arXiv subjects

M. Dugger

Publications and source records attributed to M. Dugger.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2020

Photoproduction of $η$ mesons off the proton for $1.2 < E_γ< 4.7$ GeV using CLAS at Jefferson Laboratory

Photoproduction cross sections are reported for the reaction $γp\to pη$ using energy-tagged photons and the CLAS spectrometer at Jefferson Laboratory. The $η$ mesons are detected in their dominant charged decay mode, $η\to π^+π^-π^0$, and results on differential cross sections are presented for incident photon energies between 1.2 and 4.7 GeV. These new $η$ photoproduction data are consistent with earlier CLAS results but extend the energy range beyond the nucleon resonance region into the Regge regime. The normalized angular distributions are also compared with the experimental results from several other experiments, and with predictions of $η$ MAID\,2018 and the latest solution of the Bonn-Gatchina coupled-channel analysis. Differential cross sections $dσ/dt$ are presented for incident photon energies $E_γ> 2.9$ GeV ($W > 2.5$ GeV), and compared with predictions which are based on Regge trajectories exchange in the $t$-channel (Regge models). The data confirm the expected dominance of $ρ$, $ω$ vector-meson exchange in an analysis by the Joint Physics Analysis Center.

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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.

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arXiv2020

The GlueX Beamline and Detector

The GlueX experiment at Jefferson Lab has been designed to study photoproduction reactions with a 9-GeV linearly polarized photon beam. The energy and arrival time of beam photons are tagged using a scintillator hodoscope and a scintillating fiber array. The photon flux is determined using a pair spectrometer, while the linear polarization of the photon beam is determined using a polarimeter based on triplet photoproduction. Charged-particle tracks from interactions in the central target are analyzed in a solenoidal field using a central straw-tube drift chamber and six packages of planar chambers with cathode strips and drift wires. Electromagnetic showers are reconstructed in a cylindrical scintillating fiber calorimeter inside the magnet and a lead-glass array downstream. Charged particle identification is achieved by measuring energy loss in the wire chambers and using the flight time of particles between the target and detectors outside the magnet. The signals from all detectors are recorded with flash ADCs and/or pipeline TDCs into memories allowing trigger decisions with a latency of 3.3 $μ$s. The detector operates routinely at trigger rates of 40 kHz and data rates of 600 megabytes per second. We describe the photon beam, the GlueX detector components, electronics, data-acquisition and monitoring systems, and the performance of the experiment during the first three years of operation.

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arXiv2020

Measurement of the Photon Beam Asymmetry in $\vecγ p\to K^+Σ^0$ at $E_γ = 8.5$ GeV

We report measurements of the photon beam asymmetry $Σ$ for the reaction $\vecγ p\to K^+Σ^0$(1193) using the GlueX spectrometer in Hall D at Jefferson Lab. Data were collected using a linearly polarized photon beam in the energy range of 8.2-8.8 GeV incident on a liquid hydrogen target. The beam asymmetry $Σ$ was measured as a function of the Mandelstam variable $t$, and a single value of $Σ$ was extracted for events produced in the $u$-channel. These are the first exclusive measurements of the photon beam asymmetry $Σ$ for the reaction in this energy range. For the $t$-channel, the measured beam asymmetry is close to unity over the $t$-range studied, $-t=(0.1-1.4)~$(GeV/$c$)$^{2}$, with an average value of $Σ= 1.00\pm 0.05$. This agrees with theoretical models that describe the reaction via the natural-parity exchange of the $K^{*}$(892) Regge trajectory. A value of $Σ= 0.41 \pm 0.09$ is obtained for the $u$-channel integrated up to $-u=2.0$~(GeV/$c$)$^{2}$.

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arXiv2019

Beam Asymmetry $\mathbfΣ$ for the Photoproduction of $\mathbfη$ and $\mathbf{η^{\prime}}$ Mesons at $\mathbf{E_γ=8.8}$GeV

We report on the measurement of the beam asymmetry $Σ$ for the reactions $\vecγp\rightarrow pη$ and $\vecγp \rightarrow pη^{\prime}$ from the GlueX experiment, using an 8.2--8.8 GeV linearly polarized tagged photon beam incident on a liquid hydrogen target in Hall D at Jefferson Lab. These measurements are made as a function of momentum transfer $-t$, with significantly higher statistical precision than our earlier $η$ measurements, and are the first measurements of $η^{\prime}$ in this energy range. We compare the results to theoretical predictions based on $t$--channel quasi-particle exchange. We also compare the ratio of $Σ_η$ to $Σ_{η^{\prime}}$ to these models, as this ratio is predicted to be sensitive to the amount of $s\bar{s}$ exchange in the production. We find that photoproduction of both $η$ and $η^{\prime}$ is dominated by natural parity exchange with little dependence on $-t$.

