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At least 91 records · Page 5

Comparison of forward and backward p p pair knockout in 3 He ( e , e ' p p ) n

Measuring nucleon-nucleon Short Range Correlations (SRC) has been a goal of the nuclear physics community for many years. They are an important part of the nuclear wavefunction, accounting for almost all of the high-momentum strength. They are closely related to the EMC effect. While their overall probability has been measured, measuring their momentum distributions is more difficult. In order to determine the best configuration for studying SRC momentum distributions, we measured the 3 He(e,e'pp)n reaction, looking at events with high momentum protons (p p > 0.35 GeV/c) and a low momentum neutron (p n < 0.2 GeV/c). We examined two angular configurations: either both protons emitted forward or one proton emitted forward and one backward (with respect to the momentum transfer, → q). Thus, the measured relative momentum distribution of the events with one forward and one backward proton was much closer to the calculated initial-state pp relative momentum distribution, indicating that this is the preferred configuration for measuring SRC.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Aircraft electromagnetic compatibility

Illustrated are aircraft architecture, electromagnetic interference environments, electromagnetic compatibility protection techniques, program specifications, tasks, and verification and validation procedures. The environment of 400 Hz power, electrical transients, and radio frequency fields are portrayed and related to thresholds of avionics electronics. Five layers of protection for avionics are defined. Recognition is given to some present day electromagnetic compatibility weaknesses and issues which serve to reemphasize the importance of EMC verification of equipment and parts, and their ultimate EMC validation on the aircraft. Proven standards of grounding, bonding, shielding, wiring, and packaging are laid out to help provide a foundation for a comprehensive approach to successful future aircraft design and an understanding of cost effective EMC in an aircraft setting.

Clarke, Clifton A.↗

Pion Structure From Lattice QCD

We present moments of the quark distribution functions of the pion, $$, from lattice QCD. The calculation is done for a range of pion masses between 290 and 500 MeV with attention to effects caused by the nonzero lattice spacing and finite volume. We also investigate how the pion structure is modified within a Bose-condensed medium of either pions or kaons. This modification is the mesonic analog of the EMC effect, which we hope to explore for light nuclei in the future.

Lin, Huey-Wen↗

Coulomb Corrections in Deep Inelastic Scattering and the Nuclear Dependence of R=σL/σT

Measurements of Deep Inelastic structure functions from nuclei are typically performed at very high energies, hence effects from the Coulombic acceleration or deceleration of the incident and scattered lepton due to additional protons in a heavy nucleus are typically ignored. However, re-analysis of data taken at SLAC from experiments E140 and E139 indicates that the effect of including Coulomb corrections, while not large, is non-zero and impacts the extracted results non-trivially. In particular, there is a significant impact when these data are used to extrapolate the magnitude of the EMC effect to nuclear matter. In addition, the conclusion from E140 that there is no evidence for a nuclear dependence of $R=\sigma_L/\sigma_T$ is thrown into question. When combined with recent data from Jefferson Lab, $R_A-R_D$ at $x=0.5$ is found to differ from zero by two $\sigma$.

Gaskell, David↗

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↗

Probing high-momentum protons and neutrons in neutron-rich nuclei

The atomic nucleus is one of the densest and most complex quantum-mechanical systems in nature. Nuclei account for nearly all the mass of the visible Universe. The properties of individual nucleons (protons and neutrons) in nuclei can be probed by scattering a high-energy particle from the nucleus and detecting this particle after it scatters, often also detecting an additional knocked-out proton. Analysis of electron- and proton-scattering experiments suggests that some nucleons in nuclei form close-proximity neutron–proton pairs with high nucleon momentum, greater than the nuclear Fermi momentum. However, how excess neutrons in neutron-rich nuclei form such close-proximity pairs remains unclear. In this study we measure protons and, for the first time, neutrons knocked out of medium-to-heavy nuclei by high-energy electrons and show that the fraction of high-momentum protons increases markedly with the neutron excess in the nucleus, whereas the fraction of high-momentum neutrons decreases slightly. This effect is surprising because in the classical nuclear shell model, protons and neutrons obey Fermi statistics, have little correlation and mostly fill independent energy shells. These high-momentum nucleons in neutron-rich nuclei are important for understanding nuclear parton distribution functions (the partial momentum distribution of the constituents of the nucleon) and changes in the quark distributions of nucleons bound in nuclei (the EMC effect). They are also relevant for the interpretation of neutrino-oscillation measurements and understanding of neutron-rich systems such as neutron stars.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

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)↗

MINERvA Measurement of Neutrino Charged-Current Cross Section Ratios of Nuclei C, Fe, and Pb to CH at Energies of a Few GeV

