arXiv subjects

A. Mkrtchyan

Publications and source records attributed to A. Mkrtchyan.

49 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2014

Deuteron Electro-Disintegration at Very High Missing Momenta

We propose to measure the D(e,e'p) cross section at $Q^2 = 4.25$ (GeV/c)$^2$ and $x_{bj} = 1.35$ for missing momenta ranging from $p_m = 0.5$ GeV/c to $p_m = 1.0$ GeV/c expanding the range of missing momenta explored in the Hall A experiment (E01-020). At these energy and momentum transfers, calculations based on the eikonal approximation have been shown to be valid and recent experiments indicated that final state interactions are relatively small and possibly independent of missing momenta. This experiment will provide for the first time data in this kinematic regime which are of fundamental importance to the study of short range correlations and high density fluctuations in nuclei. The proposed experiment could serve as a commissioning experiment of the new SHMS together with the HMS in Hall C. A total beam time of 21 days is requested.

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arXiv2014

The experiments with the High Resolution Kaon Spectrometer at JLab Hall C and the new spectroscopy of ${}^{12}_Λ\text{B}$ hypernuclei

Since the pioneering experiment, E89-009 studying hypernuclear spectroscopy using the $(e,e^{\prime}K^+)$ reaction was completed, two additional experiments, E01-011 and E05-115, were performed at Jefferson Lab. These later experiments used a modified experimental design, the "tilt method", to dramatically suppress the large electromagnetic background, and allowed for a substantial increase in luminosity. Additionally, a new kaon spectrometer, HKS (E01-011), a new electron spectrometer, HES, and a new splitting magnet were added to produce precision, high-resolution hypernuclear spectroscopy. These two experiments, E01-011 and E05-115, resulted in two new data sets, producing sub-MeV energy resolution in the spectra of ${}^{7}_Λ\text{He}$, ${}^{12}_Λ\text{B}$ and ${}^{28}_Λ\text{Al}$ and ${}^{7}_Λ\text{He}$, ${}^{10}_Λ\text{Be}$, ${}^{12}_Λ\text{B}$ and ${}^{52}_Λ\text{V}$. All three experiments obtained a ${}^{12}_Λ\text{B}$, spectrum, which is the most characteristic $p$-shell hypernucleus and is commonly used for calibration. Independent analyses of these different experiments demonstrate excellent consistency and provide the clearest level structure to date of this hypernucleus as produced by the $(e,e^{\prime}K^+)$ reaction. This paper presents details of these experiments, and the extraction and analysis of the observed ${}^{12}_Λ\text{B}$ spectrum.

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arXiv2013

Early Results from the Qweak Experiment

A subset of results from the recently completed Jefferson Lab Qweak experiment are reported. This experiment, sensitive to physics beyond the Standard Model, exploits the small parity-violating asymmetry in elastic ep scattering to provide the first determination of the protons weak charge Qweak(p). The experiment employed a 180 uA longitudinally polarized 1.16 GeV electron beam on a 35 cm long liquid hydrogen target. Scattered electrons corresponding to Q2 of 0.025 GeV2 were detected in eight Cerenkov detectors arrayed symmetrically around the beam axis. The goals of the experiment were to provide a measure of Qweak(p) to 4.2 percent (combined statistical and systematic error), which implies a measure of sin2(thetaw) at the level of 0.3 percent, and to help constrain the vector weak quark charges C1u and C1d. The experimental method is described, with particular focus on the challenges associated with the worlds highest power LH2 target. The new constraints on C1u and C1d provided by the subset of the experiments data analyzed to date will also be shown, together with the extracted weak charge of the neutron.

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arXiv2013

First Determination of the Weak Charge of the Proton

The Qweak experiment has measured the parity-violating asymmetry in polarized e-p elastic scattering at Q^2 = 0.025(GeV/c)^2, employing 145 microamps of 89% longitudinally polarized electrons on a 34.4cm long liquid hydrogen target at Jefferson Lab. The results of the experiment's commissioning run are reported here, constituting approximately 4% of the data collected in the experiment. From these initial results the measured asymmetry is Aep = -279 +- 35 (statistics) +- 31 (systematics) ppb, which is the smallest and most precise asymmetry ever measured in polarized e-p scattering. The small Q^2 of this experiment has made possible the first determination of the weak charge of the proton, QpW, by incorporating earlier parity-violating electron scattering (PVES) data at higher Q^2 to constrain hadronic corrections. The value of QpW obtained in this way is QpW(PVES) = 0.064 +- 0.012, in good agreement with the Standard Model prediction of QpW(SM) = 0.0710 +- 0.0007. When this result is further combined with the Cs atomic parity violation (APV) measurement, significant constraints on the weak charges of the up and down quarks can also be extracted. That PVES+APV analysis reveals the neutron's weak charge to be QnW(PVES+APV) = -0.975 +- 0.010.

