A large area ring-imaging Cherenkov detector will be operated for hadron identification in the 3GeV/c to 8GeV/c momentum range at the CLAS12 experiment at the upgraded continuous electron beam ...accelerator facility of Jefferson Lab. The detector, consisting of aerogel radiator, composite mirrors and photon counters, will be built with a hybrid optics design to allow the detection of Cherenkov light for both forward and large angle hadron tracks. The active area has to be densely packed and highly segmented, covering about 1m2 with pixels of 6mm2, and to allow a time resolution of 1ns. A technology that can offer a cost-effective solution and low material budget could be Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPM) thanks to their high gain at low bias voltage, fast timing, good single-photoelectron resolution and insensitivity to magnetic fields. An investigation is ongoing on samples of 3×3mm2 SiPM of different micro-cell size to assess the single photon detection capability in the presence of high dark count rate due to thermal generation effects, after-pulses or optical cross-talk and to study the response to the moderate radiation damage expected at CLAS12. In this work, a brief review of the latest and most interesting results from these studies will be shown.
•SiPM performance as Cherenkov light detector for the CLAS12 RICH has been investigated.•Adequate time resolution and dark count suppression were validated by a test-beam.•Dark count characterization has been performed in conjunction with neutron irradiation.•Single photon counting is still possible at the neutron fluences expected at CLAS12.•Trench technology approaches standard performance with increasing neutron fluence.
Single-spin asymmetries for pions and charged kaons are measured in semi-inclusive deep-inelastic scattering of positrons and electrons off a transversely nuclear-polarized hydrogen target. The ...dependence of the cross section on the azimuthal angles of the target polarization (ϕS) and the produced hadron (ϕ) is found to have a substantial sin(ϕ+ϕS) modulation for the production of π+, π− and K+. This Fourier component can be interpreted in terms of non-zero transversity distribution functions and non-zero favored and disfavored Collins fragmentation functions with opposite sign. For π0 and K− production the amplitude of this Fourier component is consistent with zero.
The new experimental measurements of beam spin asymmetry were performed for the deeply virtual exclusive π0 production in a wide kinematic region with the photon virtualities Q2 up to 6.6 GeV2 and ...the Bjorken scaling variable xB in the valence regime. The data were collected by the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS12) at Jefferson Lab with longitudinally polarized 10.6 GeV electrons scattered on an unpolarized liquid-hydrogen target. Sizable asymmetry values indicate a substantial contribution from transverse virtual photon amplitudes to the polarized structure functions. The interpretation of these measurements in terms of the Generalized Parton Distributions (GPDs) demonstrates their sensitivity to the chiral-odd GPD E¯T, which contains information on quark transverse spin densities in unpolarized and polarized nucleons and provides access to the nucleon's transverse anomalous magnetic moment. Additionally, the data were compared to a theoretical model based on a Regge formalism that was extended to the high photon virtualities.
The new experimental measurements of beam spin asymmetry were performed for the deeply virtual exclusive $π$0 production in a wide kinematic region with the photon virtualities $Q$2 up to 8 GeV2 and ...the Bjorken scaling variable $x$$B$ in the valence regime. The data were collected by the CE BAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS12) at Jefferson Lab with longitudinally polarized 10.6 GeV electrons scattered on an unpolarized liquid-hydrogen target. Sizable asymmetry values indicate a substantial contribution from transverse virtual photon amplitudes to the polarized structure functions. The interpretation of these measurements in terms of the Generalized Parton Distributions (GPDs) demonstrates their sensitivity to the chiral-odd GPD $\overline{E}$$T$, which contains information on quark transverse spin densities in unpolarized and polarized nucleons and provides access to the proton’s transverse anomalous magnetic moment. Additionally, the data were compared to a theoretical model based on a Regge formalism that was extended to the high photon virtualities.
This paper presents, for the first time, measurements of neutron transparency ratios for nuclei relative to C measured using the (e,e′n) reaction, spanning measured neutron momenta of 1.4 to 2.4 ...GeV/c. The transparency ratios were extracted in two kinematical regions, corresponding to knockout of mean-field nucleons and to the breakup of Short-Range Correlated nucleon pairs. The extracted neutron transparency ratios are consistent with each other for the two measured kinematical regions and agree with the proton transparencies extracted from new and previous (e,e′p) measurements, including those from neutron-rich nuclei such as lead. The data also agree with and confirm the Glauber approximation that is commonly used to interpret experimental data. The nuclear-mass-dependence of the extracted transparencies scales as Aα with α=−0.289±0.007, which is consistent with nuclear-surface dominance of the reactions.
An atomic beam polarimeter for measurement of the hyperfine population numbers and the absolute polarization of thermal atomic hydrogen (H) and deuterium (D) beams is described. The principle of ...measurement and the method of calibration are given. The polarimeter measures the 4 (6) relative hyperfine population numbers of a thermal H (D) beam in the region of
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atoms
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to an absolute error of less than 0.01. The polarimeter has been in continuous operation with the internal polarized hydrogen and deuterium gas target used in the HERMES experiment at DESY since 1996.
An innovative solution is being pursued for the challenging magnetic problem of producing an internal transverse field around a polarized target, while shielding out an external longitudinal field ...from a detector. A hollow bulk superconductor can trap a transverse field that is present when cooled through its transition temperature, and also shield its interior from any subsequent field changes. Here, a feasibility study with a prototype bulk MgB2 superconducting cylinder is described. Promising measurements taken of the interior field retention and exterior field exclusion, together with the corresponding long-term stability performance, are reported. In the context of an electron scattering experiment, such a solution minimizes beam deflection and the energy loss of reaction products, while also eliminating the heat load to the target cryostat from current leads that would be used with conventional electromagnets.
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The spin-exchange collision cross-section for hydrogen atoms has been measured for the first time in the low temperature range 40–100 K by using the polarized hydrogen gas target of the HERMES ...experiment at DESY (Hamburg, Germany). The results agree with a previous measurement in the overlapping temperature region 80–100 K, while seem to hint an increasing behaviour with temperature in the region 50–80 K.