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R. Richards

Publications and source records attributed to R. Richards.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2026

Precision Neutron Skins of $^{208}$Pb and $^{48}$Ca from Parity-Violating Electron Scattering

We have measured the parity-violating elastic electron scattering asymmetry in the PREX and CREX experiments on ${}^{208}$Pb and ${}^{48}$Ca respectively; these are both doubly-magic nuclei whose excited states can be discriminated from the ground state by the high resolution spectrometers in Hall A at Jefferson Lab. This asymmetry provides a precise determination of the weak charge form factor at one $Q^2$ and pins down the neutron radius in these two nuclei in a relatively clean and model-independent way. This is because the $Z^0$ boson of the weak interaction couples primarily to neutrons. The heavier lead nucleus, with a neutron excess, provides an interpretation of the neutron skin thickness in terms of properties of bulk neutron matter. For the lighter ${}^{48}$Ca nucleus, which is also rich in neutrons, comparisons to microscopic nuclear theory calculations are sensitive to poorly constrained 3-neutron forces. The weak neutral form factors $F_W(Q^2)$ were extracted to be $0.368 \pm 0.013$ at $Q = 0.3977 {\rm\ fm}^{-1}$ for $^{208}$Pb from PREX-2 and $0.1304 \pm 0.0055$ at $Q = 0.8733 {\rm\ fm}^{-1}$ for $^{48}$Ca. The form factor differences $(F_{ch}-F_W)(Q^2)$ were calculated to be $0.041 \pm 0.013$ at $Q = 0.3977 {\rm fm}^{-1}$ for $^{208}$Pb from PREX-2 and $0.0277 \pm 0.0055$ at $Q = 0.8733 {\rm fm}^{-1}$ for $^{48}$Ca. Correcting for Coulomb distortions and using nuclear model information, we find the neutron skin thicknesses to be $R^{208}_{\rm skin} = 0.283 \pm 0.071$ fm combining PREX-1 and PREX-2 and $R^{48}_{\rm skin} = 0.121 \pm 0.035$ fm. This paper provides a full description of the special experimental and data analysis techniques employed for precisely measuring these small asymmetries.

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arXiv2026

The DarkLight Experiment at TRIUMF

This paper reports on the commissioning of the DarkLight experiment at the ARIEL superconducting electron linear accelerator located at TRIUMF in Vancouver, Canada. DarkLight was designed to utilize the ARIEL electron beam to search for a new boson, $A^\prime$, which preferentially couples to leptons, with a mass in the range 13-17 MeV/$c^2$. Such a boson could be produced via the $e^-~X\rightarrow e^-~X~A^\prime$ process, and the resulting $A^\prime\rightarrow e^+~e^-$ decay used to reconstruct the invariant mass of the $A^\prime$. The $e^+e^-$ pair is detected using a pair of magnetic spectrometers. Each spectrometer is instrumented with two triple GEM detectors and a scintillating strip hodoscope to trigger the event readout. Electron beam energies between 10 and 30 MeV were used to commission the experiment with a 1$~\mu$m thick carbon target. With both spectrometer polarities set to select electrons, elastic and M{\o}ller scattering were used to examine detector performance and compare with predicted distributions from Monte Carlo simulations. Planned upgrades to the e-linac will allow searches to be made with beam energies up to 50 MeV using a 1$~\mu$m thick tantalum target.

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arXiv2026

The MUSE Target Chamber Post Veto

The Muon Scattering Experiment (MUSE) was developed to address the proton radius puzzle through simultaneous electron-proton and muon-proton scattering using the Paul Scherrer Institute's PiM1 secondary beamline. MUSE uses a large-solid-angle, non-magnetic spectrometer to detect beam particles scattering from a liquid hydrogen cell contained within a vacuum chamber. Due to the large scattering windows, the structural integrity of the chamber is supported by posts located at small scattering angles. While out of the acceptance, particles in the tails of the beam distribution can strike these posts, causing a significant trigger background. We describe the design and performance of the Target Chamber Post Veto (TCPV) detector installed inside the vacuum chamber to remove these background events at the trigger level.