The MINERvA experiment is designed to measure neutrino cross sections for different nuclei using substantially similar fiducial and tracking environments. This allows for reduced systematics in the ratio to better see the evolution of the cross section with the size of the nucleus. The first such result is an inclusive charged current cross section ratio as a function of energy from and the kinematic quantity Bjorken x for nuclei Pb, Fe, and C relative to plastic scintillator CH. The measurement is made for neutrino energies from 2 to 20 GeV. In the past, charged lepton scattering ratios of heavier nuclei to deuterium have revealed interesting structure such as the EMC effect. These ratios were restricted to purely deep inelastic scattering data whereas these ratios to different nuclei in MINERvA are sensitive to the elastic scattering as well as resonance production regions. Significant deviations from the baseline scattering model are observed, and suggest new theory work to investigate these ratios.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Measuring the flavor asymmetry in the sea quarks of the proton with the Drell-Yan process.

The proton is a composite object made of fundamental, strongly interacting quarks. Many of the features of the proton can be described by a simple picture based on three 'valence' quarks bound by the exchange of gluons. However, protons are much more complex objects with the vast majority of their mass dynamically generated by quantum chromodynamics (QCD). This mass manifests itself through a 'sea' of gluons and quark-antiquark pairs. By measuring Drell-Yan scattering, the Fermilab E-906/Drell-Yan experiment will study the sea quark distribution in the proton and, in particular, the unusually large asymmetry between anti-up and anti-down quarks measured by earlier Drell-Yan experiments. This asymmetry cannot simply be generated through pair creation, but rather indicates an underlying, fundamental antiquark component in the proton. Using the same technique, the E-906/SeaQuest experiment will also investigate the differences between the antiquark distributions of the free proton and a proton bound in a nucleus. Nuclear binding is expected to modify the quark distributions and it has long been known that the overall quark distributions are different (the EMC effect). Surprisingly, present data suggest, however, that the antiquark distributions are not modified. To accomplish these goals, the experiment will use a 120 GeV proton beam extracted from the Fermilab Main Injector. While the experiment will be taking advantage of equipment from earlier Drell-Yan experiments, the changes in kinematics of the experiment require several, significant upgrades to the spectrometer. Japanese institutions, including Tokyo Institute of Technology, KEK, RIKEN, Kyoto University and Yamagata University, are making substantial contributions to this upgrade. The collaboration expects to begin data collection in Summer, 2010.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Recent results on nuclear structure functions for light nuclei

We discuss the nuclear EMC effect with particular emphasis on recent data for light nuclei including {sup 2}H, {sup 3}He, {sup 4}He, {sup 9}Be, {sup 12}C and {sup 14}N. In order to verify the consistency of available data, we calculate the {chi}{sup 2} deviation between different data sets. We find a good agreement between the results from the NMC, SLAC E139, and HERMES experiments. However, our analysis indicates an overall normalization offset of about 2% in the data from the recent JLab E03-103 experiment with respect to previous data for nuclei heavier than {sup 3}He. We also discuss the extraction of the neutron/proton structure function ratio F{sub 2}{sup n}/F{sub 2}{sup p} from the nuclear ratios {sup 3}He/{sup 2}H and {sup 2}H/{sup 1}H. Our analysis shows that the E03-103 data on {sup 3}He/{sup 2}H require a renormalization of about 3% in order to be consistent with the F{sub 2}{sup n}/F{sub 2}{sup p} ratio obtained from the NMC experiment. After such a renormalization, the {sup 3}He data from the E03-103 data and HERMES experiments are in a good agreement. We also present a detailed comparison between data and model calculations, which include a description of the nuclear binding, Fermi motion and off-shell corrections to the structure functions of bound proton and neutron, as well as the nuclear pion and shadowing corrections.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Heavy Quark Production at an Electron-Ion Collider

An Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) with center-of-mass energies sqrt(s_eN) ~ 20-100 GeV and luminosity L ~ 10 34 cm -2 s -1 would offer new opportunities to study heavy quark production in high-energy electron or photon scattering on protons and nuclei. We report about an R&D project exploring the feasibility of direct measurements of nuclear gluon densities at large x (gluonic EMC effect, antishadowing) using open charm production at EIC. We describe the charm production rates and angle-momentum distributions at large x and discuss methods of charm identification using next-generation detector capabilities (pi/K identification, vertex reconstruction). The results can be used also for other physics applications of heavy quark production at EIC (fragmentation functions, jets, heavy quark propagation in nuclei).

