We report results for the virtual photon asymmetry $A_1$ on the nucleon from new Jefferson Lab measurements. The experiment, which used the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer and longitudinally polarized proton ($^{15}$NH$_3$) and deuteron ($^{15}$ND$_3$) targets, collected data with a longitudinally polarized electron beam at energies between 1.6 GeV and 5.7 GeV. In the present paper, we concentrate on our results for $A_1(x,Q^2)$ and the related ratio $g_1/F_1(x,Q^2)$ in the resonance and the deep inelastic regions for our lowest and highest beam energies, covering a range in momentum transfer $Q^2$ from 0.05 to 5.0 GeV$^2$ and in final-state invariant mass $W$ up to about 3 GeV. Our data show detailed structure in the resonance region, which leads to a strong $Q^2$--dependence of $A_1(x,Q^2)$ for $W$ below 2 GeV. At higher $W$, a smooth approach to the scaling limit, established by earlier experiments, can be seen, but $A_1(x,Q^2)$ is not strictly $Q^2$--independent. We add significantly to the world data set at high $x$, up to $x = 0.6$. Our data exceed the SU(6)-symmetric quark model expectation for both the proton and the deuteron while being consistent with a negative $d$-quark polarization up to our highest $x$. This data setshould improve next-to-leading order (NLO) pQCD fits of the parton polarization distributions.
A1 and g1/F1 for the P target at incident energy 1.6000 GeV and W = 1.5500 GeV.
The ep -> e'pi^+n reaction was studied in the first and second nucleon resonance regions in the 0.25 GeV^2 < Q^2 < 0.65 GeV^2 range using the CLAS detector at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. For the first time the absolute cross sections were measured covering nearly the full angular range in the hadronic center-of-mass frame. The structure functions sigma_TL, sigma_TT and the linear combination sigma_T+epsilon*sigma_L were extracted by fitting the phi-dependence of the measured cross sections, and were compared to the MAID and Sato-Lee models.
Structure functions for Q**2 = 0.30 GeV**2 and W = 1.53 GeV.
We report on the measurement of inclusive electron scattering off a carbon target performed with CLAS at Jefferson Laboratory. A combination of three different beam energies 1.161, 2.261 and 4.461 GeV allowed us to reach an invariant mass of the final-state hadronic system W~2.4 GeV with four-momentum transfers Q2 ranging from 0.2 to 5 GeV2. These data, together with previous measurements of the inclusive electron scattering off proton and deuteron, which cover a similar continuous two-dimensional region of Q2 and Bjorken variable x, permit the study of nuclear modifications of the nucleon structure. By using these, as well as other world data, we evaluated the F2 structure function and its moments. Using an OPE-based twist expansion, we studied the Q2-evolution of the moments, obtaining a separation of the leading-twist and the total higher-twist terms. The carbon-to-deuteron ratio of the leading-twist contributions to the F2 moments exhibits the well known EMC effect, compatible with that discovered previously in x-space. The total higher-twist term in the carbon nucleus appears, although with large systematic uncertainites, to be smaller with respect to the deuteron case for n<7, suggesting partial parton deconfinement in nuclear matter. We speculate that the spatial extension of the nucleon is changed when it is immersed in the nuclear medium.
F2 measurements for a Q**2 of 1.450 GeV**2.
High-statistics differential cross sections for the reactions gamma p -> p eta and gamma p -> p eta-prime have been measured using the CLAS at Jefferson Lab for center-of-mass energies from near threshold up to 2.84 GeV. The eta-prime results are the most precise to date and provide the largest energy and angular coverage. The eta measurements extend the energy range of the world's large-angle results by approximately 300 MeV. These new data, in particular the eta-prime measurements, are likely to help constrain the analyses being performed to search for new baryon resonance states.
Differential cross section for the W range 1.89 to 1.90 GeV.
The polarized longitudinal-transverse structure function $\sigma_{LT^\prime}$ measures the interference between real and imaginary amplitudes in pion electroproduction and can be used to probe the coupling between resonant and non-resonant processes. We report new measurements of $\sigma_{LT^\prime}$ in the $N(1440){1/2}^+$ (Roper) resonance region at $Q^2=0.40$ and 0.65 GeV$^2$ for both the $\pi^0 p$ and $\pi^+ n$ channels. The experiment was performed at Jefferson Lab with the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS) using longitudinally polarized electrons at a beam energy of 1.515 GeV. Complete angular distributions were obtained and are compared to recent phenomenological models. The $\sigma_{LT^\prime}(\pi^+ n)$ channel shows a large sensitivity to the Roper resonance multipoles $M_{1-}$ and $S_{1-}$ and provides new constraints on models of resonance formation.
Polarized structure function of the reaction E- P --> E- PI0 P for Q**2 = 0.40 and W = 1.34 GeV.
The $f_1(1285)$ meson with mass $1281.0 \pm 0.8$ MeV/$c^2$ and width $18.4 \pm 1.4$ MeV (FWHM) was measured for the first time in photoproduction from a proton target using CLAS at Jefferson Lab. Differential cross sections were obtained via the $\eta\pi^{+}\pi^{-}$, $K^+\bar{K}^0\pi^-$, and $K^-K^0\pi^+$ decay channels from threshold up to a center-of-mass energy of 2.8 GeV. The mass, width, and an amplitude analysis of the $\eta\pi^{+}\pi^{-}$ final-state Dalitz distribution are consistent with the axial-vector $J^P=1^+$ $f_1(1285)$ identity, rather than the pseudoscalar $0^-$ $\eta(1295)$. The production mechanism is more consistent with $s$-channel decay of a high-mass $N^*$ state, and not with $t$-channel meson exchange. Decays to $\eta\pi\pi$ go dominantly via the intermediate $a_0^\pm(980)\pi^\mp$ states, with the branching ratio $\Gamma(a_0\pi \text{ (no} \bar{K} K\text{)}) / \Gamma(\eta\pi\pi \text{(all)}) = 0.74\pm0.09$. The branching ratios $\Gamma(K \bar{K} \pi)/\Gamma(\eta\pi\pi) = 0.216\pm0.033$ and $\Gamma(\gamma\rho^0)/\Gamma(\eta\pi\pi) = 0.047\pm0.018$ were also obtained. The first is in agreement with previous data for the $f_1(1285)$, while the latter is lower than the world average.
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