Axial form factor of the nucleon at large momentum transfers

Motivated by the emerging possibilities to study threshold pion electroproduction at large momentum transfers at Jefferson Laboratory following the 12 GeV upgrade, we provide a short theory summary and an estimate of the nucleon axial form factor for large virtualities in the $Q^2 = 1-10~\text{GeV}^2$ range using next-to-leading order light-cone sum rules.Comment: A comparison to the new neutrino data analysis and several references added. Final version to appear in Phys.Rev.

Electroproduction of Soft Pions at Large Momentum Transfers

We consider pion electroproduction on a proton target close to threshold for Q^2 in the region 1-10 GeV^2. The momentum transfer dependence of the S-wave multipoles at threshold, E_{0+} and L_{0+}, is calculated using light-cone sum rules.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures; Invited talk at the workshop on Exclusive Reactions at High Momentum Transfer, 21-24 May 2007, Newport News, Virginia, U.S.A. and International Conference on hadron Physics TROIA'07, 30 Aug. - 3 Sept. 2007, Canakkale, Turke

Two Photon Exchange for Exclusive Pion Electroproduction

We perform detailed calculations of two-photon-exchange QED corrections to the cross section of pion electroproduction. The results are obtained with and without the soft-photon approximation; analytic expressions for the radiative corrections are derived. The relative importance of the two-photon correction is analyzed for the kinematics of several experiments at Jefferson Lab. A significant, over 20%, effect due to two-photon exchange is predicted for the backward angles of electron scattering at large transferred momenta

A measurement of the axial form factor of the nucleon by the p(e,e'pi+)n reaction at W=1125 MeV

The reaction p(e,e'pi+)n was measured at the Mainz Microtron MAMI at an invariant mass of W=1125 MeV and four-momentum transfers of Q^2=0.117, 0.195 and 0.273 (GeV/c)^2. For each value of Q^2, a Rosenbluth separation of the transverse and longitudinal cross sections was performed. An effective Lagrangian model was used to extract the `axial mass' from experimental data. We find a value of M_A=(1.077+-0.039) GeV which is (0.051+-0.044) GeV larger than the axial mass known from neutrino scattering experiments. This is consistent with recent calculations in chiral perturbation theory.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, uses elsart.cl

Incoherent single pion electroproduction on the deuteron with polarization effects

Incoherent pion electroproduction on the deuteron is studied from threshold up to the second resonance region with special emphasis on the influence of final state interaction, in particular on polarization observables. The elementary $\gamma N\to\pi N$ amplitude is taken from the MAID-2003 model. Final state interaction is included by considering complete rescattering in the final $NN$ and $\pi N$ subsystems. Their influence on the structure functions governing the semi-exclusive differential cross section, where besides the scattered electron only the produced pion is detected, is investigated in detail. For charged pion-production the effect of $NN$-rescattering is moderate whereas $\pi N$-rescattering is almost negligible, except very close to threshold. $NN$-rescattering appears much stronger in neutral pion production for which the primary mechanism is the elimination of a significant spurious coherent contribution in the impulse approximation. Sizeable effects are also found in some of the polarization structure functions for beam and/or target polarizations.Comment: 20 pages including 14 figure

Invariant Amplitudes for Pion Electroproduction

The invariant amplitudes for pion electroproduction on the nucleon are evaluated by dispersion relations at constant t with MAID as input for the imaginary parts of these amplitudes. In the threshold region these amplitudes are confronted with the predictions of several low-energy theorems derived in the soft-pion limit. In general agreement with Chiral Perturbation Theory, the dispersive approach yields large corrections to these theorems because of the finite pion mass.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figure

Theory Support for the Excited Baryon Program at the Jlab 12 GeV Upgrade

This document outlines major directions in theoretical support for the measurement of nucleon resonance transition form factors at the JLab 12 GeV upgrade with the CLAS12 detector. Using single and double meson production, prominent resonances in the mass range up to 2 GeV will be studied in the range of photon virtuality $Q^2$ up to 12 GeV$^2$ where quark degrees of freedom are expected to dominate. High level theoretical analysis of these data will open up opportunities to understand how the interactions of dressed quarks create the ground and excited nucleon states and how these interactions emerge from QCD. The paper reviews the current status and the prospects of QCD based model approaches that relate phenomenological information on transition form factors to the non-perturbative strong interaction mechanisms, that are responsible for resonance formation.Comment: 52 pages, 19 figures, White Paper of the Electromagnetic N-N* Transition Form Factor Workshop at Jefferson Lab, October 13-15, 2008, Newport News, VA, US

Study of the A(e,e'π+\pi^+) Reaction on 1^1H, 2^2H, 12^{12}C, 27^{27}Al, 63^{63}Cu and 197^{197}Au

Cross sections for the p($e,e'\pi^{+}$)n process on $^1$H, $^2$H, $^{12}$C, $^{27}$Al, $^{63}$Cu and $^{197}$Au targets were measured at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab) in order to extract the nuclear transparencies. Data were taken for four-momentum transfers ranging from $Q^2$=1.1 to 4.8 GeV$^2$ for a fixed center of mass energy of $W$=2.14 GeV. The ratio of $\sigma_L$ and $\sigma_T$ was extracted from the measured cross sections for $^1$H, $^2$H, $^{12}$C and $^{63}$Cu targets at $Q^2$ = 2.15 and 4.0 GeV$^2$ allowing for additional studies of the reaction mechanism. The experimental setup and the analysis of the data are described in detail including systematic studies needed to obtain the results. The results for the nuclear transparency and the differential cross sections as a function of the pion momentum at the different values of $Q^2$ are presented. Global features of the data are discussed and the data are compared with the results of model calculations for the p($e,e'\pi^{+}$)n reaction from nuclear targets.Comment: 28 pages, 19 figures, submited to PR