2009 APS April Meeting
Volume 54, Number 4
Saturday–Tuesday, May 2–5, 2009;
Denver, Colorado
Session G3: Few Body Physics II
8:30 AM–10:18 AM,
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Room: Plaza E
Sponsoring
Units:
DNP GFB
Chair: Ronald Gilman, Rutgers University
Abstract ID: BAPS.2009.APR.G3.2
Abstract: G3.00002 : From Deuterium to Free Neutrons - Recent Experimental Results
9:06 AM–9:42 AM
Preview Abstract
Abstract
Author:
Sebastian Kuhn
(Old Dominion University)
Lepton scattering has long been used to gather data on the internal
structure of both protons and neutrons. Assuming isospin symmetry, these
data can be used to pin down the contributions of both $u$ and $d$ quarks to the
spatial and momentum-spin structure of the nucleon and its excitations. In
this context, information on the neutron is crucial and is typically
obtained from experiments on few-body nuclear targets (predominantly
$^{3}$He and deuterium). However, the need to account for binding effects
complicates the interpretation of these experiments. On the other hand,
detailed studies of the reaction mechanism can yield important new
information on the structure of few-body nuclei and the interplay of nuclear
and quark degrees of freedom.
Recent theoretical and experimental advances have allowed us to make
significant progress on both fronts -- a cleaner extraction of neutron
properties from nuclear data and a better understanding of nuclear
modifications of the bound neutron structure. I will concentrate on recent
results on the deuteron. I will present a new extraction of neutron spin
structure functions in the resonance and large-$x$ region (from the EG1
experiment with CLAS at Jefferson Lab). The same data can also be used for a
detailed comparison with modern calculations of quasi-elastic spin-dependent
scattering on the deuteron. A second experimental program with CLAS uses the
technique of ``spectator tagging'' to extract the unpolarized structure
functions of the neutron with minimal uncertainties from nuclear effects. By
mapping out the dependence of the cross section on the ``spectator''
momentum, we can learn about final state interactions between the struck
nucleon and the spectator, as well as modifications of the neutron structure
due to nuclear binding. I will present preliminary results from the
``BoNuS'' experiment which pushed the detection limit of the spectator
proton down to momenta of 70 MeV/c, where nuclear corrections should become
small.
To cite this abstract, use the following reference: http://meetings.aps.org/link/BAPS.2009.APR.G3.2