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A. Nass

Publications and source records attributed to A. Nass.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Longitudinal double-spin asymmetries in semi-inclusive deep-inelastic scattering of electrons and positrons by protons and deuterons

A comprehensive collection of results on longitudinal double-spin asymmetries is presented for charged pions and kaons produced in semi-inclusive deep-inelastic scattering of electrons and positrons on the proton and deuteron, based on the full HERMES data set. The dependence of the asymmetries on hadron transverse momentum and azimuthal angle extends the sensitivity to the flavor structure of the nucleon beyond the distribution functions accessible in the collinear framework. No strong dependence on those variables is observed. In addition, the hadron charge-difference asymmetry is presented, which under certain model assumptions provides access to the helicity distributions of valence quarks.

hep-ex↗

Phase Measurement for Driven Spin Oscillations in a Storage Ring

This paper reports the first simultaneous measurement of the horizontal and vertical components of the polarization vector in a storage ring under the influence of a radio frequency (rf) solenoid. The experiments were performed at the Cooler Synchrotron COSY in Jülich using a vector polarized, bunched $0.97\,\textrm{GeV/c}$ deuteron beam. Using the new spin feedback system, we set the initial phase difference between the solenoid field and the precession of the polarization vector to a predefined value. The feedback system was then switched off, allowing the phase difference to change over time, and the solenoid was switched on to rotate the polarization vector. We observed an oscillation of the vertical polarization component and the phase difference. The oscillations can be described using an analytical model. The results of this experiment also apply to other rf devices with horizontal magnetic fields, such as Wien filters. The precise manipulation of particle spins in storage rings is a prerequisite for measuring the electric dipole moment (EDM) of charged particles.

physics.acc-ph↗

Physics perspectives with AFTER@LHC (A Fixed Target ExpeRiment at LHC)

AFTER@LHC is an ambitious fixed-target project in order to address open questions in the domain of proton and neutron spins, Quark Gluon Plasma and high-$x$ physics, at the highest energy ever reached in the fixed-target mode. Indeed, thanks to the highly energetic 7 TeV proton and 2.76 A.TeV lead LHC beams, center-of-mass energies as large as $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 115 GeV in pp/pA and $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 72 GeV in AA can be reached, corresponding to an uncharted energy domain between SPS and RHIC. We report two main ways of performing fixed-target collisions at the LHC, both allowing for the usage of one of the existing LHC experiments. In these proceedings, after discussing the projected luminosities considered for one year of data taking at the LHC, we will present a selection of projections for light and heavy-flavour production.

hep-ex↗

The connection between zero chromaticity and long in-plane polarization lifetime in a magnetic storage ring

In this paper, we demonstrate the connection between a magnetic storage ring with additional sextupole fields set so that the x and y chromaticities vanish and the maximizing of the lifetime of in-plane polarization (IPP) for a 0.97-GeV/c deuteron beam. The IPP magnitude was measured by continuously monitoring the down-up scattering asymmetry (sensitive to sideways polarization) in an in-beam, carbon-target polarimeter and unfolding the precession of the IPP due to the magnetic anomaly of the deuteron. The optimum operating conditions for a long IPP lifetime were made by scanning the field of the storage ring sextupole magnet families while observing the rate of IPP loss during storage of the beam. The beam was bunched and electron cooled. The IPP losses appear to arise from the change of the orbit circumference, and consequently the particle speed and spin tune, due to the transverse betatron oscillations of individual particles in the beam. The effects of these changes are canceled by an appropriate sextupole field setting.

physics.acc-ph↗

Phase locking the spin precession in a storage ring

This letter reports the successful use of feedback from a spin polarization measurement to the revolution frequency of a 0.97 GeV/$c$ bunched and polarized deuteron beam in the Cooler Synchrotron (COSY) storage ring in order to control both the precession rate ($\approx 121$ kHz) and the phase of the horizontal polarization component. Real time synchronization with a radio frequency (rf) solenoid made possible the rotation of the polarization out of the horizontal plane, yielding a demonstration of the feedback method to manipulate the polarization. In particular, the rotation rate shows a sinusoidal function of the horizontal polarization phase (relative to the rf solenoid), which was controlled to within a one standard deviation range of $σ= 0.21$ rad. The minimum possible adjustment was 3.7 mHz out of a revolution frequency of 753 kHz, which changes the precession rate by 26 mrad/s. Such a capability meets a requirement for the use of storage rings to look for an intrinsic electric dipole moment of charged particles.

