arXiv subjects

E. W. Hughes

Publications and source records attributed to E. W. Hughes.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2024

The EMC Effect of Tritium and Helium-3 from the JLab MARATHON Experiment

Measurements of the EMC effect in the tritium and helium-3 mirror nuclei are reported. The data were obtained by the MARATHON Jefferson Lab experiment, which performed deep inelastic electron scattering from deuterium and the three-body nuclei, using a cryogenic gas target system and the High Resolution Spectrometers of the Hall A Facility of the Lab. The data cover the Bjorken $x$ range from 0.20 to 0.83, corresponding to a squared four-momentum transfer $Q^2$ range from 2.7 to $11.9\gevsq$, and to an invariant mass $W$ of the final hadronic state greater than 1.84 GeV/${\it c}^2$. The tritium EMC effect measurement is the first of its kind. The MARATHON experimental results are compared to results from previous measurements by DESY-HERMES and JLab-Hall C experiments, as well as with few-body theoretical predictions.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2021

Measurement of the Nucleon $F^n_2/F^p_2$ Structure Function Ratio by the Jefferson Lab MARATHON Tritium/Helium-3 Deep Inelastic Scattering Experiment

The ratio of the nucleon $F_2$ structure functions, $F_2^n/F_2^p$, is determined by the MARATHON experiment from measurements of deep inelastic scattering of electrons from $^3$H and $^3$He nuclei. The experiment was performed in the Hall A Facility of Jefferson Lab and used two high resolution spectrometers for electron detection, and a cryogenic target system which included a low-activity tritium cell. The data analysis used a novel technique exploiting the mirror symmetry of the two nuclei, which essentially eliminates many theoretical uncertainties in the extraction of the ratio. The results, which cover the Bjorken scaling variable range $0.19 < x < 0.83$, represent a significant improvement compared to previous SLAC and Jefferson Lab measurements for the ratio. They are compared to recent theoretical calculations and empirical determinations of the $F_2^n/F_2^p$ ratio.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2005

Higher Twists and Color Polarizabilities in the Neutron

Color polarizabilities of the neutron are extracted from data on the lowest moment of the spin-dependent $g_1$ structure function. New data in the resonance region from Jefferson Lab at $Q^2 \alt 1$ GeV$^2$, in combination with world data at higher $Q^2$, allow a systematic determination of the $1/Q^2$ corrections, and provide the first constraints on $1/Q^4$ corrections. The results suggest that higher-twist effects in the neutron are small, and that quark-hadron duality may be approximately valid, even down to $Q^2 \sim 1$ GeV$^2$.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2004

Experimental determination of the evolution of the Bjorken integral at low Q^2

We extract the Bjorken integral Gamma^{p-n}_1 in the range 0.17 < Q^2 < 1.10 GeV^2 from inclusive scattering of polarized electrons by polarized protons, deuterons and 3He, for the region in which the integral is dominated by nucleon resonances. These data bridge the domains of the hadronic and partonic descriptions of the nucleon. In combination with earlier measurements at higher Q^2, we extract the non-singlet twist-4 matrix element f_2.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2002

SLAC's Polarized Electron Source Laser System and Minimization of Electron Beam Helicity Correlations for the E-158 Parity Violation Experiment

SLAC E-158 is an experiment designed to make the first measurement of parity violation in Moller scattering. E-158 will measure the right-left cross-section asymmetry, A_LR^Moller, in the elastic scattering of a 45-GeV polarized electron beam off unpolarized electrons in a liquid hydrogen target. E-158 plans to measure the expected Standard Model asymmetry of ~10^-7 to an accuracy of better than 10^-8. To make this measurement, the polarized electron source requires for operation an intense circularly polarized laser beam and the ability to quickly switch between right- and left-helicity polarization states with minimal right-left helicity-correlated asymmetries in the resulting beam parameters (intensity, position, angle, spot size, and energy), ^beam A_LR's. This laser beam is produced by a unique SLAC-designed flashlamp-pumped Ti:Sapphire laser and is propagated through a carefully designed set of polarization optics. We analyze the transport of nearly circularly polarized light through the optical system and identify several mechanisms that generate ^beam A_LR's. We show that the dominant effects depend linearly on particular polarization phase shifts in the optical system. We present the laser system design and a discussion of the suppression and control of ^beam A_LR's. We also present results on beam performance from engineering and physics runs for E-158.

physics.acc-ph↗

arXiv2001

x- and xi-scaling of the Nuclear Structure Function at Large x

Inclusive electron scattering data are presented for ^2H and Fe targets at an incident electron energy of 4.045 GeV for a range of momentum transfers from Q^2 = 1 to 7 (GeV/c)^2. Data were taken at Jefferson Laboratory for low values of energy loss, corresponding to values of Bjorken x greater than or near 1. The structure functions do not show scaling in x in this range, where inelastic scattering is not expected to dominate the cross section. The data do show scaling, however, in the Nachtmann variable ξ. This scaling may be the result of Bloom Gilman duality in the nucleon structure function combined with the Fermi motion of the nucleons in the nucleus. The resulting extension of scaling to larger values of ξopens up the possibility of accessing nuclear structure functions in the high-x region at lower values of Q^2 than previously believed.

nucl-ex↗