arXiv subjects

A. Schmidt

Publications and source records attributed to A. Schmidt.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2021

Polarization transfer in $\vec{e}^+p \rightarrow e^+ \vec{p}$ scattering using the Super BigBite Spectrometer

The effects of multi-photon-exchange and other higher-order QED corrections on elastic electron-proton scattering have been a subject of high experimental and theoretical interest since the polarization transfer measurements of the proton electromagnetic form factor ratio $G_E^p/G_M^p$ at large momentum transfer $Q^2$ conclusively established the strong decrease of this ratio with $Q^2$ for $Q^2 \gtrsim 1$ GeV$^2$. This result is incompatible with previous extractions of this quantity from cross section measurements using the Rosenbluth Separation technique. Much experimental attention has been focused on extracting the two-photon exchange (TPE) effect through the unpolarized $e^+p/e^-p$ cross section ratio, but polarization transfer in polarized elastic scattering can also reveal evidence of hard two-photon exchange. Furthermore, it has a different sensitivity to the generalized TPE form factors, meaning that measurements provide new information that cannot be gleaned from unpolarized scattering alone. Both $ε$-dependence of polarization transfer at fixed $Q^2$, and deviations between electron-proton and positron-proton scattering are key signatures of hard TPE. A polarized positron beam at Jefferson Lab would present a unique opportunity to make the first measurement of positron polarization transfer, and comparison with electron-scattering data would place valuable constraints on hard TPE. Here, we propose a measurement program in Hall A that combines the Super BigBite Spectrometer for measuring recoil proton polarization, with a non-magnetic calorimetric detector for triggering on elastically scattered positrons. Though the reduced beam current of the positron beam will restrict the kinematic reach, this measurement will have very small systematic uncertainties, making it a clean probe of TPE.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2021

Nucleon off-shell structure and the free neutron valence structure from A=3 inclusive electron scattering measurements

Understanding the differences between the distribution of quarks bound in protons and neutrons is key for constraining the mechanisms of SU(6) spin-flavor symmetry breaking in Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD). While vast amounts of proton structure measurements were done, data on the structure of the neutron is much more spars as experiments typically extract the structure of neutrons from measurements of light atomic nuclei using model-dependent corrections for nuclear effects. Recently the MARATHON collaboration performed such an extraction by measuring inclusive deep-inelastic electron-scattering on helium-3 and tritium mirror nuclei where nuclear effects are expected to be similar and thus be suppressed in the helium-3 to tritium ratio. Here we evaluate the model dependence of this extraction by examining a wide range of models including the effect of using instant-form and light-cone nuclear wave functions and several different parameterizations of nucleon modification effects, including those with and without isospin dependence. We find that, while the data cannot differentiate among the different models of nuclear structure and nucleon modification, they consistently prefer a neutron-to-proton structure function ratio of at $x_B \rightarrow 1$ of $\sim 0.4$ with a typical uncertainty ($1σ$) of $\sim0.05$ and $\sim0.10$ for isospin-independent and isospin-dependent modification models, respectively. While strongly favoring SU(6) symmetry breaking models based on perturbative QCD and the Schwinger-Dyson equation calculation, the MARATHON data do not completely rule out the scalar di-quark models if an isospin-dependent modification exist.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Transport Estimations of Final State Interaction Effects on Short-range Correlation Studies Using the $(e,e'p)$ and $(e,e'pp)$ Reactions

Short range correlated (SRC) nucleon-nucleon pairs in nuclei are typically studied using measurements of electron-induced hard nucleon-knockout reactions (e.g. $(e,e'p)$ and $(e,e'pN)$), where the kinematics of the knocked-out nucleons are used to infer their initial state prior to the interaction. The validity of this inference relies on our understanding of the scattering reaction, most importantly how rescattering of the detected nucleons (final state interactions or FSI) distort their kinematical distributions. Recent SRC measurements on medium to heavy nuclei have been performed at high-$x_B$ (i.e., anti-parallel kinematics) where calculations of light nuclei indicate that such distortion effects are small. Here we study the impact of FSI on recent $^{12}$C$(e,e'p)$ and $^{12}$C$(e,e'pp)$ measurements using a transport approach. We find that while FSI can significantly distort the measured kinematical distributions of SRC breakup events, selecting high-$x_B$ anti-parallel events strongly suppresses such distortions. In addition, including the effects of FSI improves the agreement between Generalized Contact Formalism-based calculations and data and can help identify those observables that have minimal sensitivity to FSI effects. This result helps confirm the interpretation of experimental data in terms of initial-state momentum distributions and provides a new tool for the study of SRCs using lepton-scattering reactions.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2021

