We systematically evaluate observables for hard exclusive electroproduction of real photons and compare them to experiment using a set of Generalized Parton Distributions (GPDs) whose parameters are ...constrained by Deeply Virtual Meson Production data, nucleon form factors and parton distributions. The Deeply Virtual Compton Scattering amplitudes are calculated to leading-twist accuracy and leading order in QCD perturbation theory while the leptonic tensor is treated exactly, without any approximation. This study constitutes a check of the universality of the GPDs. We summarize all relevant details on the parameterizations of the GPDs and describe its use in the handbag approach of the aforementioned hard scattering processes. We observe good agreement between predictions and measurements of deeply virtual Compton scattering on a wide kinematic range, including most data from H1, ZEUS, HERMES, Hall A and CLAS collaborations for unpolarized and polarized targets when available. We also give predictions relevant for future experiments at COMPASS and JLab after the 12 GeV upgrade.
In order to learn effectively from measurements of generalised parton distributions (GPDs), it is desirable to compute them using a framework that can potentially connect empirical information with ...basic features of the Standard Model. We sketch an approach to such computations, based upon a rainbow-ladder (RL) truncation of QCD's Dyson–Schwinger equations and exemplified via the pion's valence dressed-quark GPD, Hπv(x,ξ,t). Our analysis focuses primarily on ξ=0, although we also capitalise on the symmetry-preserving nature of the RL truncation by connecting Hπv(x,ξ=±1,t) with the pion's valence-quark parton distribution amplitude. We explain that the impulse-approximation used hitherto to define the pion's valence dressed-quark GPD is generally invalid owing to omission of contributions from the gluons which bind dressed-quarks into the pion. A simple correction enables us to identify a practicable improvement to the approximation for Hπv(x,0,t), expressed as the Radon transform of a single amplitude. Therewith we obtain results for Hπv(x,0,t) and the associated impact-parameter dependent distribution, qπv(x,|b→⊥|), which provide a qualitatively sound picture of the pion's dressed-quark structure at a hadronic scale. We evolve the distributions to a scale ζ=2 GeV, so as to facilitate comparisons in future with results from experiment or other nonperturbative methods.
The atomic nucleus is made of protons and neutrons (nucleons), which are themselves composed of quarks and gluons. Understanding how the quark-gluon structure of a nucleon bound in an atomic nucleus ...is modified by the surrounding nucleons is an outstanding challenge. Although evidence for such modification-known as the EMC effect-was first observed over 35 years ago, there is still no generally accepted explanation for its cause
. Recent observations suggest that the EMC effect is related to close-proximity short-range correlated (SRC) nucleon pairs in nuclei
. Here we report simultaneous, high-precision measurements of the EMC effect and SRC abundances. We show that EMC data can be explained by a universal modification of the structure of nucleons in neutron-proton SRC pairs and present a data-driven extraction of the corresponding universal modification function. This implies that in heavier nuclei with many more neutrons than protons, each proton is more likely than each neutron to belong to an SRC pair and hence to have distorted quark structure. This universal modification function will be useful for determining the structure of the free neutron and thereby testing quantum chromodynamics symmetry-breaking mechanisms and may help to discriminate between nuclear physics effects and beyond-the-standard-model effects in neutrino experiments.
The atomic nucleus is one of the densest and most complex quantum-mechanical systems in nature. Nuclei account for nearly all the mass of the visible Universe. The properties of individual nucleons ...(protons and neutrons) in nuclei can be probed by scattering a high-energy particle from the nucleus and detecting this particle after it scatters, often also detecting an additional knocked-out proton. Analysis of electron- and proton-scattering experiments suggests that some nucleons in nuclei form close-proximity neutron-proton pairs
with high nucleon momentum, greater than the nuclear Fermi momentum. However, how excess neutrons in neutron-rich nuclei form such close-proximity pairs remains unclear. Here we measure protons and, for the first time, neutrons knocked out of medium-to-heavy nuclei by high-energy electrons and show that the fraction of high-momentum protons increases markedly with the neutron excess in the nucleus, whereas the fraction of high-momentum neutrons decreases slightly. This effect is surprising because in the classical nuclear shell model, protons and neutrons obey Fermi statistics, have little correlation and mostly fill independent energy shells. These high-momentum nucleons in neutron-rich nuclei are important for understanding nuclear parton distribution functions (the partial momentum distribution of the constituents of the nucleon) and changes in the quark distributions of nucleons bound in nuclei (the EMC effect)
. They are also relevant for the interpretation of neutrino-oscillation measurements
and understanding of neutron-rich systems such as neutron stars
.