physics.acc-ph↗

Ratios of helicity amplitudes for exclusive $ρ^0$ electroproduction on transversely polarized protons

Exclusive $ρ^0$-meson electroproduction is studied by the HERMES experiment, using the 27.6 GeV longitudinally polarized electron/positron beam of HERA and a transversely polarized hydrogen target, in the kinematic region 1.0 GeV$^2$<Q$^2$<7.0 GeV$^2$, 3.0 GeV<W<6.3 GeV, and -t'<0.4 GeV$^2$. Using an unbinned maximum-likelihood method, 25 parameters are extracted. These determine the real and imaginary parts of the ratios of several helicity amplitudes describing $ρ^0$-meson production by a virtual photon. The denominator of those ratios is the dominant amplitude, the nucleon-helicity-non-flip amplitude $F_{0\frac{1}{2}0\frac{1}{2}}$, which describes the production of a longitudinal $ρ^{0}$-meson by a longitudinal virtual photon. The ratios of nucleon-helicity-non-flip amplitudes are found to be in good agreement with those from the previous HERMES analysis. The transverse target polarization allows for the first time the extraction of ratios of a number of nucleon-helicity-flip amplitudes to $F_{0\frac{1}{2}0\frac{1}{2}}$. Results obtained in a handbag approach based on generalized parton distributions taking into account the contribution from pion exchange are found to be in good agreement with these ratios. Within the model, the data favor a positive sign for the $π-ρ$ transition form factor. By also exploiting the longitudinal beam polarization, a total of 71 $ρ^0$ spin-density matrix elements is determined from the extracted 25 parameters, in contrast to only 53 elements as directly determined in earlier analyses.

hep-ex↗

New method for a continuous determination of the spin tune in storage rings and implications for precision experiments

A new method to determine the spin tune is described and tested. In an ideal planar magnetic ring, the spin tune - defined as the number of spin precessions per turn - is given by $ν_s = γG$ (gamma is the Lorentz factor, $G$ the magnetic anomaly). For 970 MeV/c deuterons coherently precessing with a frequency of ~120 kHz in the Cooler Synchrotron COSY, the spin tune is deduced from the up-down asymmetry of deuteron carbon scattering. In a time interval of 2.6 s, the spin tune was determined with a precision of the order $10^{-8}$, and to $1 \cdot 10^{-10}$ for a continuous 100 s accelerator cycle. This renders the presented method a new precision tool for accelerator physics: controlling the spin motion of particles to high precision is mandatory, in particular, for the measurement of electric dipole moments of charged particles in a storage ring.

physics.acc-ph↗

Spin tune mapping as a novel tool to probe the spin dynamics in storage rings

Precision experiments, such as the search for electric dipole moments of charged particles using storage rings, demand for an understanding of the spin dynamics with unprecedented accuracy. The ultimate aim is to measure the electric dipole moments with a sensitivity up to 15 orders in magnitude better than the magnetic dipole moment of the stored particles. This formidable task requires an understanding of the background to the signal of the electric dipole from rotations of the spins in the spurious magnetic fields of a storage ring. One of the observables, especially sensitive to the imperfection magnetic fields in the ring is the angular orientation of stable spin axis. Up to now, the stable spin axis has never been determined experimentally, and in addition, the JEDI collaboration for the first time succeeded to quantify the background signals that stem from false rotations of the magnetic dipole moments in the horizontal and longitudinal imperfection magnetic fields of the storage ring. To this end, we developed a new method based on the spin tune response of a machine to artificially applied longitudinal magnetic fields. This novel technique, called \textit{spin tune mapping}, emerges as a very powerful tool to probe the spin dynamics in storage rings. The technique was experimentally tested in 2014 at the cooler synchrotron COSY, and for the first time, the angular orientation of the stable spin axis at two different locations in the ring has been determined to an unprecedented accuracy of better than $2.8μ$rad.

