distribution functions and spacelike electromagnetic form factors of the pion and kaon. We use a confining version of the Nambu-Jona-Lasimo model, where CSB effects at the infrared scale associated with the model are driven by the dressed u and d quark mass ratio, which because of dynamical chiral symmetry breaking is much closer to unity than the associated current quark mass ratio. The pion and kaon are given as bound states of a dressed quark and a dressed antiquark governed by the Bethe-Salpeter equation, and exhibit the properties of Goldstone bosons, with a pion mass difference given by m(Pi)+(2) - m(Pi)0(2) (m(u) - m(d))(2) as demanded by dynamical chiral symmetry breaking. We find significant CSB effects for realistic current quark mass ratios (m(u)/m(d) similar to 0.5) in the quark flavor-sector electromagnetic form factors of both the pion and kaon. For example, the difference between the u and d quark contributions to the Pi(+) electromagnetic form factors is about 8% at a momentum transfer of Q(2) = 10 GeV2, while the analogous effect for the light quark sector form factors in the K+ and K-0 is about twice as large. For the parton distribution functions we find CSB effects which are considerably smaller than those found in the electromagnetic form factors.
Electromagnetic structure of pion
In this work, we analyze the electromagnetic structure of the pion, an elementary particle composed by a quark-antiquark bound state, by considering the calculation of its electromagnetic radius and its electromagnetic form factor in low and intermediate energy range. Such observables are determined by means of a theoretical model that takes into account the constituent quark and antiquark of the pion, in the formalism of the light-front field theory. In particular, it is considered a nonsymmetrical vertex for such a model, in which we have calculated the electromagnetic form factor of the pion in an optimized way, by varying its regulator mass, so that we can obtain the best value for the pion electromagnetic radius when compared with the experimental one. The theoretical calculations are also compared with the most recent experimental data involving the pion electromagnetic form factor and the results show very good agreement.
Studies of Nucleon Form Factors with 12 GeV CEBAF and SuperBigBite
The elastic electromagnetic form factors are among the most fundamental quantities that describe the ground-state structure of the proton and neutron. Precision data of the form factors over a wide kinematical range provide a powerful test of current theories of hadron structure. A number of experiments aiming to measure the electric and magnetic elastic form factors of the neutron, G{sub E}{sup n} and G{sub M}{sup n}, and proton, G{sub E}{sup p}, at very high momentum transfer, up to the range of Q{sup 2} = 10-14 (GeV/c){sup 2}, are planned to be carried out with the future 11 GeV electron beam of the upgraded CEBAF at Jefferson Lab. These experiments will determine the nucleon form factors with unprecedented precision to Q{sup 2}-values up to three times higher than those of existing data. We review the approved proposals and the conceptual design of a new spectrometer, SuperBigBite, that will be used in these and other future experiments at Jefferson Lab.
Novel Measurement of the Neutron Magnetic Form Factor from A=3 Mirror Nuclei
The electromagnetic form factors of the proton and neutron encode information on the spatial structure of their charge and magnetization distributions. While measurements of the proton are relatively straightforward, the lack of a free neutron target makes measurements of the neutron's electromagnetic structure more challenging and more sensitive to experimental or model-dependent uncertainties. Various experiments have attempted to extract the neutron form factors from scattering from the neutron in deuterium, with different techniques providing different, and sometimes large, systematic uncertainties. We present results from a novel measurement of the neutron magnetic form factor using quasielastic scattering from the mirror nuclei 3 H and 3 He, where the nuclear effects are larger than for deuterium but expected to largely cancel in the cross-section ratios. We extracted values of the neutron magnetic form factor for low-to-modest momentum transfer, 0.6 < Q 2 < 2.9 GeV 2 , where existing measurements give inconsistent results. The precision and Q 2 range of these data allow for a better understanding of the current world’s data and suggest a path toward further improvement of our overall understanding of the neutron’s magnetic form factor.