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arXiv2019

First measurement of near-threshold J/$ψ$ exclusive photoproduction off the proton

We report on the measurement of the $γp \rightarrow J/ψp$ cross section from $E_γ= 11.8$ GeV down to the threshold at $8.2$ GeV using a tagged photon beam with the GlueX experiment. We find the total cross section falls toward the threshold less steeply than expected from two-gluon exchange models. The differential cross section $dσ/dt$ has an exponential slope of $1.67 \pm 0.39$ GeV$^{-2}$ at $10.7$ GeV average energy. The LHCb pentaquark candidates $P_c^+$ can be produced in the $s$-channel of this reaction. We see no evidence for them and set model-dependent upper limits on their branching fractions $\mathcal{B}(P_c^+ \rightarrow J/ψp)$ and cross sections $σ(γp \to P_c^+)\times\mathcal{B}(P_c^+ \to J/ψp) $.

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arXiv2019

First Measurements of the Double-Polarization Observables $F$, $P$, and $H$ in $ω$ Photoproduction off Transversely Polarized Protons in the $N^\ast$ Resonance Region

First measurements of double-polarization observables in $ω$ photoproduction off the proton are presented using transverse target polarization and data from the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS) FROST experiment at Jefferson Lab. The beam-target asymmetry $F$ has been measured using circularly polarized, tagged photons in the energy range 1200 - 2700 MeV, and the beam-target asymmetries $H$ and $P$ have been measured using linearly polarized tagged photons in the energy range 1200 - 2000 MeV. These measurements significantly increase the database on polarization observables. The results are included in two partial-wave analyses and reveal significant contributions from several nucleon ($N^\ast$) resonances. In particular, contributions from new $N^\ast$ resonances listed in the Review of Particle Properties are observed, which aid in reaching the goal of mapping out the nucleon resonance spectrum.

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arXiv2018

First results on nucleon resonance photocouplings from the $γp \to π^+π^-p$ reaction

We report the first experimental measurements of the nine 1-fold differential cross sections for the $γp \to π^+π^-p$ reaction, obtained with the CLAS detector at Jefferson Laboratory. The measurements cover the invariant mass range of the final state hadrons from 1.6~GeV~$<W<$~2.0~GeV. For the first time the photocouplings of all prominent nucleon resonances in this mass range have been extracted from this exclusive channel. Photoproduction of two charged pions is of particular importance for the evaluation of the photocouplings for the $Δ(1620)1/2^-$, $Δ(1700)3/2^-$, $N(1720)3/2^+$, and $Δ(1905)5/2^+$ resonances, which have dominant decays into the $ππN$ final states rather than the more extensively studied single meson decay channels.

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arXiv2018

Measurement of the beam asymmetry $Σ$ and the target asymmetry $T$ in the photoproduction of $ω$ mesons off the proton using CLAS at Jefferson Laboratory

The photoproduction of $ω$ mesons off the proton has been studied in the reaction $γp\to p\,ω$ using the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS) and the frozen-spin target (FROST) in Hall B at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. For the first time, the target asymmetry, $T$, has been measured in photoproduction from the decay $ω\toπ^+π^-π^0$, using a transversely-polarized target with energies ranging from just above the reaction threshold up to 2.8 GeV. Significant non-zero values are observed for these asymmetries, reaching about 30-40% in the third-resonance region. New measurements for the photon-beam asymmetry, $Σ$, are also presented, which agree well with previous CLAS results and extend the world database up to 2.1 GeV. These data and additional $ω$-photoproduction observables from CLAS were included in a partial-wave analysis within the Bonn-Gatchina framework. Significant contributions from $s$-channel resonance production were found in addition to $t$-channel exchange processes.