Extracing the number of short-range corerlated nucleon pairs from inclusive electron scattering data

The extraction of the relative abundances of short-range correlated (SRC) nucleon pairs from inclusive electron scattering is studied using the generalized contact formalism (GCF) with several nuclear interaction models. GCF calculations can reproduce the observed scaling of the cross-section ratios for nuclei relative to deuterium at high-$x_B$ and large-$Q^2$, $a_2=(σ_A/A)/(σ_d/2)$. In the non-relativistic instant-form formulation, the calculation is very sensitive to the model parameters and only reproduces the data using parameters that are inconsistent with ab-initio many-body calculations. Using a light-cone GCF formulation significantly decreases this sensitivity and improves the agreement with ab-initio calculations. The ratio of similar mass isotopes, such as $^{40}$Ca and $^{48}$Ca, should be sensitive to the nuclear asymmetry dependence of SRCs, but is found to also be sensitive to low-energy nuclear structure. Thus the empirical association of SRC pair abundances with the measured $a_2$ values is only accurate to about $20\%$. Improving this will require cross-section calculations that reproduce the data while properly accounting for both nuclear structure and relativistic effects.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2021

Final results of the LOPES radio interferometer for cosmic-ray air showers

LOPES, the LOFAR prototype station, was an antenna array for cosmic-ray air showers operating from 2003 - 2013 within the KASCADE-Grande experiment. Meanwhile, the analysis is finished and the data of air-shower events measured by LOPES are available with open access in the KASCADE Cosmic Ray Data Center (KCDC). This article intends to provide a summary of the achievements, results, and lessons learned from LOPES. By digital, interferometric beamforming the detection of air showers became possible in the radio-loud environment of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). As a prototype experiment, LOPES tested several antenna types, array configurations and calibration techniques, and pioneered analysis methods for the reconstruction of the most important shower parameters, i.e., the arrival direction, the energy, and mass-dependent observables such as the position of the shower maximum. In addition to a review and update of previously published results, we also present new results based on end-to-end simulations including all known instrumental properties. For this, we applied the detector response to radio signals simulated with the CoREAS extension of CORSIKA, and analyzed them in the same way as measured data. Thus, we were able to study the detector performance more accurately than before, including some previously inaccessible features such as the impact of noise on the interferometric cross-correlation beam. These results led to several improvements, which are documented in this paper and can provide useful input for the design of future cosmic-ray experiments based on the digital radio-detection technique.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2021

Scale and Scheme Independence and Position-Momentum Equivalence of Nuclear Short-Range Correlations

Ab-initio Quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) calculations of nuclei from deuterium to 40Ca, obtained using four different phenomenological and local chiral nuclear potentials, are analyzed using the Generalized Contact Formalism (GCF). We extract spin- and isospin-dependent "nuclear contact terms" for each interaction in both coordinate and momentum space. The extracted contact terms, that count the number of short-range correlated (SRC) pairs with different quantum numbers, are dependent on the nuclear interaction model used in the QMC calculation. However, the ratios of contact terms for a nucleus A to deuterium (for spin-1 pn pairs) or to 4He (for all NN pairs) are independent of the nuclear interaction model and are the same for both short-distance and high-momentum pairs. This implies that the relative abundance of short-range pairs in the nucleus is a long-range (mean-field) quantity that is insensitive to the short-distance nature of the nuclear force. Measurements of exclusive (e,e'NN) pair breakup processes are instead more sensitive to short-range dynamics

nucl-th↗

arXiv2020

MADMAX Status Report

In this report we present the status of the MAgnetized Disk and Mirror Axion eXperiment (MADMAX), the first dielectric haloscope for the direct search of dark matter axions in the mass range of 40 to 400 $μ$eV. MADMAX will consist of several parallel dielectric disks, which are placed in a strong magnetic field and with adjustable separations. This setting is expected to allow for an observable emission of axion induced electromagnetic waves at a frequency between 10 and 100 GHz corresponding to the axion mass. The present document orignated from a status report to the DESY PRC in 2019.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2020

