Helicity asymmetries in double pion photoproduction on the proton

Based on a prior model on double pion photoproduction on the proton, successfully tested in total cross sections and invariant mass distributions, we make a theoretical study of the angular dependence of helicity asymmetries from the interaction of circularly polarized photons with unpolarized protons. We show that this observable is sensitive to details of the internal mechanisms and, thus, represents a complementary test of the theoretical model.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures, version accepted for publication in Nuclear Physics

Model independent analysis of polarization effects in elastic electron deuteron scattering in presence of two--photon exchange

The general spin structure of the matrix element, taking into account the two--photon exchange contribution, for the elastic electron (positron) --deuteron scattering has been derived using general symmetry properties of the hadron electromagnetic interaction, such as P--, C-- and T--invariances as well as lepton helicity conservation in QED at high energy. Taking into account also crossing symmetry, the amplitudes of $e^{\mp}d-$scattering can be parametrized in terms of fifteen real functions. The expressions for the differential cross section and for all polarization observables are given in terms of these functions. We consider the case of an arbitrary polarized deuteron target and polarized electron beam (both longitudinal and transverse). The transverse polarization of the electron beam induces a single--spin asymmetry which is non--zero in presence of two--photon exchange. It is shown that elastic deuteron electromagnetic form factors can still be extracted in presence of two photon exchange, from the measurements of the differential cross section and of one polarization observable (for example, the tensor asymmetry) for electron and positron deuteron elastic scattering, in the same kinematical conditions.Comment: 28 page

Precision Calculation of n+p->d+gamma Cross Section for Big-Bang Nucleosynthesis

An effective field theory calculation of the n+p->d+gamma cross section accurate to 1% for center of mass energy E up to ~1 MeV is presented. At these energies, which are relevant for big-bang nucleosynthesis, isovector magnetic transitions M1 and isovector electric transitions E1 give the dominant contributions. The M1 amplitude is calculated up to next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) and the contribution from the associated four-nucleon-one-photon operator is determined from the cold neutron capture rate. The E1 amplitude is calculated up to NNNNLO. The four-nucleon-one-photon operator contribution to E1 is determined from the related deuteron photodisintegration reaction gamma+d->n+p.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figures; References added, errors re-evaluated, conclusions unchange

Dispersion Effects in Nucleon Polarisabilities

We present a formalism to extract the dynamical nucleon polarisabilities defined via a multipole expansion of the structure amplitudes in nucleon Compton scattering. In contradistinction to the static polarisabilities, dynamical polarisabilities gauge the response of the internal degrees of freedom of a composed object to an external, real photon field of arbitrary energy. Being energy dependent, they therefore contain additional information about dispersive effects induced by internal relaxation mechanisms, baryonic resonances and meson production thresholds of the nucleon. We give explicit formulae to extract the dynamical electric and magnetic dipole as well as quadrupole polarisabilities from low energy nucleon Compton scattering up to the one pion production threshold and discuss the connection to the definition of static nucleon polarisabilities. As a concrete example, we examine the results of leading order Heavy Baryon Chiral Perturbation Theory for the four leading spin independent iso-scalar polarisabilities of the nucleon. Finally, we consider the possible r{\^o}le of energy dependent effects in low energy extractions of the iso-scalar dipole polarisabilities from Compton scattering on the deuteron.Comment: 17 pages LaTeX2e with 2 figures, using includegraphicx (5 .eps files). Minor corrections, references updated. Contents identical to version to appear in Phys. Rev. C 65, spelling differen

Selected Topics in High Energy Semi-Exclusive Electro-Nuclear Reactions

We review the present status of the theory of high energy reactions with semi-exclusive nucleon electro-production from nuclear targets. We demonstrate how the increase of transferred energies in these reactions opens a complete new window in studying the microscopic nuclear structure at small distances. The simplifications in theoretical descriptions associated with the increase of the energies are discussed. The theoretical framework for calculation of high energy nuclear reactions based on the effective Feynman diagram rules is described in details. The result of this approach is the generalized eikonal approximation (GEA), which is reduced to Glauber approximation when nucleon recoil is neglected. The method of GEA is demonstrated in the calculation of high energy electro-disintegration of the deuteron and A=3 targets. Subsequently we generalize the obtained formulae for A>3 nuclei. The relation of GEA to the Glauber theory is analyzed. Then based on the GEA framework we discuss some of the phenomena which can be studied in exclusive reactions, these are: nuclear transparency and short-range correlations in nuclei. We illustrate how light-cone dynamics of high-energy scattering emerge naturally in high energy electro-nuclear reactions.Comment: LaTex file with 51 pages and 23 eps figure