physics.acc-ph↗

Polynomial Chaos Expansion method as a tool to evaluate and quantify field homogeneities of a novel waveguide RF Wien Filter

For the measurement of the electric dipole moment of protons and deuterons, a novel waveguide RF Wien filter has been designed and will soon be integrated at the COoler SYnchrotron at Jülich. The device operates at the harmonic frequencies of the spin motion. It is based on a waveguide structure that is capable of fulfilling the Wien filter condition ($\vec{E} \perp \vec{B}$) \textit{by design}. The full-wave calculations demonstrated that the waveguide RF Wien filter is able to generate high-quality RF electric and magnetic fields. In reality, mechanical tolerances and misalignments decrease the simulated field quality, and it is therefore important to consider them in the simulations. In particular, for the electric dipole moment measurement, it is important to quantify the field errors systematically. Since Monte-Carlo simulations are computationally very expensive, we discuss here an efficient surrogate modeling scheme based on the Polynomial Chaos Expansion method to compute the field quality in the presence of tolerances and misalignments and subsequently to perform the sensitivity analysis at zero additional computational cost.

physics.ins-det↗

Electromagnetic Simulation and Design of a Novel Waveguide RF Wien Filter for Electric Dipole Moment Measurements of Protons and Deuterons

The conventional Wien filter is a device with orthogonal static magnetic and electric fields, often used for velocity separation of charged particles. Here we describe the electromagnetic design calculations for a novel waveguide RF Wien filter that will be employed to solely manipulate the spins of protons or deuterons at frequencies of about 0.1 to 2 MHz at the COoler SYnchrotron COSY at Jülich. The device will be used in a future experiment that aims at measuring the proton and deuteron electric dipole moments, which are expected to be very small. Their determination, however, would have a huge impact on our understanding of the universe.

physics.ins-det↗

Spin density matrix elements in exclusive $ω$ electroproduction on $^1$H and $^2$H targets at 27.5 GeV beam energy

Exclusive electroproduction of $ω$ mesons on unpolarized hydrogen and deuterium targets is studied in the kinematic region of Q$^2$>1.0 GeV$^2$, 3.0 GeV < W < 6.3 GeV, and -t'< 0.2 GeV$^2$. Results on the angular distribution of the $ω$ meson, including its decay products, are presented. The data were accumulated with the HERMES forward spectrometer during the 1996-2007 running period using the 27.6 GeV longitudinally polarized electron or positron beam of HERA. The determination of the virtual-photon longitudinal-to-transverse cross-section ratio reveals that a considerable part of the cross section arises from transversely polarized photons. Spin density matrix elements are presented in projections of Q$^2$ or -t'. Violation of s-channel helicity conservation is observed for some of these elements. A sizable contribution from unnatural-parity-exchange amplitudes is found and the phase shift between those amplitudes that describe transverse $ω$ production by longitudinal and transverse virtual photons, $γ^{*}_{L} \to ω_{T}$ and $γ^{*}_{T} \to ω_{T}$, is determined for the first time. A hierarchy of helicity amplitudes is established, which mainly means that the unnatural-parity-exchange amplitude describing the $γ^*_T \to ω_T$ transition dominates over the two natural-parity-exchange amplitudes describing the $γ^*_L \to ω_L$ and $γ^*_T \to ω_T$ transitions, with the latter two being of similar magnitude. Good agreement is found between the HERMES proton data and results of a pQCD-inspired phenomenological model that includes pion-pole contributions, which are of unnatural parity.

