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.
The Heavy Photon Search experiment took its first data in a 2015 engineering run using a 1.056 GeV, 50 nA electron beam provided by CEBAF at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, ...searching for a prompt, electroproduced dark photon with a mass between 19 and 81 MeV/c2. A search for a resonance in the e+e− invariant mass distribution, using 1.7 days (1170 nb−1) of data, showed no evidence of dark photon decays above the large QED background, confirming earlier searches and demonstrating the full functionality of the experiment. Upper limits on the square of the coupling of the dark photon to the standard model photon are set at the level of 6×10−6. Future runs with higher luminosity will explore new territory.
A determination of the spin and parity of the $\Lambda(1405)$ is presented using photoproduction data from the CLAS detector at Jefferson Lab. The reaction $\gamma + p \to K^+ + \Lambda(1405)$ is ...analyzed in the decay channel $\Lambda(1405) \to \Sigma^+ + \pi^-$, where the decay distribution to $\Sigma^+ \pi^-$ and the variation of the $\Sigma^+$ polarization with respect to the $\Lambda(1405)$ polarization direction determines the parity. The $\Lambda(1405)$ is produced, in the energy range $2.55 < W < 2.85$ GeV and for $0.6 < \cos \theta_{K^+} < 0.9$, with polarization $P = 0.45 \pm 0.02 (\text{stat}) \pm 0.07 (\text{syst})$. The analysis shows that the decays are in $S$ wave, with the $\Sigma^+$ polarized such that the $\Lambda(1405)$ has spin-parity $J^P = 1/2^-$, as expected by most theories.
The heavy photon search experiment (HPS) at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility searches for electroproduced dark photons. We report results from the 2016 engineering run consisting of ...10 608 nb–1 of data for both the prompt and displaced vertex searches. A search for a prompt resonance in the e+e– invariant mass distribution between 39 and 179 MeV showed no evidence of dark photons above the large QED background, limiting the coupling of ε2≳10–5, in agreement with previous searches. The search for displaced vertices showed no evidence of excess signal over background in the masses between 60 and 150 MeV, but had insufficient luminosity to limit canonical heavy photon production. This is the first displaced vertex search result published by HPS. HPS has taken high-luminosity data runs in 2019 and 2021 that will explore new dark photon phase space.
The exclusive reaction γp→pK+K− was studied in the photon energy range 3.0–3.8 GeV and momentum transfer range 0.6<−t<1.3 GeV2. Data were collected with the CLAS detector at the Thomas Jefferson ...National Accelerator Facility. In this kinematic range the integrated luminosity was approximately 20 pb−1. The reaction was isolated by detecting the K+ and the proton in CLAS, and reconstructing the K− via the missing-mass technique. Moments of the dikaon decay angular distributions were extracted from the experimental data. Besides the dominant contribution of the ϕ meson in the P wave, evidence for S−P interference was found. The differential production cross sections dσ/dt for individual waves in the mass range of the ϕ resonance were extracted and compared to predictions of a Regge-inspired model. This is the first time the t-dependent cross section of the S-wave contribution to the elastic K+K− photoproduction has been measured.