A Coherent Interpretation of the Form Factors of the Nucleon in Terms of a Pion Cloud and Constituent Quarks

The recent unbiased measurements of the electric form factor of the neutron suggest that its shape may be interpreted as a smooth broad distribution with a bump at Q^2 \approx 0.3(GeV/c)^2 superimposed. As a consequence the corresponding charge distribution in the Breit frame shows a negative charge extending as far out as 2fm. It is natural to identify this charge with the pion cloud. This realisation is then used to reanalyse all old and new data of the electric and magnetic from factors of the proton and the neutron by a phenomenological fit and by a fit based on the constituent quark model. It is shown that it is possible to fit all form factors coherently with both ansaetzen and that they all show the signal of the pion cloud.Comment: 17 pages, 17 figure

Infinite Nuclear Matter on the Light Front: Nucleon-Nucleon Correlations

A relativistic light front formulation of nuclear dynamics is developed and applied to treating infinite nuclear matter in a method which includes the correlations of pairs of nucleons: this is light front Brueckner theory. We start with a hadronic meson-baryon Lagrangian that is consistent with chiral symmetry. This is used to obtain a light front version of a one-boson-exchange nucleon-nucleon potential (OBEP). The accuracy of our description of the nucleon-nucleon (NN) data is good, and similar to that of other relativistic OBEP models. We derive, within the light front formalism, the Hartree-Fock and Brueckner Hartree-Fock equations. Applying our light front OBEP, the nuclear matter saturation properties are reasonably well reproduced. We obtain a value of the compressibility, 180 MeV, that is smaller than that of alternative relativistic approaches to nuclear matter in which the compressibility usually comes out too large. Because the derivation starts from a meson-baryon Lagrangian, we are able to show that replacing the meson degrees of freedom by a NN interaction is a consistent approximation, and the formalism allows one to calculate corrections to this approximation in a well-organized manner. The simplicity of the vacuum in our light front approach is an important feature in allowing the derivations to proceed. The mesonic Fock space components of the nuclear wave function are obtained also, and aspects of the meson and nucleon plus-momentum distribution functions are computed. We find that there are about 0.05 excess pions per nucleon.Comment: 39 pages, RevTex, two figure

Light Front Quantization--A Technique for Relativistic and Realistic Nuclear Physics

Applications of relativistic light front dynamics to computing wave functions of heavy nuclei are reviewed. The motivation for this is the desire to find wave functions, expressed in terms of the plus-momentum variable, that simplify the analyses of high energy experiments such as deep inelastic scattering, Drell-Yan production, (e,e') and (p,p').Some examples of ordinary quantum mechanics are solved to show that the formalism is tractable. Light-front quantization is reviewed briefly and applied to: infinite nuclear matter within the mean field approximation; a simple static source theory; finite nuclei using the mean field approximation; low-energy pion-nucleon scattering using a chiral Lagrangian; nucleon-nucleon scattering, within the one boson exchange approximation; and, infinite nuclear matter including the effects of two-nucleon correlations. Standard good results for nuclear saturation properties are obtained, with a possible improvement in the computed nuclear compressibility. Manifest rotational invariance is not used as an aid in doing calculations, but it does emerge in the results. It seems that nuclear physics can be done in a manner in which modern nuclear dynamics is respected, boost invariance in the $z$-direction is preserved, and in which rotational invariance is maintained. A salient feature is that $\omega,\sigma$ and $\pi$ mesons are important constituents of nuclei. It seems possible to find Lagrangians that yield reasonable descriptions of nuclear deep inelastic scattering and Drell-Yan reactions. Furthermore, the presence of the $\sigma$ and $\omega$ mesons could provide a nuclear enhancement of the ratio of the cross sections for longitudinally and transversely polarized virtual photons in accord with recent measurements by the HERMES collaboration.Comment: Prepared for Prog. Nucl. Part. Phys. 45 (2000

Light Front Treatment of Nuclei: Formalism and Simple Applications

A relativistic light front treatment of nuclei is developed by performing light front quantization for a chiral Lagrangian. The energy momentum tensor and the appropriate Hamiltonian are obtained. Three illustrations of the formalism are made. (1) Pion-nucleon scattering at tree level is shown to reproduce soft pion theorems. (2) The one boson exchange treatment of nucleon-nucleon scattering is developed and shown (by comparison with previous results of the equal time formulation) to lead to a reasonable description of nucleon-nucleon phase shifts. (3) The mean field approximation is applied to infinite nuclear matter, and the plus momentum distributions of that system are studied. The mesons are found to carry a significant fraction of the plus momentum, but are inaccessible to experiments.Comment: 48 pages, ReVTex, 3 .eps files included, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Mineralogy of a Mudstone at Yellowknife Bay, Gale Crater, Mars