hep-ex↗

Physics case for a polarised target for AFTER@LHC

We review a number of ideas put forward in favour of the use of a polarised target along with the proposed idea of a fixed-target experiment using the LHC beams -- AFTER@LHC. A number of recent studies have shown that single transverse-spin asymmetries (STSAs) are large enough to be precisely measured in the region accessible with AFTER@LHC, in particular as regards the Drell-Yan process as well as single-pion, isolated-photon and jet production. AFTER@LHC with a polarised target would also be the ideal experimental set-up to measure the gluon Sivers effect via a number of original quarkonium STSA studies. We discuss first figures-of-merit based on simulations for AFTER@LHC with a polarised target.

nucl-ex↗

Transverse-target-spin asymmetry in exclusive $ω$-meson electroproduction

Hard exclusive electroproduction of $ω$ mesons is studied with the HERMES spectrometer at the DESY laboratory by scattering 27.6 GeV positron and electron beams off a transversely polarized hydrogen target. The amplitudes of five azimuthal modulations of the single-spin asymmetry of the cross section with respect to the transverse proton polarization are measured. They are determined in the entire kinematic region as well as for two bins in photon virtuality and momentum transfer to the nucleon. Also, a separation of asymmetry amplitudes into longitudinal and transverse components is done. These results are compared to a phenomenological model that includes the pion pole contribution. Within this model, the data favor a positive $πω$ transition form factor.

hep-ex↗

Bose-Einstein correlations in hadron-pairs from lepto-production on nuclei ranging from hydrogen to xenon

Bose-Einstein correlations of like-sign charged hadrons produced in deep-inelastic electron and positron scattering are studied in the HERMES experiment using nuclear targets of $^1$H, $^2$H, $^3$He, $^4$He, N, Ne, Kr, and Xe. A Gaussian approach is used to parametrize a two-particle correlation function determined from events with at least two charged hadrons of the same sign charge. This correlation function is compared to two different empirical distributions that do not include the Bose-Einstein correlations. One distribution is derived from unlike-sign hadron pairs, and the second is derived from mixing like-sign pairs from different events. The extraction procedure used simulations incorporating the experimental setup in order to correct the results for spectrometer acceptance effects, and was tested using the distribution of unlike-sign hadron pairs. Clear signals of Bose-Einstein correlations for all target nuclei without a significant variation with the nuclear target mass are found. Also, no evidence for a dependence on the invariant mass W of the photon-nucleon system is found when the results are compared to those of previous experiments.

hep-ex↗

Pentaquark $Θ^+$ search at HERMES

The earlier search at HERMES for narrow baryon states excited in quasi-real photoproduction, decaying through the channel $pK_S^0\rightarrow pπ^+π^-$, has been extended with improved decay-particle reconstruction, more advanced particle identification, and increased event samples. The structure observed earlier at an invariant mass of 1528 MeV shifts to 1522 MeV and the statistical significance drops to about 2$σ$ for data taken with a deuterium target. The number of events above background is $68_{-31}^{+98}\text{(stat)}\pm13\text{(sys)}$. No such structure is observed in the hydrogen data set.

hep-ex↗

Toward polarized antiprotons: Machine development for spin-filtering experiments

The paper describes the commissioning of the experimental equipment and the machine studies required for the first spin-filtering experiment with protons at a beam kinetic energy of $49.3\,$MeV in COSY. The implementation of a low-$β$ insertion made it possible to achieve beam lifetimes of $τ_{\rm{b}}=8000\,$s in the presence of a dense polarized hydrogen storage-cell target of areal density $d_{\rm t}=(5.5\pm 0.2)\times 10^{13}\,\mathrm{atoms/cm^{2}}$. The developed techniques can be directly applied to antiproton machines and allow for the determination of the spin-dependent $\bar{p}p$ cross sections via spin filtering.

physics.acc-ph↗

Transverse polarization of $Λ$ hyperons from quasireal photoproduction on nuclei

The transverse polarization of $Λ$ hyperons was measured in inclusive quasireal photoproduction for various target nuclei ranging from hydrogen to xenon. The data were obtained by the HERMES experiment at HERA using the 27.6 GeV lepton beam and nuclear gas targets internal to the lepton storage ring. The polarization observed is positive for light target nuclei and is compatible with zero for krypton and xenon.

hep-ex↗