Investigation of Hamamatsu H8500 phototubes as single photon detectors

We have investigated the response of a significant sample of Hamamatsu H8500 MultiAnode PhotoMultiplier Tubes (MAPMTs) as single photon detectors, in view of their use in a ring imaging Cherenkov counter for the CLAS12 spectrometer at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. For this, a laser working at 407.2nm wavelength was employed. The sample is divided equally into standard window type, with a spectral response in the visible light region, and UV-enhanced window type MAPMTs. The studies confirm the suitability of these MAPMTs for single photon detection in such a Cherenkov imaging application

Single and double spin asymmetries for deeply virtual Compton scattering measured with CLAS and a longitudinally polarized proton target

Single-beam, single-target, and double spin asymmetries for hard exclusive electroproduction of a photon on the proton (e) over right arrow(p) over right arrow. e\u27p\u27gamma are presented. The data were taken at Jefferson Lab using the CEBAF large acceptance spectrometer and a longitudinally polarized (NH3)-N-14 target. The three asymmetries were measured in 165 four-dimensional kinematic bins, covering the widest kinematic range ever explored simultaneously for beam and target-polarization observables in the valence quark region. The kinematic dependences of the obtained asymmetries are discussed and compared to the predictions of models of generalized parton distributions. The measurement of three DVCS spin observables at the same kinematic points allows a quasi-model-independent extraction of the imaginary parts of the H and (H) over tilde Compton form factors, which give insight into the electric and axial charge distributions of valence quarks in the proton

Strangeness Photoproduction on Quasifree Neutrons : Proceedings of the 10th International Workshop on the Physics of Excited Nucleons (NSTAR2015)

Strangeness photoproduction in the elementary reactions $\gamma N\rightarrow KY$ offers the possibility to study nucleon resonances in the mass region above 1.7 GeV, where the number of states and their properties are still under debate. These reactions could allow the first 'complete' experiment in pseudoscalar meson photoproduction due to the easier access to recoil polarization observables in experiments. In addition to measurements on proton targets, a full isospin decomposition of the $I=1/2$ electromagnetic amplitudes requires also data obtained from quasifree neutron targets. This contribution shows first preliminary results on feasibility studies for such measurements at the A2 experiment at MAMI.Comment: Contribution to the proceedings of the 10th International Workshop on the Physics of Excited Nucleons - NSTAR2015, 25-28 May 2015, Osaka, Japan, to be published in JPS conference proceeding

Test of the CLAS12 RICH large scale prototype in the direct proximity focusing configuration

A large area ring-imaging Cherenkov detector has been designed to provide clean hadron identification capability in the momentum range from 3 GeV/c up to 8 GeV/c for the CLAS12 experiments at the upgraded 12 GeV continuous electron beam accelerator facility of Jefferson Laboratory. The adopted solution foresees a novel hybrid optics design based on aerogel radiator, composite mirrors and high-packed and high-segmented photon detectors. Cherenkov light will either be imaged directly (forward tracks) or after two mirror reflections (large angle tracks). We report here the results of the tests of a large scale prototype of the RICH detector performed with the hadron beam of the CERN T9 experimental hall for the direct detection configuration. The tests demonstrated that the proposed design provides the required pion-to-kaon rejection factor of 1:500 in the whole momentum range.Comment: 15 pages, 23 figures, to appear on EPJ

Target and Beam-Target Spin Asymmetries in Exclusive Pion Electroproduction for Q\u3csup\u3e2\u3c/sup\u3e \u3e 1 GeV\u3csup\u3e2\u3c/sup\u3e . I. ep → eπ\u3csup\u3e+\u3c/sup\u3en

Beam-target double-spin asymmetries and target single-spin asymmetries were measured for the exclusive π+ electroproduction reaction γ∗p→nπ+. The results were obtained from scattering of 6-GeV longitudinally polarized electrons off longitudinally polarized protons using the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer at Jefferson Laboratory. The kinematic range covered is 1.1 \u3c W \u3c 3 GeV and 1 \u3c Q2 \u3c 6 GeV2. Results were obtained for about 6000 bins in W, Q2, cos(θ∗), and φ∗. Except at forward angles, very large target-spin asymmetries are observed over the entire W region. Reasonable agreement is found with phenomenological fits to previous data for W \u3c 1.6 GeV, but very large differences are seen at higher values of W. A generalized parton distributions (GPD)-based model is in poor agreement with the data. When combined with cross-sectional measurements, the present results provide powerful constraints on nucleon resonance amplitudes at moderate and large values of Q2, for resonances with masses as high as 2.4 GeV. © 2017 American Physical Society

