Parity Violating Electron Scattering and Nucleon Structure Studies at Jefferson Lab

Louisiana Tech University, Ruston LA

Investigators

Abstract

It is now a well-established fact that nucleons, protons and neutrons, are made up of more elementary particles called quarks. This grant will support present and future experiments at Jefferson Lab to investigate the quark structure of protons and neutrons. In particular, these experiments will explore how electrons scatter from the proton and from other electrons in a way which will test the fundamental theoretical model of physics, called the Standard Model. These experiments will help to advance the field of nuclear and particle physics, as well as provide a world class education to the graduate and undergraduate students working on those projects. In the electron scattering experiments at Jefferson Laboratory in which the Louisiana Tech group is involved, many new physical observables will be measured. The physics available from these measurments include measurements of inherent properties of the weak interaction, allowing us to test predictions of the Standard Model of Particles and Interactions, and in particular the weak interaction parameter. Additional measurements will further probe the internal structure of protons and neutrons, providing tests of predictions from existing theoretical models.