A new experimental approach to probe QCD axion dark matter in the mass range above 40$μ$eV

The axion emerges in extensions of the Standard Model that explain the absence of CP violation in the strong interactions. Simultaneously, it can provide naturally the cold dark matter in our universe. Several searches for axions and axion-like particles (ALPs) have constrained the corresponding parameter space over the last decades but no unambiguous hints of their existence have been found. The axion mass range below 1 meV remains highly attractive and a well motivated region for dark matter axions. In this White Paper we present a description of a new experiment based on the concept of a dielectric haloscope for the direct search of dark matter axions in the mass range of 40 to 400 $μ$eV. This MAgnetized Disk and Mirror Axion eXperiment (MADMAX) will consist of several parallel dielectric disks, which are placed in a strong magnetic field and with adjustable separations. This setting is expected to allow for an observable emission of axion induced electromagnetic waves at a frequency between 10 to 100 GHz corresponding to the axion mass.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2020

Probing the core of the strong nuclear interaction

The strong nuclear interaction between nucleons (protons and neutrons) is the effective force that holds the atomic nucleus together. This force stems from fundamental interactions between quarks and gluons (the constituents of nucleons) that are described by the equations of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD). However, as these equations cannot be solved directly, physicists resort to describing nuclear interactions using effective models that are well constrained at typical inter-nucleon distances in nuclei but not at shorter distances. This limits our ability to describe high-density nuclear matter such as in the cores of neutron stars. Here we use high-energy electron scattering measurements that isolate nucleon pairs in short-distance, high-momentum configurations thereby accessing a kinematical regime that has not been previously explored by experiments, corresponding to relative momenta above 400 MeV/c. As the relative momentum between two nucleons increases and their separation thereby decreases, we observe a transition from a spin-dependent tensor-force to a predominantly spin-independent scalar-force. These results demonstrate the power of using such measurements to study the nuclear interaction at short-distances and also support the use of point-like nucleons with two- and three-body effective interactions to describe nuclear systems up to densities several times higher than the central density of atomic nuclei.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2020

Studying Short-Range Correlations with Real Photon Beams at GlueX

The past few years has seen tremendous progress in our understanding of short-range correlated (SRC) pairing of nucleons within nuclei, much of it coming from electron scattering experiments leading to the break-up of an SRC pair. The interpretation of these experiments rests on assumptions about the mechanism of the reaction. These assumptions can be directly tested by studying SRC pairs using alternate probes, such as real photons. We propose a 30-day experiment using the Hall D photon beam, nuclear targets, and the GlueX detector in its standard configuration to study short-range correlations with photon-induced reactions. Several different reaction channels are possible, and we project sensitivity in most channels to equal or exceed the 6 GeV-era SRC experiments from Halls A and B. The proposed experiment will therefore decisively test the phenomena of np dominance, the short-distance NN interaction, and reaction theory, while also providing new insight into bound nucleon structure and the onset of color transparency.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2020

Liquid metal intercalation of epitaxial graphene: large-area gallenene layer fabrication through gallium self-propagation at ambient conditions