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

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 4⁢𝜎 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↗

First lattice QCD study of the gluonic structure of light nuclei

The role of gluons in the structure of the nucleon and light nuclei is investigated using lattice quantum chromodynamics (QCD) calculations. The first moment of the unpolarised gluon distribution is studied in nuclei up to atomic number $A=3$ at quark masses corresponding to pion masses of $m_\pi\sim 450$ and $806$ MeV. Nuclear modification of this quantity defines a gluonic analogue of the EMC effect and is constrained to be less than $\sim 10$% in these nuclei. This is consistent with expectations from phenomenological quark distributions and the momentum sum rule. In the deuteron, the combination of gluon distributions corresponding to the $b_1$ structure function is found to have a small first moment compared with the corresponding momentum fraction. The first moment of the gluon transversity structure function is also investigated in the spin-1 deuteron, where a non-zero signal is observed at $m_\pi \sim 806$ MeV. In conclusion, this is the first indication of gluon contributions to nuclear structure that can not be associated with an individual nucleon.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Exploring the Structure of the Bound Proton with Deeply Virtual Compton Scattering

In the past two decades, deeply virtual Compton scattering of electrons has been successfully used to advance our knowledge of the partonic structure of the free proton and investigate correlations between the transverse position and the longitudinal momentum of quarks inside the nucleon. Meanwhile, the structure of bound nucleons in nuclei has been studied in inclusive deep-inelastic lepton scattering experiments off nuclear targets, showing a significant difference in longitudinal momentum distribution of quarks inside the bound nucleon, known as the EMC effect. In this work, we report the first beam spin asymmetry (BSA) measurement of exclusive deeply virtual Compton scattering (DVCS) off a proton bound in $^4$He. The data used here were accumulated using a $6$ GeV longitudinally polarized electron beam incident on a pressurized $^4$He gaseous target placed within the CLAS spectrometer in Hall-B at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. Here, the azimuthal angle ($\phi$) dependence of the BSA was studied in a wide range of virtual photon and scattered proton kinematics. The $Q^2$, $x_B$, and t dependencies of the BSA on the bound proton are compared with those on the free proton. In the whole kinematical region of our measurements, the BSA on the bound proton is smaller by 20\% to 40\%, indicating possible medium modification of its partonic structure.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

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↗

Nuclear Dependence of Proton-Induced Drell-Yan Dimuon Production at 120 GeV at Seaquest

A measurement of the atomic mass (A) dependence of p + A → µ+µ- + X Drell-Yan dimuons produced by 120 GeV protons is presented here. The data was taken by the SeaQuest experiment at Fermilab using a proton beam extracted from its Main Injector. Over 61,000 dimuon pairs were recorded with invariant mass 4.2 < Mγ* < 10 GeV and target parton momentum fraction 0.1 ≤ x 2 ≤ 0.5 for nuclear targets 1H, 2H, C, Fe, and W . The ratio of dimuon yields per nucleon (Y ) for heavy nuclei versus 2H, RDY = 2 2 Y (A)/Y ( H) ≈ u¯(A)(x)/u¯( H)(x), is sensitive to modifications in the anti-quark sea distributions in nuclei for the case of proton-induced Drell-Yan. The data analyzed here and in the future of SeaQuest will provide tighter constraints on various models that attempt to define the anomalous behavior of nuclear modification as seen in deep inelastic lepton scattering, a phenomenon generally known as the EMC effect.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Overview of the Jefferson Lab 12 GeV Experimental Program in Halls A,B, and C

The 11 GeV beam energy available in experimental Halls A, B, and C as part of the Jefferson Lab 12 GeV Upgrade, combined with the new equipment in those halls will provide a rich and diverse physics program. This program includes inclusive measurements used to constrain polarized and unpolarized quark distributions in nucleons, exclusive reactions to access nucleon and meson form factors and GPDs, semi-inclusive measurements aimed at constraining TMDs, as well as measurements from nuclei to provide further insight into the origins of Short Range Correlations and the EMC Effect. The experimental equipment was designed with the above program in mind and the three halls provide complementary capabilities. Magnetic focusing spectrometers in Hall C (the new SHMS and existing HMS) will provide precision separated and unseparated cross section measurements and ratios. The new large acceptance CLAS12 spectrometer in Hall B enables measurements over broad regions of phase space. In Hall A, the new SBS spectrometer, used in conjunction with the existing HRS or Big Bite spectrometers will provide access to very large Q2 and allow for measurements requiring both high luminosity and large acceptance. This talk will give an overview of the upcoming experimental program in Halls A,B, and C, in particular highlighting synergies between the hall programs, which will allow Jefferson Lab to maximize the science output its 12 GeV program.

Gaskell, David↗