No Arabic abstract
Among the most fundamental observables of nucleon structure, electromagnetic form factors are a crucial benchmark for modern calculations describing the strong interaction dynamics of the nucleons quark constituents; indeed, recent proton data have attracted intense theoretical interest. In this letter, we report new measurements of the proton electromagnetic form factor ratio using the recoil polarization method, at momentum transfers Q2=5.2, 6.7, and 8.5 GeV2. By extending the range of Q2 for which GEp is accurately determined by more than 50%, these measurements will provide significant constraints on models of nucleon structure in the non-perturbative regime.
The electromagnetic form factors of the nucleon characterize the effect of its internal structure on its response to an electromagnetic probe as studied in elastic electron-nucleon scattering. These form factors are functions of the squared four-momentum transfer $Q^2$ between the electron and the proton. The two main classes of observables of this reaction are the scattering cross section and polarization asymmetries, both of which are sensitive to the form factors in different ways. When considering large momentum transfers, double-polarization observables offer superior sensitivity to the electric form factor. This thesis reports the results of a new measurement of the ratio of the electric and magnetic form factors of the proton at high momentum transfer using the recoil polarization technique. A polarized electron beam was scattered from a liquid hydrogen target, transferring polarization to the recoiling protons. These protons were detected in a magnetic spectrometer which was used to reconstruct their kinematics, including their scattering angles and momenta, and the position of the interaction vertex. A proton polarimeter measured the polarization of the recoiling protons by measuring the azimuthal asymmetry in the angular distribution of protons scattered in CH$_2$ analyzers. The scattered electron was detected in a large-acceptance electromagnetic calorimeter in order to suppress inelastic backgrounds. The measured ratio of the transverse and longitudinal polarization components of the scattered proton is directly proportional to the ratio of form factors $G_E^p/G_M^p$. The measurements reported in this thesis took place at $Q^2=$5.2, 6.7, and 8.5 GeV$^2$, and represent the most accurate measurements of $G_E^p$ in this $Q^2$ region to date.
Precise measurements of the proton electromagnetic form factor ratio $R = mu_p G_E^p/G_M^p$ using the polarization transfer method at Jefferson Lab have revolutionized the understanding of nucleon structure by revealing the strong decrease of $R$ with momentum transfer $Q^2$ for $Q^2 gtrsim 1$ GeV$^2$, in strong disagreement with previous extractions of $R$ from cross section measurements. In particular, the polarization transfer results have exposed the limits of applicability of the one-photon-exchange approximation and highlighted the role of quark orbital angular momentum in the nucleon structure. The GEp-II experiment in Jefferson Labs Hall A measured $R$ at four $Q^2$ values in the range 3.5 GeV$^2 le Q^2 le 5.6$ GeV$^2$. A possible discrepancy between the originally published GEp-II results and more recent measurements at higher $Q^2$ motivated a new analysis of the GEp-II data. This article presents the final results of the GEp-II experiment, including details of the new analysis, an expanded description of the apparatus and an overview of theoretical progress since the original publication. The key result of the final analysis is a systematic increase in the results for $R$, improving the consistency of the polarization transfer data in the high-$Q^2$ region. This increase is the result of an improved selection of elastic events which largely removes the systematic effect of the inelastic contamination, underestimated by the original analysis.
We present an updated extraction of the proton electromagnetic form factor ratio, mu_p G_E/G_M, at low Q^2. The form factors are sensitive to the spatial distribution of the proton, and precise measurements can be used to constrain models of the proton. An improved selection of the elastic events and reduced background contributions yielded a small systematic reduction in the ratio mu_p G_E/G_M compared to the original analysis.
The GEp-III and GEp-2$gamma$ experiments, carried out in Jefferson Labs Hall C from 2007-2008, consisted of measurements of polarization transfer in elastic electron-proton scattering at momentum transfers of $Q^2 = 2.5, 5.2, 6.8,$ and $8.54$ GeV$^2$. These measurements were carried out to improve knowledge of the proton electromagnetic form factor ratio $R = mu_p G_E^p/G_M^p$ at large values of $Q^2$ and to search for effects beyond the Born approximation in polarization transfer observables at $Q^2 = 2.5$ GeV$^2$. The final results of both experiments were reported in a recent archival publication. A full reanalysis of the data from both experiments was carried out in order to reduce the systematic and, for the GEp-2$gamma$ experiment, statistical uncertainties. This technical note provides additional details of the final analysis omitted from the main publication, including the final evaluation of the systematic uncertainties.