arXiv subjects

G. Ron

Publications and source records attributed to G. Ron.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2017

First measurement of the polarization observable $E$ and helicity-dependent cross sections in single $π^{0}$ photoproduction from quasi-free nucleons

The double-polarization observable $E$ and the helicity-dependent cross sections $σ_{1/2}$ and $σ_{3/2}$ have been measured for the first time for single $π^{0}$ photoproduction from protons and neutrons bound in the deuteron at the electron accelerator facility MAMI in Mainz, Germany. The experiment used a circularly polarized photon beam and a longitudinally polarized deuterated butanol target. The reaction products, recoil nucleons and decay photons from the $π^0$ meson were detected with the Crystal Ball and TAPS electromagnetic calorimeters. Effects from nuclear Fermi motion were removed by a kinematic reconstruction of the $π^{0}N$ final state. A comparison to data measured with a free proton target showed that the absolute scale of the cross sections is significantly modified by nuclear final-state interaction (FSI) effects. However, there is no significant effect on the asymmetry $E$ since the $σ_{1/2}$ and $σ_{3/2}$ components appear to be influenced in a similar way. Thus, the best approximation of the two helicity-dependent cross sections for the free neutron is obtained by combining the asymmetry $E$ measured with quasi-free neutrons and the unpolarized cross section corrected for FSI effects under the assumption that the FSI effects are similar for neutrons and protons.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2017

Measurement of the omega -> pi^0 e^+e^- and eta -> e^+e^-g Dalitz decays with the A2 setup at MAMI

The Dalitz decays eta -> e^+e^-g and omega -> pi^0 e^+e^- have been measured in the g p -> eta p and g p -> omega p reactions, respectively, with the A2 tagged-photon facility at the Mainz Microtron, MAMI. The value obtained for the slope parameter of the electromagnetic transition form factor of eta, Lambda^{-2}_eta=(1.97+/-0.11_tot) GeV^{-2}, is in good agreement with previous measurements of the eta -> e^+e^-g and eta -> mu^+mu^-g decays. The uncertainty obtained in the value of Lambda^{-2}_eta is lower than in previous results based on the eta -> e^+e^-g decay. The value obtained for the omega slope parameter, Lambda^{-2}_omega_pi^0 = (1.99+/-0.21_tot) GeV^{-2}, is somewhat lower than previous measurements based on omega -> pi^0 mu^+mu^-, but the results for the omega transition form factor are in better agreement with theoretical calculations, compared to earlier experiments.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2017

Helicity-dependent cross sections and double-polarization observable E in eta photoproduction from quasi-free protons and neutrons

Precise helicity-dependent cross sections and the double-polarization observable $E$ were measured for $η$ photoproduction from quasi-free protons and neutrons bound in the deuteron. The $η\rightarrow 2γ$ and $η\rightarrow 3π^0\rightarrow 6γ$ decay modes were used to optimize the statistical quality of the data and to estimate systematic uncertainties. The measurement used the A2 detector setup at the tagged photon beam of the electron accelerator MAMI in Mainz. A longitudinally polarized deuterated butanol target was used in combination with a circularly polarized photon beam from bremsstrahlung of a longitudinally polarized electron beam. The reaction products were detected with the electromagnetic calorimeters Crystal Ball and TAPS, which covered 98\% of the full solid angle. The results show that the narrow structure observed earlier in the unpolarized excitation function of $η$ photoproduction off the neutron appears only in reactions with antiparallel photon and nucleon spin ($σ_{1/2}$). It is absent for reactions with parallel spin orientation ($σ_{3/2}$) and thus very probably related to partial waves with total spin 1/2. The behavior of the angular distributions of the helicity-dependent cross sections was analyzed by fitting them with Legendre polynomials. The results are in good agreement with a model from the Bonn-Gatchina group, which uses an interference of $P_{11}$ and $S_{11}$ partial waves to explain the narrow structure.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2017

Measurement of the pi^0 -> e^+e^-gamma Dalitz decay at the Mainz Microtron

The Dalitz decay pi^0 -> e^+e^-gamma has been measured in the gamma p -> pi^0 p reaction with the A2 tagged-photon facility at the Mainz Microtron, MAMI. The value obtained for the slope parameter of the pi^0 electromagnetic transition form factor, a_pi = 0.030+/-0.010_tot, is in agreement with existing measurements of this decay and with recent theoretical calculations. The uncertainty obtained in the value of a_pi is lower than in previous results based on the pi^0 -> e^+e^-gamma decay.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2017

Insight into the narrow structure in {\boldmath{$η$}}-photoproduction on the neutron from helicity dependent cross sections

