Electroexcitation of Nucleon Resonances from CLAS Data on Single Pion Electroproduction

We present results on the electroexcitation of the low mass resonances Δ(1232)P33 , N(1440)P11 , N(1520)D13 , and N(1535)S11 in a wide range of Q2. The results were obtained in the comprehensive analysis of data from the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) large acceptance spectrometer (CLAS) detector at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (JLab) on differential cross sections, longitudinally polarized beam asymmetries, and longitudinal target and beam-target asymmetries for π electroproduction off the proton. The data were analyzed using two conceptually different approaches—fixed-t dispersion relations and a unitary isobar model—allowing us to draw conclusions on the model sensitivity of the obtained electrocoupling amplitudes. The amplitudes for the Δ(1232)P33 show the importance of a meson-cloud contribution to quantitatively explain the magnetic dipole strength, as well as the electric and scalar quadrupole transitions. They do not show any tendency of approaching the pQCD regime for Q2⩽6 GeV2 . For the Roper resonance, N(1440)P11, the data provide strong evidence that this state is a predominantly radial excitation of a three-quark (3q) ground state. Measured in pion electroproduction, the transverse helicity amplitude for the N(1535)S11 allowed us to obtain the branching ratios of this state to the πN and ηN channels via comparison with the results extracted from η electroproduction. The extensive CLAS data also enabled the extraction of the γ∗p → N(1520)D13 and N(1535)S11 longitudinal helicity amplitudes with good precision. For the N(1535)S11, these results became a challenge for quark models and may be indicative of large meson-cloud contributions or of representations of this state that differ from a 3q excitation. The transverse amplitudes for the N(1520)D13 clearly show the rapid changeover from helicity-3/2 dominance at the real photon point to helicity-1/2 dominance at Q2 \u3e1 GeV2, confirming a long-standing prediction of the constituent quark model

Measurement of Direct fₒ(980) Photoproduction on the Proton

We report on the results of the first measurement of exclusive f0(980) meson photoproduction on protons for Eγ = 3.0–3.8  GeV and −t = 0.4–1.0  GeV2 . Data were collected with the CLAS detector at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. The resonance was detected via its decay in the π+π− channel by performing a partial wave analysis of the reaction γp→pπ+π− . Clear evidence of the f0(980) meson was found in the interference between P and S waves at M π+π− ∼1  GeV. The S -wave differential cross section integrated in the mass range of the f0(980) was found to be a factor of about 50 smaller than the cross section for the ρ meson. This is the first time the f0(980) meson has been measured in a photoproduction experiment

Towards a Resolution of the Proton Form Factor Problem: New Electron and Positron Scattering Data

There is a significant discrepancy between the values of the proton electric form factor, GpE, extracted using unpolarized and polarized electron scattering. Calculations predict that small two-photon exchange (TPE) contributions can significantly affect the extraction of GpEfrom the unpolarized electron-proton cross sections. We determined the TPE contribution by measuring the ratio of positron-proton to electron-proton elastic scattering cross sections using a simultaneous, tertiary electron-positron beam incident on a liquid hydrogen target and detecting the scattered particles in the Jefferson Lab CLAS detector. This novel technique allowed us to cover a wide range in virtual photon polarization (ε) and momentum transfer (Q2) simultaneously, as well as to cancel luminosity-related systematic errors. The cross section ratio increases with decreasing ε at Q2=1.45 GeV2. This measurement is consistent with the size of the form factor discrepancy at Q2 ≈ 1.75 GeV2and with hadronic calculations including nucleon and Δ intermediate states, which have been shown to resolve the discrepancy up to 2-3 GeV2

Electron Scattering from High-Momentum Neutrons in Deuterium

We report results from an experiment measuring the semiinclusive reaction 2H(e,e′ps) in which the proton ps is moving at a large angle relative to the momentum transfer. If we assume that the proton was a spectator to the reaction taking place on the neutron in deuterium, the initial state of that neutron can be inferred. This method, known as spectator tagging, can be used to study electron scattering from high-momentum (off-shell) neutrons in deuterium. The data were taken with a 5.765 GeV electron beam on a deuterium target in Jefferson Laboratory\u27s Hall B, using the CEBAF large acceptance spectrometer. A reduced cross section was extracted for different values of final state missing mass W∗, backward proton momentum →ps, and momentum transfer Q2. The data are compared to a simple plane wave impulse approximation (PWIA) spectator model. A strong enhancement in the data observed at transverse kinematics is not reproduced by the PWIA model. This enhancement can likely be associated with the contribution of final state interactions (FSI) that were not incorporated into the model. Within the framework of the simple spectator model, a “bound neutron structure function” Feff2n was extracted as a function of W∗ and the scaling variable x∗ at extreme backward kinematics, where the effects of FSI appear to be smaller. For ps \u3e 0.4 GeV/c, where the neutron is far off-shell, the model overestimates the value of Feff2n in the region of x∗ between 0.25 and 0.6. A dependence of the bound neutron structure function on the neutron\u27s “off-shell-ness” is one possible effect that can cause the observed deviation