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arXiv2018

Proton-$η^\prime$ interactions at threshold

Recent data on photoproduction of $η'$ mesons off protons have been included in the data base for the Bonn-Gatchina partial wave analysis. The real and imaginary parts of the $S$-wave $η^\prime p\to η^\prime p$ scattering amplitude in the threshold region were fit to yield the $η^\prime p$ scattering length and the interaction range. This new analysis found $|a_{η^\prime p}|= (0.403\pm 0.015\pm 0.060)$ fm and a phase $ϕ=(87\pm2)^\circ$, while the range parameter is not well-constrained. The striking behavior of the GRAAL data on the beam asymmetry in the threshold region suggests that a narrow proton-$η'$ resonance might exist. However, the scattering length was found to be relatively insensitive to the possible existence of this narrow resonance.

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arXiv2018

Measurement of the helicity asymmetry $E$ in $ω\toπ^+π^-π^0$ photoproduction

The double-polarization observable $E$ was studied for the reaction $γp\to pω$ using the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS) in Hall B at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility and the longitudinally-polarized frozen-spin target (FROST). The observable was measured from the charged decay mode of the meson, $ω\toπ^+π^-π^0$, using a circularly-polarized tagged-photon beam with energies ranging from the $ω$ threshold at 1.1 to 2.3 GeV. A partial-wave analysis within the Bonn-Gatchina framework found dominant contributions from the $3/2^+$ partial wave near threshold, which is identified with the sub-threshold $N(1720)\,3/2^+$ nucleon resonance. To describe the entire data set, which consisted of $ω$ differential cross sections and a large variety of polarization observables, further contributions from other nucleon resonances were found to be necessary. With respect to non-resonant mechanisms, $π$ exchange in the $t$-channel was found to remain small across the analyzed energy range, while pomeron $t$-channel exchange gradually grew from the reaction threshold to dominate all other contributions above $W \approx 2$ GeV.

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arXiv2017

Differential Cross Section Measurements for $γn\toπ^-p$ Above the First Nucleon Resonance Region

The quasi-free $γd\toπ^{-}p(p)$ differential cross section has been measured with CLAS at photon beam energies $E_γ$ from 0.445 GeV to 2.510 GeV (corresponding to $W$ from 1.311 GeV to 2.366 GeV) for pion center-of-mass angles $\cosθ_π^{c.m.}$ from -0.72 to 0.92. A correction for final state interactions has been applied to this data to extract the $γn\toπ^-p$ differential cross sections. These cross sections are quoted in 8428 $(E_γ,\cosθ_π^{c.m.})$ bins, a factor of nearly three increase in the world statistics for this channel in this kinematic range. These new data help to constrain coupled-channel analysis fits used to disentangle the spectrum of $N^*$ resonances and extract their properties. Selected photon decay amplitudes $N^* \to γn$ at the resonance poles are determined for the first time and are reported here.

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arXiv2017

$N^*\to N η^\prime$ decays from photoproduction of $η^\prime$-mesons off protons

A study of the partial-wave content of the $γp\to η^\prime p$ reaction in the fourth resonance region is presented, which has been prompted by new measurements of polarization observables for that process. Using the Bonn-Gatchina partial-wave formalism, the incorporation of new data indicates that the $N(1895)1/2^-$, $N(1900)3/2^+$, $N(2100)1/2^+$, and $N(2120)3/2^-$ are the most significant contributors to the photoproduction process. New results for the branching ratios of the decays of these more prominent resonances to $Nη^\prime$ final states are provided; such branches have not been indicated in the most recent edition of the Review of Particle Properties. Based on the analysis performed here, predictions for the helicity asymmetry $E$ for the $γp\to η^\prime p$ reaction are presented.