We measured the triple coincidence A(e,e^{'}np) and A(e,e^{'}pp) reactions on carbon, aluminum, iron, and lead targets at Q^{2}>1.5 (GeV/c)^{2}, x_{B}>1.1 and missing momentum >400 MeV/c. This was ...the first direct measurement of both proton-proton (pp) and neutron-proton (np) short-range correlated (SRC) pair knockout from heavy asymmetric nuclei. For all measured nuclei, the average proton-proton (pp) to neutron-proton (np) reduced cross-section ratio is about 6%, in agreement with previous indirect measurements. Correcting for single-charge exchange effects decreased the SRC pairs ratio to ∼3%, which is lower than previous results. Comparisons to theoretical generalized contact formalism (GCF) cross-section calculations show good agreement using both phenomenological and chiral nucleon-nucleon potentials, favoring a lower pp to np pair ratio. The ability of the GCF calculation to describe the experimental data using either phenomenological or chiral potentials suggests possible reduction of scale and scheme dependence in cross-section ratios. Our results also support the high-resolution description of high-momentum states being predominantly due to nucleons in SRC pairs.
We describe the architecture and functionalities of a C++ software framework, coined PARTONS, dedicated to the phenomenology of Generalized Parton Distributions. These distributions describe the ...three-dimensional structure of hadrons in terms of quarks and gluons, and can be accessed in deeply exclusive lepto- or photo-production of mesons or photons. PARTONS provides a necessary bridge between models of Generalized Parton Distributions and experimental data collected in various exclusive production channels. We outline the specification of the PARTONS framework in terms of practical needs, physical content and numerical capacity. This framework will be useful for physicists - theorists or experimentalists - not only to develop new models, but also to interpret existing measurements and even design new experiments.
Short-range correlated (SRC) nucleon pairs are a vital part of the nucleus, accounting for almost all nucleons with momentum greater than the Fermi momentum (k_{F}). A fundamental characteristic of ...SRC pairs is having large relative momenta as compared to k_{F}, and smaller center of mass (c.m.) which indicates a small separation distance between the nucleons in the pair. Determining the c.m. momentum distribution of SRC pairs is essential for understanding their formation process. We report here on the extraction of the c.m. motion of proton-proton (pp) SRC pairs in carbon and, for the first time in heavier and ansymetric nuclei: aluminum, iron, and lead, from measurements of the A(e,e^{'}pp) reaction. We find that the pair c.m. motion for these nuclei can be described by a three-dimensional Gaussian with a narrow width ranging from 140 to 170 MeV/c, approximately consistent with the sum of two mean-field nucleon momenta. Comparison with calculations appears to show that the SRC pairs are formed from mean-field nucleons in specific quantum states.
Measuring the spin structure of protons and neutrons tests our understanding of how they arise from quarks and gluons, the fundamental building blocks of nuclear matter. At long distances, the ...coupling constant of the strong interaction becomes large, requiring non-perturbative methods to calculate quantum chromodynamics processes, such as lattice gauge theory or effective field theories. Here we report proton spin structure measurements from scattering a polarized electron beam off polarized protons. The spin-dependent cross-sections were measured at large distances, corresponding to the region of low momentum transfer squared between 0.012 and 1.0 GeV2. This kinematic range provides unique tests of chiral effective field theory predictions. Our results show that a complete description of the nucleon spin remains elusive, and call for further theoretical works, for example, in lattice quantum chromodynamics. Finally, our data extrapolated to the photon point agree with the Gerasimov–Drell–Hearn sum rule, a fundamental prediction of quantum field theory that relates the anomalous magnetic moment of the proton to its integrated spin-dependent cross-sections.Measurements of the proton’s spin structure in experiments scattering a polarized electron beam off polarized protons in regions of low momentum transfer squared test predictions from chiral effective field theory of the strong interaction.
There is a significant discrepancy between the values of the proton electric form factor, G(E)(p), extracted using unpolarized and polarized electron scattering. Calculations predict that small ...two-photon exchange (TPE) contributions can significantly affect the extraction of G(E)(p) from 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 (Q(2)) simultaneously, as well as to cancel luminosity-related systematic errors. The cross section ratio increases with decreasing ϵ at Q(2)=1.45 GeV(2). This measurement is consistent with the size of the form factor discrepancy at Q(2)≈1.75 GeV(2) and with hadronic calculations including nucleon and Δ intermediate states, which have been shown to resolve the discrepancy up to 2-3 GeV(2).
The observation of beam spin asymmetries in two-pion production in semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering off an unpolarized proton target is reported. The data presented here were taken in the ...fall of 2018 with the CLAS12 spectrometer using a 10.6 GeV longitudinally spin-polarized electron beam delivered by CEBAF at JLab. The measured asymmetries provide the first opportunity to extract the parton distribution function e(x), which provides information about the interaction between gluons and quarks, in a collinear framework that offers cleaner access than previous measurements. The asymmetries also constitute the first ever signal sensitive to the helicity-dependent two-pion fragmentation function G_{1}^{⊥}. A clear sign change is observed around the ρ mass that appears in model calculations and is indicative of the dependence of the produced pions on the helicity of the fragmenting quark.