Lattice QCD Calculation of Nucleon Structure
It is emphasized in the 2015 NSAC Long Range Plan that "understanding the structure of hadrons in terms of QCD's quarks and gluons is one of the central goals of modern nuclear physics." Over the last three decades, lattice QCD has developed into a powerful tool for ab initio calculations of strong-interaction physics. Up until now, it is the only theoretical approach to solving QCD with controlled statistical and systematic errors. Since 1985, we have proposed and carried out first-principles calculations of nucleon structure and hadron spectroscopy using lattice QCD which entails both algorithmic development and large-scale computer simulation. We started out by calculating the nucleon form factors -- electromagnetic, axial-vector, πNN, and scalar form factors, the quark spin contribution to the proton spin, the strangeness magnetic moment, the quark orbital angular momentum, the quark momentum fraction, and the quark and glue decomposition of the proton momentum and angular momentum. The first round of calculations were done with Wilson fermions in the `quenched' approximation where the dynamical effects of the quarks in the sea are not taken into account in the Monte Carlo simulation to generate the background gauge configurations. Beginning in 2000, we have started implementing the overlap fermion formulation into the spectroscopy and structure calculations. This is mainly because the overlap fermion honors chiral symmetry as in the continuum. It is going to be more and more important to take the symmetry into account as the simulations move closer to the physical point where the u and d quark masses are as light as a few MeV only. We began with lattices which have quark masses in the sea corresponding to a pion mass at ~ 300 MeV and obtained the strange form factors, charm and strange quark masses, the charmonium spectrum and the D s meson decay constant f D s , the strangeness and charmness, the meson mass decomposition and the strange quark spin from the anomalous Ward identity. Recently, we have started to include multiple lattices with different lattice spacings and different volumes including large lattices at the physical pion mass point. We are getting quite close to being able to calculate the hadron structure at the physical point and to do the continuum and large volume extrapolations, which is our ultimate aim. We have now finished several projects which have included these systematic corrections. They include the leptonic decay width of the ρ, the πN sigma and strange sigma terms, and the strange quark magnetic moment. Over the years, we have also studied hadron spectroscopy with lattice calculations and in phenomenology. These include Roper resonance, pentaquark state, charmonium spectrum, glueballs, scalar mesons a 0 (1450) and σ(600) and other scalar mesons, and the 1 -+ meson. In addition, we have employed the canonical approach to explore the first-order phase transition and the critical point at finite density and finite temperature. We have also discovered a new parton degree of freedom -- the connected sea partons, from the path-integral formulation of the hadronic tensor, which explains the experimentally observed Gottfried sum rule violation. Combining experimental result on the strange parton distribution, the CT10 global fitting results of the total u and d anti-partons and the lattice result of the ratio of the momentum fraction of the strange vs that of u or d in the disconnected insertion, we have shown that the connected sea partons can be isolated. In this final technical report, we shall present a few representative highlights that have been achieved in the project.
Form Factors and Radii of Light Nuclei
We discuss the determination of electromagnetic form factors from the world data on electron–nucleus scattering for nuclei Z ≤ 3, with particular emphasis on the derivation of the moments required for comparison with measurements from electronic/muonic atoms and isotope shifts.
The Proton Form Factor Ratio Measurements at Jefferson Lab
The ratio of the proton form factors, G{sub Ep}/G{sub Mp}, has been measured from Q{sup 2} of 0.5 GeV{sup 2} to 8.5 GeV{sup 2}, at the Jefferson Laboratory, using the polarization transfer method. This ratio is extracted directly from the measured ratio of the transverse and longitudinal polarization components of the recoiling proton in elastic electron-proton scattering. The discovery that the proton form factor ratio measured in these experiments decreases approximately linearly with four-momentum transfer, Q{sup 2}, for values above ~1 GeV{sup 2}, is one of the most significant results to come out of JLab. These results have had a large impact on progress in hadronic physics; and have required a significant rethinking of nucleon structure. The increasingly common use of the double-polarization technique to measure the nucleon form factors, in the last 15 years, has resulted in a dramatic improvement of the quality of all four nucleon electromagnetic form factors, G{sub Ep}, G{sub Mp}, G{sub En} and G{sub Mn}. There is an approved experiment at JLab, GEP(V), to continue the ratio measurements to 12 GeV{sup 2}. A dedicated experimental setup, the Super Bigbite Spectrometer (SBS), will be built for this purpose. It will be equipped with a focal plane polarimeter to measure the polarization of the recoil protons. The scattered electrons will be detected in an electromagnetic calorimeter. In this presentation, I will review the status of the proton elastic electromagnetic form factors and discuss a number of theoretical approaches to describe nucleon form factors.
Electromagnetic structure of the proton within the CP-violation hypothesis
The so-called non-Rosenbluth behavior of the proton electromagnetic form factors can be explained within the hypothesis of CP violation in electromagnetic processes involving composite systems of strongly interacting particles. It is shown that this hypothesis leads to the appearance of an additional, anapole, form factor of the proton. The proton electromagnetic form factors, including the anapole form factor, are estimated on the basis of experimental data on elastic electron-proton scattering.
Peripheral transverse densities of the baryon octet from chiral effective field theory and dispersion analysis
The baryon electromagnetic form factors are expressed in terms of two-dimensional densities describing the distribution of charge and magnetization in transverse space at fixed light-front time. In this paper, we calculate the transverse densities of the spin-1/2 flavor-octet baryons at peripheral distances b=O(M$-1\atop{π}$) using methods of relativistic chiral effective field theory (χ EFT) and dispersion analysis. The densities are represented as dispersive integrals over the imaginary parts of the form factors in the timelike region (spectral functions). The isovector spectral functions on the two-pion cut t > 4 M$2\atop{π}$ are calculated using relativistic χEFT including octet and decuplet baryons. The χEFT calculations are extended into the ρ meson mass region using an N/D method that incorporates the pion electromagnetic form factor data. The isoscalar spectral functions are modeled by vector meson poles. We compute the peripheral charge and magnetization densities in the octet baryon states, estimate the uncertainties, and determine the quark flavor decomposition. Finally, the approach can be extended to baryon form factors of other operators and the moments of generalized parton distributions.