The double polarization observable $E$ and the helicity dependent cross sections $σ_{1/2}$ and $σ_{3/2}$ were measured for $η$ photoproduction from quasi-free protons and neutrons. The circularly polarized tagged photon beam of the A2 experiment at the Mainz MAMI accelerator was used in combination with a longitudinally polarized deuterated butanol target. The almost $4π$ detector setup of the Crystal Ball and TAPS is ideally suited to detect the recoil nucleons and the decay photons from $η\rightarrow 2γ$ and $η\rightarrow 3π^0$. The results show that the narrow structure previously observed in $η$ photoproduction from the neutron is only apparent in $σ_{1/2}$ and hence, most likely related to a spin-1/2 amplitude. Nucleon resonances that contribute to this partial wave in $η$ production are only $N1/2^-$ ($S_{11}$) and $N1/2^+$ ($P_{11}$). Furthermore, the extracted Legendre coefficients of the angular distributions for $σ_{1/2}$ are in good agreement with recent reaction model predictions assuming a narrow resonance in the $P_{11}$ wave as the origin of this structure.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2016

Electroexcitation of the $Δ^{+}(1232)$ at low momentum transfer

We report on new p$(e,e^\prime p)π^\circ$ measurements at the $Δ^{+}(1232)$ resonance at the low momentum transfer region. The mesonic cloud dynamics is predicted to be dominant and rapidly changing in this kinematic region offering a test bed for chiral effective field theory calculations. The new data explore the low $Q^2$ dependence of the resonant quadrupole amplitudes while extending the measurements of the Coulomb quadrupole amplitude to the lowest momentum transfer ever reached. The results disagree with predictions of constituent quark models and are in reasonable agreement with dynamical calculations that include pion cloud effects, chiral effective field theory and lattice calculations. The reported measurements suggest that improvement is required to the theoretical calculations and provide valuable input that will allow their refinements.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2016

Polarization-transfer measurement to a large-virtuality bound proton in the deuteron

Possible differences between free and bound protons may be observed in the ratio of polarization-transfer components, $P'_x/P'_z$. We report the measurement of $P'_x/P'_z$, in the $^2\textrm{H}(\vec{e},e^{\prime}\vec{p})n$ reaction at low and high missing momenta. Observed increasing deviation of $P'_x/P'_z$ from that of a free proton as a function of the virtuality, similar to that observed in \hefour, indicates that the effect in nuclei is due to the virtuality of the knock-out proton and not due to the average nuclear density. The measured differences from calculations assuming free-proton form factors ($\sim10\%$), may indicate in-medium modifications.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2015

Measurement of pi^0 photoproduction on the proton at MAMI C

Differential cross sections for the gamma p -> pi^0 p reaction have been measured with the A2 tagged-photon facilities at the Mainz Microtron, MAMI C, up to the center-of-mass energy W=1.9 GeV. The new results, obtained with a fine energy and angular binning, increase the existing quantity of pi^0 photoproduction data by ~47%. Owing to the unprecedented statistical accuracy and the full angular coverage, the results are sensitive to high partial-wave amplitudes. This is demonstrated by the decomposition of the differential cross sections in terms of Legendre polynomials and by further comparison to model predictions. A new solution of the SAID partial-wave analysis obtained after adding the new data into the fit is presented.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2015

A precision measurement of the $p$($e,e^\prime p\,$)$π^0$ reaction at threshold

New results are reported from a measurement of $π^0$ electroproduction near threshold using the $p(e,e^{\prime} p)π^0$ reaction. The experiment was designed to determine precisely the energy dependence of $s-$ and $p-$wave electromagnetic multipoles as a stringent test of the predictions of Chiral Perturbation Theory (ChPT). The data were taken with an electron beam energy of 1192 MeV using a two-spectrometer setup in Hall A at Jefferson Lab. For the first time, complete coverage of the $ϕ^*_π$ and $θ^*_π$ angles in the $p π^0$ center-of-mass was obtained for invariant energies above threshold from 0.5 MeV up to 15 MeV. The 4-momentum transfer $Q^2$ coverage ranges from 0.05 to 0.155 (GeV/c)$^2$ in fine steps. A simple phenomenological analysis of our data shows strong disagreement with $p-$wave predictions from ChPT for $Q^2>0.07$ (GeV/c)$^2$, while the $s-$wave predictions are in reasonable agreement.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2015

A new measurement of the neutron detection efficiency for the NaI Crystal Ball detector

We report on a measurement of the neutron detection efficiency in NaI crystals in the Crystal Ball detector obtained from a study of single p0 photoproduction on deuterium using the tagged photon beam at the Mainz Microtron. The results were obtained up to a neutron energy of 400 MeV. They are compared to previous measurements made more than 15 years ago at the pion beam at the BNL AGS.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2015

Measurement of the Target-Normal Single-Spin Asymmetry in Quasi-Elastic Scattering from the Reaction $^3$He$^\uparrow(e,e^\prime)$

