Scattering and Reactions of Intermediate Energy Projectiles

Rutgers University New Brunswick, New Brunswick NJ

Investigators

Abstract

This proposal will support the continuation of the experimental research program of the intermediate energy experimental nuclear physics group at Rutgers University. The three faculty members collaborate with a large number of physicists throughout the world on experiments at Jefferson Laboratory in Newport News, Virginia, home to CEBAF, a continuous beam electron accelerator with energies available up to 6 GeV. In keeping with the mission of the Laboratory, the experiments of the group are designed to unfold the quark structure of nuclei and nucleons. The major work for the coming grant period will be concentrated on the following measurements at Jefferson Laboratory: deep virtual Compton scattering, neutron spin structure, and the nucleon elastic form factors. The first two measurements are intended to explore the substructure of the nucleon measuring the position and momentum distributions of the quarks making up the nucleon. The last elastic measurements study the properties of the nucleon as a whole. The combination of these measurements and others will help us understand the complex region where the description of a nucleon as composed of quarks and gluons transforms into a picture of nucleons surrounded by clouds of mesons. This grant period will also see an expansion of the group's activities to the study of neutrino interactions at Fermilab, in Batavia, Illinois. The goals are similar to those being pursued at Jefferson Lab. However, neutrinos have a different sensitivity to the substructure of the nucleon than do electrons and photons. The study of neutrino interactions allows us to develop a more complete understanding of the nucleon structure. Beyond improving our basic understanding of nature, this project will help train students in the techniques of basic research. Past students trained by this group have gone on to contribute to society in diverse fields including medical physics, management of nuclear waste and, development of state of the art vacuum instrumentation.