Sedimentary rocks at Yellowknife Bay (Gale Crater) on Mars include mudstone sampled by the Curiosity rover. The samples, John Klein and Cumberland, contain detrital basaltic minerals, Ca-sulfates, Fe oxide/hydroxides, Fe-sulfides, amorphous material, and trioctahedral smectites. The John Klein smectite has basal spacing of ~10 Å indicating little interlayer hydration. The Cumberland smectite has basal spacing at ~13.2 Å as well as ~10 Å. The ~13.2 Å spacing suggests a partially chloritized interlayer or interlayer Mg or Ca facilitating H_2O retention. Basaltic minerals in the mudstone are similar to those in nearby eolian deposits. However, the mudstone has far less Fe-forsterite, possibly lost with formation of smectite plus magnetite. Late Noachian/Early Hesperian or younger age indicates that clay mineral formation on Mars extended beyond Noachian time

X-ray Diffraction Results from Mars Science Laboratory: Mineralogy of Rocknest at Gale Crater

The Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity scooped samples of soil from the Rocknest aeolian bedform in Gale crater. Analysis of the soil with the Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) x-ray diffraction (XRD) instrument revealed plagioclase (~An57), forsteritic olivine (~Fo62), augite, and pigeonite, with minor K-feldspar, magnetite, quartz, anhydrite, hematite, and ilmenite. The minor phases are present at, or near, detection limits. The soil also contains 27 ± 14 weight percent x-ray amorphous material, likely containing multiple Fe^(3+)- and volatile-bearing phases, including possibly a substance resembling hisingerite. The crystalline component is similar to the normative mineralogy of certain basaltic rocks from Gusev crater on Mars and of martian basaltic meteorites. The amorphous component is similar to that found on Earth in places such as soils on the Mauna Kea volcano, Hawaii

A Habitable Fluvio-Lacustrine Environment at Yellowknife Bay, Gale Crater, Mars

The Curiosity rover discovered fine-grained sedimentary rocks, inferred to represent an ancient lake, preserve evidence of an environment that would have been suited to support a Martian biosphere founded on chemolithoautotrophy. This aqueous environment was characterized by neutral pH, low salinity, and variable redox states of both iron and sulfur species. C, H, O, S, N, and P were measured directly as key biogenic elements, and by inference N and P are assumed to have been available. The environment likely had a minimum duration of hundreds to tens of thousands of years. These results highlight the biological viability of fluvial-lacustrine environments in the post-Noachian history of Mars

Volatile and Organic Compositions of Sedimentary Rocks in Yellowknife Bay, Gale crater, Mars

H₂O, CO₂, SO₂, O₂, H₂, H₂S, HCl, chlorinated hydrocarbons, NO and other trace gases were evolved during pyrolysis of two mudstone samples acquired by the Curiosity rover at Yellowknife Bay within Gale crater, Mars. H₂O/OH-bearing phases included 2:1 phyllosilicate(s), bassanite, akaganeite, and amorphous materials. Thermal decomposition of carbonates and combustion of organic materials are candidate sources for the CO₂. Concurrent evolution of O₂ and chlorinated hydrocarbons suggest the presence of oxychlorine phase(s). Sulfides are likely sources for S-bearing species. Higher abundances of chlorinated hydrocarbons in the mudstone compared with Rocknest windblown materials previously analyzed by Curiosity suggest that indigenous martian or meteoritic organic C sources may be preserved in the mudstone; however, the C source for the chlorinated hydrocarbons is not definitively of martian origin

The Petrochemistry of Jake_M: A Martian Mugearite

“Jake_M,” the first rock analyzed by the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer instrument on the Curiosity rover, differs substantially in chemical composition from other known martian igneous rocks: It is alkaline (>15% normative nepheline) and relatively fractionated. Jake_M is compositionally similar to terrestrial mugearites, a rock type typically found at ocean islands and continental rifts. By analogy with these comparable terrestrial rocks, Jake_M could have been produced by extensive fractional crystallization of a primary alkaline or transitional magma at elevated pressure, with or without elevated water contents. The discovery of Jake_M suggests that alkaline magmas may be more abundant on Mars than on Earth and that Curiosity could encounter even more fractionated alkaline rocks (for example, phonolites and trachytes)