Measurement of Deeply Virtual Compton Scattering Beam-Spin Asymmetries

The beam-spin asymmetries in the hard exclusive electroproduction of photons on the proton (→ep→epγ ) were measured over a wide kinematic range and with high statistical accuracy. These asymmetries result from the interference of the Bethe-Heitler process and of deeply virtual Compton scattering. Over the whole kinematic range (xB from 0.11 to 0.58, Q2 from 1 to 4.8  GeV2, −t from 0.09 to 1.8  GeV2), the azimuthal dependence of the asymmetries is compatible with expectations from leading-twist dominance, A ≃ asinϕ/(1+ccosϕ). This extensive set of data can thus be used to constrain significantly the generalized parton distributions of the nucleon in the valence quark sector

Cross sections for the p -\u3e K*⁰ Σ⁺ reaction at E = 1.7-3.0 GeV

Differential cross sections for the reaction p→ K*0Σ+ are presented in the photon energy range of 1.7 to 3.0 GeV. The K*0 was detected by its decay products, K+π−, in the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility\u27s large acceptance spectrometer (CLAS) detector at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. These data are the first K*0 photoproduction cross sections ever published over a broad range of angles. Comparison with a theoretical model based on the vector and tensor K∗-quark couplings shows good agreement with the data, except at forward angles, suggesting that the role of scalar κ meson exchange should be investigated

Determination of the Proton Spin Structure Functions for 0.05 \u3c Q\u3csup\u3e2\u3c/sup\u3e \u3c5GEV\u3csup\u3e2\u3c/sup\u3e Using CLAS

We present the results of our final analysis of the full data set of gp1 Q2, the spin structure function of the proton, collected using CLAS at Jefferson Laboratory in 2000-2001. Polarized electrons with energies of 1.6, 2.5, 4.2, and 5.7 GeV were scattered from proton targets 15NH3 dynamically polarized along the beam direction) and detected with CLAS. From the measured double spin asymmetries, we extracted virtual photon asymmetries Ap1 and Ap2 and spin structure functions g p1 and gp2 over a wide kinematic range (0.05 GeV2 \u3c Q2 \u3c 5 GeV2 and 1.08 GeV\u3c W \u3c 3 GeV) and calculated moments of gp1. We compare our final results with various theoretical models and expectations, as well as with parametrizations of the world data. Our data, with their precision and dense kinematic coverage, are able to constrain fits of polarized parton distributions, test pQCD predictions for quark polarizations at large x, offer a better understanding of quark-hadron duality, and provide more precise values of higher twist matrix elements in the framework of the operator product expansion

Measurement of Coherent ɸ-Meson Photoproduction from the Deuteron at Low Energies

The cross section and decay angular distributions for the coherent ɸ-meson photoproduction on the deuteron have been measured for the first time up to a squared four-momentum transfer t = (pᵧ - pɸ)2 =-2 GeV2/c2, using the CLAS detector at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. The cross sections are compared with predictions from a rescattering model. In a framework of vector meson dominance, the data are consistent with the total ɸ-N cross section σɸN at about 10 mb. If vector meson dominance is violated, a larger σɸN is possible by introducing a larger t slope for the ɸN → ɸN process than that for the γN → ɸN process. The decay angular distributions of the phi are consistent with helicity conservation

Differential Cross Sections for + p → K⁺ + Y for Λ and Σ⁰ Hyperons

High-statistics cross sections for the reactions + p → K⁺ + Λ and + p → K⁺ + Σ⁰ have been measured using CLAS at Jefferson Lab for center-of-mass energies W between 1.6 and 2.53 GeV, and for -0.85 \u3c cos θ Kc.m. \u3c +0.95. In the K⁺ + Λ channel we confirm a resonance-like structure near W=1.9 GeV at backward kaon angles. The position and width of this structure change with angle, indicating that more than one resonance is likely playing a role. The K⁺ + Λ channel at forward angles and all energies is well described by a t-channel scaling characteristic of Regge exchange, whereas the same scaling applied to the K⁺ + Σ⁰ channel is less successful. Several existing theoretical models are compared to the data, but none provide a good representation of the results