We demonstrate the fabrication of an ultra thin gallium film, also known as gallenene, beneath epitaxial graphene on 6H-SiC under ambient conditions triggered by liquid gallium intercalation. Gallenene has been fabricated using the liquid metal intercalation, achieving lateral intercalation and diffusion of Ga atoms at room temperature on square centimeter areas limited only by the graphene samples' size. The stepwise self-propagation of the gallenene film below the epitaxial graphene surface on the macroscopic scale was observed by optical microscopy shortly after the initial processing without further physical or chemical treatment. Directional Ga diffusion of gallenene occurs on SiC terraces since the terrace steps form an energetic barrier (Ehrlich-Schwoebel barrier),retarding the gallenene propagation. The subsequent conversion of the epitaxial graphene into quasi free-standing bilayer graphene (QFBLG) and the graphene-gallenene heterostack interactions have been analyzed by XPS and Raman measurements. The results reveal a novel approach for controlled fabrication of wafer-scale gallenene as well as for two-dimensional heterostructures and stacks based on the interaction between liquid metal and epitaxial graphene. Please note, this work was also titled as Graphene meets gallenene -- A straightforward approach to developing large-area heterostacks by gallium self-propagation https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333451130_Graphene_meets_gallenene_-_A_straightforward_approach_to_developing_large-area_heterostacks_by_gallium_self-propagation

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2020

Short-Range Correlations and the Nuclear EMC Effect in Deuterium and Helium-3

The EMC effect in deuterium and helium-3 is studied using a convolution formalism that allows isolating the impact of high-momentum nucleons in short-ranged correlated (SRC) pairs. We assume that the modification of the structure function of bound nucleons is given by a universal (i.e. nucleus independent) function of their virtuality, and find that the effect of such modifications is dominated by nucleons in SRC pairs. This SRC-dominance of nucleon modifications is observed despite the fact that the bulk of the nuclear inelastic scattering cross-section comes from interacting with low-momentum nucleons. These findings are found to be robust to model details including nucleon modification function parametrization, free nucleon structure function and treatment of nucleon motion effects. While existing data cannot discriminate between such model details, we present predictions for measured, but not yet published, tritium EMC effect and tagged nucleon structure functions in deuterium that are sensitive to the neutron structure functions and bound nucleon modification functions.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2020

The CLAS12 Backward Angle Neutron Detector (BAND)

The Backward Angle Neutron Detector (BAND) of CLAS12 detects neutrons emitted at backward angles of $155^\circ$ to $175^\circ$, with momenta between $200$ and $600$ MeV/c. It is positioned 3 meters upstream of the target, consists of $18$ rows and $5$ layers of $7.2$ cm by $7.2$ cm scintillator bars, and read out on both ends by PMTs to measure time and energy deposition in the scintillator layers. Between the target and BAND there is a 2 cm thick lead wall followed by a 2 cm veto layer to suppress gammas and reject charged particles. This paper discusses the component-selection tests and the detector assembly. Timing calibrations (including offsets and time-walk) were performed using a novel pulsed-laser calibration system, resulting in time resolutions better than $250$ ps (150 ps) for energy depositions above 2 MeVee (5 MeVee). Cosmic rays and a variety of radioactive sources were used to calibration the energy response of the detector. Scintillator bar attenuation lengths were measured. The time resolution results in a neutron momentum reconstruction resolution, $δp/p < 1.5$\% for neutron momentum $200\le p\le 600$ MeV/c. Final performance of the BAND with CLAS12 is shown, including electron-neutral particle timing spectra and a discussion of the off-time neutral contamination as a function of energy deposition threshold.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2020

Probing few-body nuclear dynamics via 3H and 3He (e,e'p)pn cross-section measurements

We report the first measurement of the \eep three-body breakup reaction cross sections in helium-3 ($^3$He) and tritium ($^3$H) at large momentum transfer ($\langle Q^2 \rangle \approx 1.9$ (GeV/c)$^2$) and $x_B>1$ kinematics, where the cross section should be sensitive to quasielastic (QE) scattering from single nucleons. The data cover missing momenta $40 \le p_{miss} \le 500$ MeV/c that, in the QE limit with no rescattering, equals the initial momentum of the probed nucleon. The measured cross sections are compared with state-of-the-art ab-initio calculations. Overall good agreement, within $\pm20\%$, is observed between data and calculations for the full $p_{miss}$ range for $^3$H and for $100 \le p_{miss} \le 350$ MeV/c for $^3$He. Including the effects of rescattering of the outgoing nucleon improves agreement with the data at $p_{miss} > 250$ MeV/c and suggests contributions from charge-exchange (SCX) rescattering. The isoscalar sum of $^3$He plus $^3$H, which is largely insensitive to SCX, is described by calculations to within the accuracy of the data over the entire $p_{miss}$ range. This validates current models of the ground state of the three-nucleon system up to very high initial nucleon momenta of $500$ MeV/c.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2020