Relativistically invariant analysis of polarization effects in exclusive deuteron electrodisintegration process

A general formalism for the calculation of the differential cross section and polarization observables, for the process of deuteron electrodisintegration, is developed in the framework of relativistic impulse approximation. A detailed analysis of the general structure of the differential cross section and polarization observables for the $e^-+d\to e^-+n+p$ reaction is derived, using the formalism of the structure functions. The obtained expressions have a general nature and they hold in the one--photon--exchange mechanism, assuming P--invariance of the hadron electromagnetic interaction. The model of relativistic impulse approximation is introduced and the final state interaction is taken into account by means of the unitarization of the helicity amplitudes. A detailed description of the unitarization procedure is also presented. Using different parametrizations of the deuteron wave functions, the following polarization observables are calculated in the kinematical region of quasi--elastic deuteron electrodisintegration: the asymmetry for the scattering of longitudinally polarized electrons on a polarized deuteron target, the proton and neutron polarizations (for longitudinally polarized electron beam or vector--polarized deuteron target). The sensitivity to the neutron electric form factor is also thorougly investigated. The predictions of the model are compared with the results of recent polarization measurements and a good agreement with the existing experimental data has been obtained.Comment: 90 pages, 17 figure

Elastic and Raman scattering of 9.0 and 11.4 MeV photons from Au, Dy and In

Monoenergetic photons between 8.8 and 11.4 MeV were scattered elastically and in elastically (Raman) from natural targets of Au, Dy and In.15 new cross sections were measured. Evidence is presented for a slight deformation in the 197Au nucleus, generally believed to be spherical. It is predicted, on the basis of these measurements, that the Giant Dipole Resonance of Dy is very similar to that of 160Gd. A narrow isolated resonance at 9.0 MeV is observed in In.Comment: 31 pages, 11 figure

Hard probes of short-range nucleon-nucleon correlations

One of the primary goals of nuclear physics is providing a complete description of the structure of atomic nuclei. While mean-field calculations provide detailed information on the nuclear shell structure for a wide range of nuclei, they do not capture the complete structure of nuclei, in particular the impact of small, dense structures in nuclei. The strong, short-range component of the nucleon-nucleon potential yields hard interactions between nucleons which are close together, generating a high-momentum tail to the nucleon momentum distribution, with momenta well in excess of the Fermi momentum. This high-momentum component of the nuclear wave-function is one of the most poorly understood parts of nuclear structure. Utilizing high-energy probes, we can isolate scattering from high-momentum nucleons, and use these measurements to examine the structure and impact of short-range nucleon-nucleon correlations. Over the last decade we have moved from looking for evidence of such short-range structures to mapping out their strength in nuclei and examining their isospin structure. This has been made possible by high-luminosity and high-energy accelerators, coupled with an improved understanding of the reaction mechanism issues involved in studying these structures. We review the general issues related to short-range correlations, survey recent experiments aimed at probing these short-range structures, and lay out future possibilities to further these studies.Comment: Review article to appear in Prog.Part.Nucl.Phys. 77 pages, 33 figure

n+p -> d+gamma for Big-Bang Nucleosynthesis

The cross section for n+p -> d+gamma is calculated at energies relevant to big bang nucleosynthesis using the recently developed effective field theory that describes the two-nucleon sector. The E1 amplitude is computed up to NNNLO and depends only upon nucleon-nucleon phase shift data. In contrast, the M1 contribution is computed up to NLO, and the four-nucleon-one-magnetic-photon counterterm that enters is determined by the cross section for cold neutron capture. The uncertainty in the calculation for nucleon energies up to E ~ 1 MeV is estimated to be < 4%.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures, late

Signatures of three-nucleon interactions in few-nucleon systems

Recent experimental results in three-body systems have unambiguously shown that calculations based only on nucleon-nucleon forces fail to accurately describe many experimental observables and one needs to include effects which are beyond the realm of the two-body potentials. This conclusion owes its significance to the fact that experiments and calculations can both be performed with a high accuracy. In this review, both theoretical and experimental achievements of the past decade will be underlined. Selected results will be presented. The discussion on the effects of the three-nucleon forces is, however, limited to the hadronic sector. It will be shown that despite the major successes in describing these seemingly simple systems, there are still clear discrepancies between data and the state-of-the-art calculations.Comment: accepted for publication in Rep. Prog. Phy