No Arabic abstract
The electromagnetic calorimeters of the various magnetic spectrometers in Hall C at Jefferson Lab are presented. For the existing HMS and SOS spectrometers design considerations, relevant construction information, and comparisons of simulated and experimental results are included. The energy resolution of the HMS and SOS calorimeters is better than $sigma/E sim 6%/sqrt E $, and pion/electron ($pi/e$) separation of about 100:1 has been achieved in energy range 1 -- 5 GeV. Good agreement has been observed between the experimental and simulated energy resolutions, but simulations systematically exceed experimentally determined $pi^-$ suppression factors by close to a factor of two. For the SHMS spectrometer presently under construction details on the design and accompanying GEANT4 simulation efforts are given. The anticipated performance of the new calorimeter is predicted over the full momentum range of the SHMS. Good electron/hadron separation is anticipated by combining the energy deposited in an initial (preshower) calorimeter layer with the total energy deposited in the calorimeter.
Hadronic reactions producing strange quarks such as exclusive or semi-inclusive kaon production, play an important role in studies of hadron structure and the dynamics that bind the most basic elements of nuclear physics. The small-angle capability of the new Super High Momentum Spectrometer (SHMS) in Hall C, coupled with its high momentum reach - up to the anticipated 11-GeV beam energy in Hall C - and coincidence capability with the well-understood High Momentum Spectrometer, will allow for probes of such hadron structure involving strangeness down to the smallest distance scales to date. To cleanly select the kaons, a threshold aerogel Cerenkov detector has been constructed for the SHMS. The detector consists of an aerogel tray followed by a diffusion box. Four trays for aerogel of nominal refractive indices of n=1.030, 1.020, 1.015 and 1.011 were constructed. The tray combination will allow for identification of kaons from 1 GeV/c up to 7.2 GeV/c, reaching 10^-2 proton and 10^-3 pion rejection, with kaon detection efficiency better than 95%. The diffusion box of the detector is equipped with 14 five-inch diameter photomultiplier tubes. Its interior walls are covered with Gore diffusive reflector, which is superior to the commonly used Millipore paper and improved the detector performance by 35%. The inner surface of the two aerogel trays with higher refractive index is covered with Millipore paper, however, those two trays with lower aerogel refractive index are again covered with Gore diffusive reflector for higher performance. The measured mean number of photoelectrons in saturation is ~12 for n=1.030, ~sim8 for n=1.020, ~10 for n=1.015, and ~5.5 for n=1.011. The design details, the results of component characterization, and initial performance tests and optimization of the detector are presented.
We describe a new aerogel threshold Cherenkov detector installed in the HMS spectrometer in Hall C at Jefferson Lab. The Hall C experimental program in 2003 required an improved particle identification system for better identification of pi/K/P, which was achieved by installing an additional threshold Cherenkov counter. Two types of aerogel with n=1.03 and n=1.015 allow one to reach 10^{-3} proton and 10^{-2} kaon rejection in the 1-5 GeV/c momentum range with pion detection efficiency better than 99% (97%). The detector response shows no significant position dependence due to a diffuse light collection technique. The diffusion box was equipped with 16 Photonis XP4572 PMTs. The mean number of photoelectrons in saturation was ~16 and ~8, respectively. Moderate particle identification is feasible near threshold.
We describe a dynamically polarized target that has been utilized for two electron scattering experiments in Hall A at Jefferson Lab. The primary components of the target are a new, high cooling power 4He evaporation refrigerator, and a re-purposed, superconducting split-coil magnet. It has been used to polarize protons in irradiated NH3 at a temperature of 1 K and at fields of 2.5 and 5.0 Tesla. The performance of the target material in the electron beam under these conditions will be discussed. Maximum polarizations of 28% and 95% were obtained at those fields, respectively. To satisfy the requirements of both experiments, the magnet had to be routinely rotated between angles of 0, 6, and 90 degrees with respect to the incident electron beam. This was accomplished using a new rotating vacuum seal which permits rotations to be performed in only a few minutes.
We propose to measure the photo-production cross section of $J/{psi}$ near threshold, in search of the recently observed LHCb hidden-charm resonances $P_c$(4380) and $P_c$(4450) consistent with pentaquarks. The observation of these resonances in photo-production will provide strong evidence of the true resonance nature of the LHCb states, distinguishing them from kinematic enhancements. A bremsstrahlung photon beam produced with an 11 GeV electron beam at CEBAF covers the energy range of $J/{psi}$ production from the threshold photo-production energy of 8.2 GeV, to an energy beyond the presumed $P_c$(4450) resonance. The experiment will be carried out in Hall C at Jefferson Lab using a 50{mu}A electron beam incident on a 9% copper radiator. The resulting photon beam passes through a 15 cm liquid hydrogen target, producing $J/{psi}$ mesons through a diffractive process in the $t$-channel, or through a resonant process in the $s$- and $u$-channel. The decay $e^+e^-$ pair of the $J/{psi}$ will be detected in coincidence using the two high-momentum spectrometers of Hall C. The spectrometer settings have been optimized to distinguish the resonant $s$- and $u$-channel production from the diffractive $t$-channel $J/{psi}$ production. The $s$- and $u$-channel production of the charmed 5-quark resonance dominates the $t$-distribution at large $t$. The momentum and angular resolution of the spectrometers is sufficient to observe a clear resonance enhancement in the total cross section and $t$-distribution. We request a total of 11 days of beam time with 9 days to carry the main experiment and 2 days to acquire the needed $t$-channel elastic $J/{psi}$ production data for a calibration measurement. This calibration measurement in itself will greatly enhance our knowledge of $t$-channel elastic $J/{psi}$ production near threshold.
A wide range of nucleon and nuclear structure experiments in Jefferson Labs Hall A require precise, continuous measurements of the polarization of the electron beam. In our Compton polarimeter, electrons are scattered off photons in a Fabry-Perot cavity; by measuring an asymmetry in the integrated signal of the scattered photons detected in a GSO crystal, we can make non-invasive, continuous measurements of the beam polarization. Our goal is to achieve 1% statistical error within two hours of running. We discuss the design and commissioning of an upgrade to this apparatus, and report preliminary results for experiments conducted at beam energies from 3.5 to 5.9 GeV and photon rates from 5 to 100 kHz.