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arXiv2013

Bucking Coil Implementation on PMT for Active Cancelling of Magnetic Field

Aerogel and water Cerenkov detectors were employed to tag kaons for a lambda hypernuclear spectroscopic experiment which used the (e,e'K+) reaction in experimental Hall C at Jefferson Lab (JLab E05-115). Fringe fields from the kaon spectrometer magnet yielded ~5 Gauss at the photomultiplier tubes (PMT) for these detectors which could not be easily shielded. As this field results in a lowered kaon detection efficiency, we implemented a bucking coil on each photomultiplier tubes to actively cancel this magnetic field, thus maximizing kaon detection efficiency.

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arXiv2013

Direct Measurements of the Lifetime of Heavy Hypernuclei

The lifetime of a Lambda particle embedded in a nucleus (hypernucleus) decreases from that of free Lambda decay due to the opening of the Lambda N to NN weak decay channel. However, it is generally believed that the lifetime of a hypernucleus attains a constant value (saturation) for medium to heavy hypernuclear masses, yet this hypothesis has been difficult to verify. The present paper reports a direct measurement of the lifetime of medium-heavy hypernuclei produced with a photon-beam from Fe, Cu, Ag, and Bi targets. The recoiling hypernuclei were detected by a fission fragment detector using low-pressure multi-wire proportional chambers. The experiment agrees remarkably well with the only previously-measured single-species heavy-hypernucleus lifetime, that of Fe56_Lambda at KEK, and has significantly higher precision. The experiment disagrees with the measured lifetime of an unknown combination of heavy hypernuclei with 180<A<225 and, with a small statistical and systematic uncertainty, strongly favors the expected saturation of the lifetime decrease.

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arXiv2012

Observation of the Helium 7 Lambda hypernucleus by the (e,e'K+) reaction

An experiment with a newly developed high-resolution kaon spectrometer (HKS) and a scattered electron spectrometer with a novel configuration was performed in Hall C at Jefferson Lab (JLab). The ground state of a neutron-rich hypernucleus, He 7 Lambda, was observed for the first time with the (e,e'K+) reaction with an energy resolution of ~0.6 MeV. This resolution is the best reported to date for hypernuclear reaction spectroscopy. The he 7 Lambda binding energy supplies the last missing information of the A=7, T=1 hypernuclear iso-triplet, providing a new input for the charge symmetry breaking (CSB) effect of ΛN potential.

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arXiv2012

The lead-glass electromagnetic calorimeters for the magnetic spectrometers in Hall C at Jefferson Lab

The electromagnetic calorimeters of the various magnetic spectrometers in Hall C at Jefferson Lab are presented. For the existing HMS and SOS spectrometers design considerations, relevant construction information, and comparisons of simulated and experimental results are included. The energy resolution of the HMS and SOS calorimeters is better than $σ/E \sim 6%/\sqrt E $, and pion/electron ($π/e$) separation of about 100:1 has been achieved in energy range 1 -- 5 GeV. Good agreement has been observed between the experimental and simulated energy resolutions, but simulations systematically exceed experimentally determined $π^-$ suppression factors by close to a factor of two. For the SHMS spectrometer presently under construction details on the design and accompanying GEANT4 simulation efforts are given. The anticipated performance of the new calorimeter is predicted over the full momentum range of the SHMS. Good electron/hadron separation is anticipated by combining the energy deposited in an initial (preshower) calorimeter layer with the total energy deposited in the calorimeter.

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arXiv2012

Polarization components in $π^{0}$ photoproduction at photon energies up to 5.6 GeV

We present new data for the polarization observables of the final state proton in the $^{1}H(\vecγ,\vec{p})π^{0}$ reaction. These data can be used to test predictions based on hadron helicity conservation (HHC) and perturbative QCD (pQCD). These data have both small statistical and systematic uncertainties, and were obtained with beam energies between 1.8 and 5.6 GeV and for $π^{0}$ scattering angles larger than 75$^{\circ}$ in center-of-mass (c.m.) frame. The data extend the polarization measurements data base for neutral pion photoproduction up to $E_γ=5.6 GeV$. The results show non-zero induced polarization above the resonance region. The polarization transfer components vary rapidly with the photon energy and $π^{0}$ scattering angle in c.m. frame. This indicates that HHC does not hold and that the pQCD limit is still not reached in the energy regime of this experiment.