We report the first measurement of the target single-spin asymmetry, $A_y$, in quasi-elastic scattering from the inclusive reaction $^3$He$^{\uparrow}(e,e^\prime)$ on a $^3$He gas target polarized normal to the lepton scattering plane. Assuming time-reversal invariance, this asymmetry is strictly zero for one-photon exchange. A non-zero $A_y$ can arise from the interference between the one- and two-photon exchange processes which is sensitive to the details of the sub-structure of the nucleon. An experiment recently completed at Jefferson Lab yielded asymmetries with high statistical precision at $Q^{2}=$ 0.13, 0.46 and 0.97 GeV$^{2}$. These measurements demonstrate, for the first time, that the $^3$He asymmetry is clearly non-zero and negative with a statistical significance of (8-10)$σ$. Using measured proton-to-$^{3}$He cross-section ratios and the effective polarization approximation, neutron asymmetries of $-$(1-3)% were obtained. The neutron asymmetry at high $Q^2$ is related to moments of the Generalized Parton Distributions (GPDs). Our measured neutron asymmetry at $Q^2=0.97$ GeV$^2$ agrees well with a prediction based on two-photon exchange using a GPD model and thus provides a new, independent constraint on these distributions.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2014

Characterization of a metastable neon beam extracted from a commercial RF ion source

We have used a commercial RF ion-source to extract a beam of metastable neon atoms. The source was easily incorporated into our existing system and was operative within a day of installation. The metastable velocity distribution, flux, flow, and efficiency were investigated for different RF powers and pressures, and an optimum was found at a flux density of $2\times10^{12}\,$atoms/s/sr. To obtain an accurate measurement of the amount of metastable atoms leaving the source, we insert a Faraday cup in the beam line and quench some of them using a weak $633\,$nm laser beam. In order to determine how much of the beam was quenched before reaching our detector, we devised a simple model for the quenching transition and investigated it for different laser powers. This detection method can be easily adapted to other noble gas atoms.

physics.atom-ph↗

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.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2014

Probing the Repulsive Core of the Nucleon-Nucleon Interaction via the 4He(e,e'pN) Triple-Coincidence Reaction

We studied simultaneously the 4He(e,e'p), 4He(e,e'pp), and 4He(e,e'pn) reactions at Q^2=2 [GeV/c]2 and x_B>1, for a (e,e'p) missing-momentum range of 400 to 830 MeV/c. The knocked-out proton was detected in coincidence with a proton or neutron recoiling almost back to back to the missing momentum, leaving the residual A=2 system at low excitation energy. These data were used to identify two-nucleon short-range correlated pairs and to deduce their isospin structure as a function of missing momentum in a region where the nucleon-nucleon force is expected to change from predominantly tensor to repulsive. Neutron-proton pairs dominate the high-momentum tail of the nucleon momentum distributions, but their abundance is reduced as the nucleon momentum increases beyond ~500 MeV/c. The extracted fraction of proton-proton pairs is small and almost independent of the missing momentum in the range we studied. Our data are compared with ab-initio calculations of two-nucleon momentum distributions in 4He.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2014

Measurement of the 12C(e,e'p)11B Two-Body Breakup Reaction at High Missing Momentum Values

The five-fold differential cross section for the 12C(e,e'p)11B reaction was determined over a missing momentum range of 200-400 MeV/c, in a kinematics regime with Bjorken x > 1 and Q2 = 2.0 (GeV/c)2. A comparison of the results and theoretical models and previous lower missing momentum data is shown. The theoretical calculations agree well with the data up to a missing momentum value of 325 MeV/c and then diverge for larger missing momenta. The extracted distorted momentum distribution is shown to be consistent with previous data and extends the range of available data up to 400 MeV/c.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2014

3D Printing of Scintillating Materials

We demonstrate, for the first time, the applicability of 3D printing technique to the manufacture of scintillation detectors. We report of a formulation, usable in stereolithographic printing, that exhibits scintillation efficiency on the order of 30\% of that of commercial polystyrene based scintillators. We discuss the applicability of these techniques and propose future enhancements that will allow tailoring the printed scintillation detectors to various application.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2014

Search for light massive gauge bosons as an explanation of the $(g-2)_μ$ anomaly at MAMI

A massive, but light abelian U(1) gauge boson is a well motivated possible signature of physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics. In this paper, the search for the signal of such a U(1) gauge boson in electron-positron pair-production at the spectrometer setup of the A1 Collaboration at the Mainz Microtron (MAMI) is described. Exclusion limits in the mass range of 40 MeV up to 300 MeV with a sensitivity in the mixing parameter of down to $ε^2 = 8\times 10^{-7}$ are presented. A large fraction of the parameter space has been excluded where the discrepancy of the measured anomalous magnetic moment of the muon with theory might be explained by an additional U(1) gauge boson.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2013

Charge asymmetry in high-energy $μ^+μ^-$ photoproduction in the electric field of a heavy atom

The charge asymmetry in the differential cross section of high-energy $μ^+μ^-$ photoproduction in the electric field of a heavy atom is obtained. This asymmetry arises due to the Coulomb corrections to the amplitude of the process (next-to-leading term with respect to the atomic field). The deviation of the nuclear electric field from the Coulomb field at small distances is crucially important for the charge asymmetry. Though the Coulomb corrections to the total cross section are negligibly small, the charge asymmetry is measurable for selected final states of $μ^+$ and $μ^-$. We further discuss the feasibility for experimental observation of this effect.

nucl-th↗