Laser Calibration System for Time of Flight Scintillator Arrays

A laser calibration system was developed for monitoring and calibrating time of flight (TOF) scintillating detector arrays. The system includes setups for both small- and large-scale scintillator arrays. Following test-bench characterization, the laser system was recently commissioned in experimental Hall B at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility for use on the new Backward Angle Neutron Detector (BAND) scintillator array. The system successfully provided time walk corrections, absolute time calibration, and TOF drift correction for the scintillators in BAND. This showcases the general applicability of the system for use on high-precision TOF detectors.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2020

Modified Structure of Protons and Neutrons in Correlated Pairs

The atomic nucleus is made of protons and neutrons (nucleons), that are themselves composed of quarks and gluons. Understanding how the quark-gluon structure of a nucleon bound in an atomic nucleus is modified by the surrounding nucleons is an outstanding challenge. Although evidence for such modification, known as the EMC effect, was first observed over 35 years ago, there is still no generally accepted explanation of its cause. Recent observations suggest that the EMC effect is related to close-proximity Short Range Correlated (SRC) nucleon pairs in nuclei. Here we report the first simultaneous, high-precision, measurements of the EMC effect and SRC abundances. We show that the EMC data can be explained by a universal modification of the structure of nucleons in neutron-proton (np) SRC pairs and present the first data-driven extraction of this universal modification function. This implies that, in heavier nuclei with many more neutrons than protons, each proton is more likely than each neutron to belong to an SRC pair and hence to have its quark structure distorted.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2020

Neutron valence structure from nuclear deep inelastic scattering

Mechanisms of spin-flavor SU(6) symmetry breaking in Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) are studied via an extraction of the free neutron structure function from a global analysis of deep inelastic scattering (DIS) data on the proton and on nuclei from $A = 2$ (deuterium) to 208 (lead). Modification of the structure function of nucleons bound in atomic nuclei (known as the EMC effect) are consistently accounted for within the framework of a universal modification of nucleons in short-range correlated (SRC) pairs. Our extracted neutron-to-proton structure function ratio $F_2^n/F_2^p$ becomes constant for $x_B \ge 0.6$, equalling $0.47 \pm 0.04$ as $x_B \rightarrow 1$, in agreement with theoretical predictions of perturbative QCD and the Dyson Schwinger equation, and in disagreement with predictions of the Scalar Diquark dominance model. We also predict $F_2^{^3\mathrm{He}}/F_2^{^3\mathrm{H}}$, recently measured, yet unpublished, by the MARATHON collaboration, the nuclear correction function that is needed to extract $F_2^n/F_2^p$ from $F_2^{^3\mathrm{He}}/F_2^{^3\mathrm{H}}$, and the theoretical uncertainty associated with this extraction.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2020

Generalized Contact Formalism Analysis of the $^4$He$(e,e'pN)$ Reaction

Measurements of short-range correlations in exclusive $^4$He$(e,e'pN)$ reactions are analyzed using the Generalized Contact Formalism (GCF). We consider both instant-form and light-cone formulations with both the AV18 and local N2LO(1.0) nucleon-nucleon ($NN$) potentials. We find that kinematic distributions, such as the reconstructed pair opening angle, recoil neutron momentum distribution, and pair center of mass motion, as well as the measured missing energy, missing mass distributions, are all well reproduced by GCF calculations. The missing momentum dependence of the measured $^4$He$(e,e'pN)$ / $^4$He$(e,e'p)$ cross-section ratios, sensitive to nature of the $NN$ interaction at short-distacnes, are also well reproduced by GCF calculations using either interaction and formulation. This gives credence to the GCF scale-separated factorized description of the short-distance many-body nuclear wave-function.

nucl-th↗