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arXiv2012

The Qweak Experiment: A Search for New Physics at the TeV Scale via a Measurement of the Proton's Weak Charge

We propose a new precision measurement of parity-violating electron scattering on the proton at very low Q^2 and forward angles to challenge predictions of the Standard Model and search for new physics. A unique opportunity exists to carry out the first precision measurement of the proton's weak charge, $Q_W =1 - 4\sin^2θ_W$. A 2200 hour measurement of the parity violating asymmetry in elastic ep scattering at Q^2=0.03 (GeV/c)^2 employing 180 $μ$A of 85% polarized beam on a 35 cm liquid Hydrogen target will determine the proton's weak charge with approximately 4% combined statistical and systematic errors. The Standard Model makes a firm prediction of $Q_W$, based on the running of the weak mixing angle from the Z0 pole down to low energies, corresponding to a 10 sigma effect in this experiment.

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arXiv2011

Semi-Inclusive Charged-Pion Electroproduction off Protons and Deuterons: Cross Sections, Ratios and Access to the Quark-Parton Model at Low Energies

A large set of cross sections for semi-inclusive electroproduction of charged pions ($π^\pm$) from both proton and deuteron targets was measured. The data are in the deep-inelastic scattering region with invariant mass squared $W^2$ > 4 GeV$^2$ and range in four-momentum transfer squared $2 < Q^2 < 4$ (GeV/c)$^2$, and cover a range in the Bjorken scaling variable 0.2 < x < 0.6. The fractional energy of the pions spans a range 0.3 < z < 1, with small transverse momenta with respect to the virtual-photon direction, $P_t^2 < 0.2$ (GeV/c)$^2$. The invariant mass that goes undetected, $M_x$ or W', is in the nucleon resonance region, W' < 2 GeV. The new data conclusively show the onset of quark-hadron duality in this process, and the relation of this phenomenon to the high-energy factorization ansatz of electron-quark scattering and subsequent quark --> pion production mechanisms. The x, z and $P_t^2$ dependences of several ratios (the ratios of favored-unfavored fragmentation functions, charged pion ratios, deuteron-hydrogen and aluminum-deuteron ratios for $π^+$ and $π^-$) have been studied. The ratios are found to be in good agreement with expectations based upon a high-energy quark-parton model description. We find the azimuthal dependences to be small, as compared to exclusive pion electroproduction, and consistent with theoretical expectations based on tree-level factorization in terms of transverse-momentum-dependent parton distribution and fragmentation functions. In the context of a simple model, the initial transverse momenta of $d$ quarks are found to be slightly smaller than for $u$ quarks, while the transverse momentum width of the favored fragmentation function is about the same as for the unfavored one, and both fragmentation widths are larger than the quark widths.

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arXiv2011

Search for effects beyond the Born approximation in polarization transfer observables in $\vec{e}p$ elastic scattering

Intensive theoretical and experimental efforts over the past decade have aimed at explaining the discrepancy between data for the proton electric to magnetic form factor ratio, $G_{E}/G_{M}$, obtained separately from cross section and polarization transfer measurements. One possible explanation for this difference is a two-photon-exchange (TPEX) contribution. In an effort to search for effects beyond the one-photon-exchange or Born approximation, we report measurements of polarization transfer observables in the elastic $H(\vec{e},e'\vec{p})$ reaction for three different beam energies at a fixed squared momentum transfer $Q^2 = 2.5$ GeV$^2$, spanning a wide range of the virtual photon polarization parameter, $ε$. From these measured polarization observables, we have obtained separately the ratio $R$, which equals $μ_p G_{E}/G_{M}$ in the Born approximation, and the longitudinal polarization transfer component $P_\ell$, with statistical and systematic uncertainties of $ΔR \approx \pm 0.01 \mbox{(stat)} \pm 0.013 \mbox{(syst)}$ and $ΔP_\ell/P^{Born}_{\ell} \approx \pm 0.006 \mbox{(stat)}\pm 0.01 \mbox{(syst)}$. The ratio $R$ is found to be independent of $ε$ at the 1.5% level, while the $ε$ dependence of $P_\ell$ shows an enhancement of $(2.3 \pm 0.6) %$ relative to the Born approximation at large $ε$.

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arXiv2010

Recoil Polarization Measurements of the Proton Electromagnetic Form Factor Ratio to Q^2 = 8.5 GeV^2

Among the most fundamental observables of nucleon structure, electromagnetic form factors are a crucial benchmark for modern calculations describing the strong interaction dynamics of the nucleon's quark constituents; indeed, recent proton data have attracted intense theoretical interest. In this letter, we report new measurements of the proton electromagnetic form factor ratio using the recoil polarization method, at momentum transfers Q2=5.2, 6.7, and 8.5 GeV2. By extending the range of Q2 for which GEp is accurately determined by more than 50%, these measurements will provide significant constraints on models of nucleon structure in the non-perturbative regime.

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