Target and Double Spin Asymmetries of Deeply Virtual π\u3csup\u3e0\u3c/sup\u3e Production With a Longitudinally Polarized Proton Target and CLAS

The target and double spin asymmetries of the exclusive pseudoscalar channel e→p→→epπ0 were measured for the first time in the deep-inelastic regime using a longitudinally polarized 5.9 GeV electron beam and a longitudinally polarized proton target at Jefferson Lab with the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS). The data were collected over a large kinematic phase space and divided into 110 four-dimensional bins of Q2, xB, −t and ϕ. Large values of asymmetry moments clearly indicate a substantial contribution to the polarized structure functions from transverse virtual photon amplitudes. The interpretation of experimental data in terms of generalized parton distributions (GPDs) provides the first insight on the chiral-odd GPDs HT and ET, and complement previous measurements of unpolarized structure functions sensitive to the GPDs HT and ET. These data provide a crucial input for parametrizations of essentially unknown chiral-odd GPDs and will strongly influence existing theoretical calculations based on the handbag formalism. © 2017 The Author(s

Exclusive η Electroproduction at W \u3e 2 GeV with CLAS and Transversity Generalized Parton Distributions

The cross section of the exclusive η electroproduction reaction ep -\u3e e\u27p\u27 η was measured at Jefferson Laboratory with a 5.75 GeV electron beam and the CLAS detector. Differential cross sections d4σ /dtdQ2 dxBd φη and structure functions σU=σT + εσL, σTT, and σLT, as functions of t, were obtained over a wide range of Q2 and xB. The η structure functions are compared with those previously measured for π0 at the same kinematics. At low t, both π0 and eta are described reasonably well by generalized parton distributions (GPDs) in which chiral-odd transversity GPDs are dominant. The π0 and η data, when taken together, can facilitate the flavor decomposition of the transversity GPDs

Beam-Target Double-Spin Asymmetry in Quasielastic Electron Scattering off the Deuteron with CLAS

Background: The deuteron plays a pivotal role in nuclear and hadronic physics, as both the simplest bound multinucleon system and as an effective neutron target. Quasielastic electron scattering on the deuteron is a benchmark reaction to test our understanding of deuteron structure and the properties and interactions of the two nucleons bound in the deuteron. Purpose: The experimental data presented here can be used to test state-of-the-art models of the deuteron and the two-nucleon interaction in the final state after two-body breakup of the deuteron. Focusing on polarization degrees of freedom, we gain information on spin-momentum correlations in the deuteron ground state (due to the D-state admixture) and on the limits of the impulse approximation (IA) picture as it applies to measurements of spin-dependent observables like spin structure functions for bound nucleons. Information on this reaction can also be used to reduce systematic uncertainties on the determination of neutron form factors or deuteron polarization through quasielastic polarized electron scattering. Method: We measured the beam-target double-spin asymmetry (A||) for quasielastic electron scattering off the deuteron at several beam energies (1.6-1.7, 2.5, 4.2, and 5.6-5.8 GeV), using the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS) at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. The deuterons were polarized along (or opposite to) the beam direction. The double-spin asymmetries were measured as a function of photon virtuality Q2 (0.13-3.17 (GeV/c)2), missing momentum (pm = 0.0-0.5 GeV/c), and the angle between the (inferred) spectator neutron and the momentum transfer direction (θnq). Results: The results are compared with a recent model that includes final-state interactions (FSI) using a complete parametrization of nucleon-nucleon scattering, as well as a simplified model using the plane wave impulse approximation (PWIA). We find overall good agreement with both the PWIA and FSI expectations at low to medium missing momenta (pm \u3c= 0.25 GeV/c), including the change of the asymmetry due to the contribution of the deuteron D state at higher momenta. At the highest missing momenta, our data clearly agree better with the calculations including FSI. Conclusions: Final-state interactions seem to play a lesser role for polarization observables in deuteron two-body electrodisintegration than for absolute cross sections. Our data, while limited in statistical power, indicate that PWIA models work reasonably well to understand the asymmetries at lower missing momenta. In turn, this information can be used to extract the product of beam and target polarization (PbPt) from quasielastic electron-deuteron scattering, which is useful for measurements of spin observables in electron-neutron inelastic scattering. However, at the highest missing (neutron) momenta, FSI effects become important and must be accounted for

Comment on the narrow structure reported by Amaryan et al

The CLAS Collaboration provides a comment on the physics interpretation of the results presented in a paper published by M. Amaryan et al. regarding the possible observation of a narrow structure in the mass spectrum of a photoproduction experiment.Comment: to be published in Physical Review