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arXiv2017

Photon beam asymmetry $Σ$ in the reaction $\vecγ p \to p ω$ for $E_γ$ = 1.152 to 1.876 GeV

Photon beam asymmetry $Σ$ measurements for $ω$ photoproduction in the reaction $\vecγ p \to ωp$ are reported for photon energies from 1.152 to 1.876 GeV. Data were taken using a linearly-polarized tagged photon beam, a cryogenic hydrogen target, and the CLAS spectrometer in Hall B at Jefferson Lab. The measurements obtained markedly increase the size of the database for this observable, extend coverage to higher energies, and resolve discrepancies in previously published data. Comparisons of these new results with predictions from a chiral-quark-based model and from a dynamical coupled-channels model indicate the importance of interferences between $t$-channel meson exchange and $s$- and $u$-channel contributions, underscoring sensitivity to the nucleon resonances included in those descriptions. Comparisons with the Bonn-Gatchina partial-wave analysis indicate the $Σ$ data reported here help to fix the magnitudes of the interference terms between the leading amplitudes in that calculation (Pomeron exchange and the resonant portion of the $J^P=3/2^+$ partial wave), as well as the resonant portions of the smaller partial waves with $J^P$= $1/2^-$, $3/2^-$, and $5/2^+$.

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arXiv2017

Measurement of the beam asymmetry $Σ$ for $π^0$ and $η$ photoproduction on the proton at $E_γ= 9$ GeV

We report measurements of the photon beam asymmetry $Σ$ for the reactions $\vecγp\to pπ^0$ and $\vecγp\to pη$ from the GlueX experiment using a 9 GeV linearly-polarized, tagged photon beam incident on a liquid hydrogen target in Jefferson Lab's Hall D. The asymmetries, measured as a function of the proton momentum transfer, possess greater precision than previous $π^0$ measurements and are the first $η$ measurements in this energy regime. The results are compared with theoretical predictions based on $t$-channel, quasi-particle exchange and constrain the axial-vector component of the neutral meson production mechanism in these models.

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arXiv2017

Design and construction of a high-energy photon polarimeter

We report on the design and construction of a high-energy photon polarimeter for measuring the degree of polarization of a linearly-polarized photon beam. The photon polarimeter uses the process of pair production on an atomic electron (triplet production). The azimuthal distribution of scattered atomic electrons following triplet production yields information regarding the degree of linear polarization of the incident photon beam. The polarimeter, operated in conjunction with a pair spectrometer, uses a silicon strip detector to measure the recoil electron distribution resulting from triplet photoproduction in a beryllium target foil. The analyzing power $Σ_A$ for the device using a 75 $\rm{μm}$ beryllium converter foil is about 0.2, with a relative systematic uncertainty in $Σ_A$ of 1.5%.

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arXiv2017

Photon beam asymmetry $Σ$ for $η$ and $η^\prime$ photoproduction from the proton

Measurements of the linearly-polarized photon beam asymmetry $Σ$ for photoproduction from the proton of $η$ and $η^\prime$ mesons are reported. A linearly-polarized tagged photon beam produced by coherent bremsstrahlung was incident on a cryogenic hydrogen target within the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer. Results are presented for the $γp \to ηp$ reaction for incident photon energies from 1.070 to 1.876 GeV, and from 1.516 to 1.836 GeV for the $γp \to η^\prime p$ reaction. For $γp \to ηp$, the data reported here considerably extend the range of measurements to higher energies, and are consistent with the few previously published measurements for this observable near threshold. For $γp \to η^\prime p$, the results obtained are consistent with the few previously published measurements for this observable near threshold, but also greatly expand the incident photon energy coverage for that reaction. Initial analysis of the data reported here with the Bonn-Gatchina model strengthens the evidence for four nucleon resonances -- the $N(1895)1/2^-$, $N(1900)3/2^+$, $N(2100)1/2^+$ and $N(2120)3/2^-$ resonances -- which presently lack the "four-star" status in the current Particle Data Group compilation, providing examples of how these new measurements help refine models of the photoproduction process.

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arXiv2016

First measurement of the helicity asymmetry $E$ in $η$ photoproduction on the proton

Results are presented for the first measurement of the double-polarization helicity asymmetry E for the $η$ photoproduction reaction $γp \rightarrow ηp$. Data were obtained using the FROzen Spin Target (FROST) with the CLAS spectrometer in Hall B at Jefferson Lab, covering a range of center-of-mass energy W from threshold to 2.15 GeV and a large range in center-of-mass polar angle. As an initial application of these data, the results have been incorporated into the Jülich model to examine the case for the existence of a narrow $N^*$ resonance between 1.66 and 1.70 GeV. The addition of these data to the world database results in marked changes in the predictions for the E observable using that model. Further comparison with several theoretical approaches indicates these data will significantly enhance our understanding of nucleon resonances.

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