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arXiv2024

The MUSE Beamline Calorimeter

The MUon Scattering Experiment (MUSE) was motivated by the proton radius puzzle arising from the discrepancy between muonic hydrogen spectroscopy and electron-proton measurements. The MUSE physics goals also include testing lepton universality, precisely measuring two-photon exchange contribution, and testing radiative corrections. MUSE addresses these physics goals through simultaneous measurement of high precision cross sections for electron-proton and muon-proton scattering using a mixed-species beam. The experiment will run at both positive and negative beam polarities. Measuring precise cross sections requires understanding both the incident beam energy and the radiative corrections. For this purpose, a lead-glass calorimeter was installed at the end of the beam line in the MUSE detector system. In this article we discuss the detector specifications, calibration and performance. We demonstrate that the detector performance is well reproduced by simulation, and meets experimental requirements.

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arXiv2022

Precision Determination of the Neutral Weak Form Factor of $^{48}$Ca

We report a precise measurement of the parity-violating asymmetry $A_{\rm PV}$ in the elastic scattering of longitudinally polarized electrons from $^{48}{\rm Ca}$. We measure $A_{\rm PV} =2668\pm 106\ {\rm (stat)}\pm 40\ {\rm (syst)}$ parts per billion, leading to an extraction of the neutral weak form factor $F_{\rm W} (q=0.8733$ fm$^{-1}) = 0.1304 \pm 0.0052 \ {\rm (stat)}\pm 0.0020\ {\rm (syst)}$ and the charge minus the weak form factor $F_{\rm ch} - F_{\rm W} = 0.0277\pm 0.0055$. The resulting neutron skin thickness $R_n-R_p=0.121 \pm 0.026\ {\rm (exp)} \pm 0.024\ {\rm (model)}$~fm is relatively thin yet consistent with many model calculations. The combined CREX and PREX results will have implications for future energy density functional calculations and on the density dependence of the symmetry energy of nuclear matter.

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arXiv2021

New Measurements of the Beam-Normal Single Spin Asymmetry in Elastic Electron Scattering Over a Range of Spin-0 Nuclei

We report precision determinations of the beam normal single spin asymmetries ($A_n$) in the elastic scattering of 0.95 and 2.18~GeV electrons off $^{12}$C, $^{40}$Ca, $^{48}$Ca, and $^{208}$Pb at very forward angles where the most detailed theoretical calculations have been performed. The first measurements of $A_n$ for $^{40}$Ca and $^{48}$Ca are found to be similar to that of $^{12}$C, consistent with expectations thus demonstrating the validity of theoretical calculations for nuclei with Z~$\leq20$. We also report $A_n$ for $^{208}$Pb at two new momentum transfers (Q$^2$) extending the previous measurement. Our new data confirm the surprising result previously reported, with all three data points showing significant disagreement with the results from the $Z\leq 20$ nuclei. These data confirm our basic understanding of the underlying dynamics that govern $A_n$ for nuclei containing $\lesssim 50$ nucleons, but point to the need for further investigation to understand the unusual $A_n$ behaviour discovered for scattering off $^{208}$Pb.

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arXiv2021

Accurate Determination of the Neutron Skin Thickness of $^{208}$Pb through Parity-Violation in Electron Scattering

We report a precision measurement of the parity-violating asymmetry $A_{PV}$ in the elastic scattering of longitudinally polarized electrons from $^{208}$Pb. We measure $A_{PV}=550\pm 16 {\rm (stat)}\pm 8\ {\rm (syst)}$ parts per billion, leading to an extraction of the neutral weak form factor $F_W(Q^2 = 0.00616\ {\rm GeV}^2) = 0.368 \pm 0.013$. Combined with our previous measurement, the extracted neutron skin thickness is $R_n-R_p=0.283 \pm 0.071$~fm. The result also yields the first significant direct measurement of the interior weak density of $^{208}$Pb: $\rho^0_W = -0.0796\pm0.0036\ {\rm (exp.)}\pm0.0013\ {\rm (theo.)}\ {\rm fm}^{-3}$ leading to the interior baryon density $\rho^0_b = 0.1480\pm0.0036\ {\rm (exp.)}\pm0.0013\ {\rm (theo.)}\ {\rm fm}^{-3}$. The measurement accurately constrains the density dependence of the symmetry energy of nuclear matter near saturation density, with implications for the size and composition of neutron stars.

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