Proton form factors and two-photon exchange in elastic electron-proton scattering
Proton electromagnetic form factors are among the most important sources of information about the internal structure of the proton. Two different methods for measuring these form factors, the method proposed by Rosenbluth and the polarization-transfer method, yield contradictory results. It is assumed that this contradiction can be removed upon taking into account the hard part of the contribution of two-photon exchange to the cross section for elastic electron-proton scattering. This contribution can measured experimentally via a precision comparison of the cross sections for the elastic scattering of positrons and electrons on protons. Such a measurement, performed at the VEPP-3 storage ring in Novosibirsk at the beam energies of 1.6 and 1.0 GeV for positron (electron) scattering angles in the ranges of θ{sub e} = 15°–25° and 55°–75° in the first case and in the range of θ{sub e} = 65°–105° in the second case is described in the present article. Preliminary results of this experiment and their comparison with theoretical predictions are described.
Weak and electromagnetic mechanisms of neutrino-pair photoproduction in a strongly magnetized electron gas
Expressions for the power of neutrino radiation from a degenerate electron gas in a strong magnetic field are derived for the case of neutrino-pair photoproduction via the weak and electromagnetic interaction mechanisms (it is assumed that the neutrino possesses electromagnetic form factors). It is shown that the neutrino luminosity of a medium in the electromagnetic reaction channel may exceed substantially the luminosity in the weak channel. Relative upper bounds on the effective neutrino magnetic moment are obtained.
Performance and Commissioning of the BigBite Timing Hodoscope for Nucleon Form Factor Measurements at Jefferson Lab
The BigBite Timing Hodoscope detector is the primary subject of this thesis. The Super BigBite Spectrometer is a Jefferson Lab Hall A Collaboration project that has and will continue to measure nucleon electromagnetic form factors. This spectrometer includes the Timing Hodoscope which provides high resolution particle timing data for scattered electrons in the electron arm of BigBite. The Timing Hodoscope utilizes 90, 25 × 25 × 600 mm3 scintillator bars stacked on top of each other to form a single detector plane, and these bars are connected to 180 photo-multiplier tubes via light guides. Particles collide with the scintillating material creating a shower of optical photons and these particle events in the bars are collected to generate signals that are readout by the data acquisition (DAQ) electronics. NINO ASIC amplifier-discriminator cards output signals from the photo-multiplier tubes into analogue and logic signals, which are sent to analogue-to-digital (ADC) and time-to-digital (TDC) converter data acquisition readout modules. This data is then used for analysis of the detector. The focus of this thesis is the construction, commissioning, calibration, and performance of the BigBite Timing Hodoscope before and during the first of five nucleon electromagnetic form factor experiments at Jefferson Lab Hall A. Before the neutron magnetic form factor, G n M, experiment, cosmic ray data was collected during commissioning to confirm proper operation of the Timing Hodoscope electronics by observing the ADC and TDC data. Commissioning studies for charge normalization, gain matching, and other ADC and TDC detector data variables were performed before moving the detector into Hall A. Following installation in Hall A, several calibration studies were implemented to fine-tune the detector in preparation for use in the experiment. The calibration studies included analysis of timing cuts, TDC alignment, the time-walk effect, time difference offsets, and scintillator velocity corrections. Once the Timing Hodoscope was well-calibrated, data-taking during the experiment commenced and the beam-on-target data was used to characterize the Timing Hodoscope performance during the G n M experiment run-time. The performance analysis included studies observing energy deposit, cluster size, rates, accidentals, pile-up, tracking efficiency, position resolution, and time resolution. After application of physics cuts to ensure a data set comprised of particle tracks corresponding to elastic electrons, which is the main data of interest for measurement of G n M, the Timing Hodoscope is shown on average across all kinematic settings to have a >98% tracking efficiency, a position resolution of 4-6 cm in the non-dispersive plane and 1.5-2 cm in the dispersive plane, and a time resolution of 500-750 ps. These performance results are compared to a GEANT4 based performance simulation of the BigBite Timing Hodoscope for reference, showing to what degree the measured performance values match those taken from the simulation.
Resolving the Proton Form Factor Problem with Positron-Proton Scattering
The proton electromagnetic form factors are essential pieces of our knowledge of nucleon structure. However, Rosenbluth separation measurements of the proton electric form factor, $G_E(Q^2)$, differ from polarization transfer measurements by a factor of three at $Q^2 = 5.6$ (GeV/$c$)$^2$. This discrepancy must be resolved. One possible resolution is to include the contribution of hard two-photon exchange (TPE) contributions. These contributions are very difficult to calculate. However, we can directly determine the TPE effect by measuring the ratio of the positron-proton to electron-proton elastic scattering cross sections, $R=\sigma(e^+p)/\sigma(e^-p)$, because the TPE amplitude has the same sign as the $e^+p$ born amplitude and the opposite sign as the $e^-p$ born amplitude. We have measured $R$ over a wide range of momentum transfer, $0.2 \le Q^2 \le 2$ GeV$^2$, and virtual photon polarization, $0.1 \le \epsilon \le 0.9$, using a mixed identical beam of electrons and positrons in Hall B at Jefferson Lab. This talk will describe the experimental techniques used to produce this beam, the analysis techniques to identify elastic scattering events, and some preliminary results.