NSF Award Search: Award # 1812369

Award Abstract # 1812369

RUI: Nucleon Structure Studies via Electron Scattering at JLab 12 GeV

NSF Org:	PHY Division Of Physics
Recipient:	CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT UNIVERSITY
Initial Amendment Date:	August 17, 2018
Latest Amendment Date:	July 28, 2020
Award Number:	1812369
Award Instrument:	Continuing Grant
Program Manager:	Allena K. Opper aopper@nsf.gov (703)292-8958 PHY Division Of Physics MPS Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences
Start Date:	September 1, 2018
End Date:	August 31, 2022 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount:	$242,764.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date:	$242,764.00
Funds Obligated to Date:	FY 2018 = $79,873.00 FY 2019 = $80,901.00 FY 2020 = $81,990.00
History of Investigator:	Peter Monaghan (Principal Investigator) peter.monaghan@cnu.edu
Recipient Sponsored Research Office:	Christopher Newport University 1 AVENUE OF THE ARTS NEWPORT NEWS VA US 23606-3072 (757)594-7392
Sponsor Congressional District:	03
Primary Place of Performance:	Christopher Newport University VA US 23606-3072
Primary Place of Performance Congressional District:	03
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI):	VMYDF2TZHHB6
Parent UEI:	VMYDF2TZHHB6
NSF Program(s):	Nuclear & Hadron Quantum Chrom
Primary Program Source:	01001819DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01001920DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01002021DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
Program Reference Code(s):	9229
Program Element Code(s):	123200
Award Agency Code:	4900
Fund Agency Code:	4900
Assistance Listing Number(s):	47.049

ABSTRACT

It has been established that protons and neutrons (nucleons) have a substructure made up of elementary constituent particles called quarks and gluons. Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) is an established theory of how these constituents interact giving rise to the strong nuclear force and the fundamental properties of nucleons. The research program supported by this grant is aimed at improving the fundamental understanding of nucleon structure. This goal will be achieved through electron scattering experiments to be performed at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (JLab). These experiments will measure the spatial distributions of electric charge and current in both the proton and the neutron; this information is encoded in the nucleon electromagnetic form factors. A fundamental understanding of the nucleon form factors in terms of QCD is one of the outstanding challenges in nuclear physics today. Why and how do quarks forms colorless hadrons with only two stable configurations, the proton and neutron? One important step towards addressing this challenge is to characterize the internal structure of the nucleon via form factor measurements. The anticipated research activities will cover a range of both hardware and software projects. These projects will provide outstanding research opportunities for undergraduate students, furthering their education outside the classroom, preparing them for a career in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and laying the foundations for successful graduate studies.

The funding support for this research program will enable the PI and Christopher Newport University students to contribute to a number of projects at JLab, aimed at improving the fundamental understanding of nucleon structure. The proposed projects include an experimental effort - the Super Bigbite Spectrometer program (SBS) - and a phenomenology effort - CTEQ-JLab (CJ) - both of which address fundamental questions of hadronic structure in the QCD framework. The SBS program comprises high impact experiments studying the electromagnetic form factors of both the proton and neutron at a much higher momentum transfer than previously studied. The new data from the SBS experiments will allow a partonic flavor decomposition of the form factors to be performed, which in turn can be tested using calculations provided by the CJ effort. The PI is leading the commissioning effort of one of the SBS detector systems, as well as contributing to the analysis effort in the CJ project

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH

Note: When clicking on a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) number, you will be taken to an external site maintained by the publisher. Some full text articles may not yet be available without a charge during the embargo (administrative interval).

Some links on this page may take you to non-federal websites. Their policies may differ from this site.

Armstrong, W. and Kang, H. and Liyanage, A. and Maxwell, J. and Mulholland, J. and Ndukum, L. and Ahmidouch, A. and Albayrak, I. and Asaturyan, A. and Ates, O. and Baghdasaryan, H. and Boeglin, W. and Bosted, P. and Brash, E. and Butuceanu, C. and Bychkov "Revealing Color Forces with Transverse Polarized Electron Scattering" Physical Review Letters , v.122 , 2019 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.122.022002 Citation Details

Garibaldi, F. A. and Acha, A. Y. and Ambrozewicz, P. I. and Aniol, K. U. and Baturin, P. C. and Benaoum, H. -P. and Benesch, J. A. and Bertin, P. J. and Blomqvist, K. W. and Boeglin, W. P. and Breuer, H. J. and Brindza, P. O. and Bydovský, P. W. and Cams "High-resolution hypernuclear spectroscopy at Jefferson Lab, Hall A" Physical Review C , v.99 , 2019 10.1103/PhysRevC.99.054309 Citation Details

Ito, H. and Kobayashi, A. and Bianchin, S. and Cao, T. and Djalali, C. and Dongwi, D.H. and Gautam, T. and Gill, D. and Hasinoff, M.D. and Horie, K. and Igarashi, Y. and Imazato, J. and Kalantarians, N. and Kawai, H. and Kimura, S. and Kodama, S. and Kohl "Measurement of structure dependent radiative K+e+ decays using stopped positive kaons" Physics Letters B , v.826 , 2022 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physletb.2022.136913 Citation Details

Liyanage, A. and Armstrong, W. and Kang, H. and Maxwell, J. and Mulholland, J. and Ndukum, L. and Ahmidouch, A. and Albayrak, I. and Asaturyan, A. and Ates, O. and Baghdasaryan, H. and Boeglin, W. and Bosted, P. and Brash, E. and Butuceanu, C. and Bychkov "Proton form factor ratio \mu_p G_E^p/G_M^p from double spin asymmetry" Physical review , v.101 , 2020 Citation Details

Long, E. and Zhang, Y.W. and Mihovilovi, M. and Jin, G. and Sulkosky, V. and Kelleher, A. and Anderson, B. and Higinbotham, D.W. and irca, S. and Allada, K. and Annand, J.R.M. and Averett, T. and Bertozzi, W. and Boeglin, W. and Bradshaw, P. and Camsonn "Measurement of the single-spin asymmetry

A_{y}^{0}

in quasi-elastic 3He(e,en) scattering at 0.4 Physics Letters B , v.797 , 2019 10.1016/j.physletb.2019.134875 Citation Details

Mihovilovi?, M. and Jin, G. and Long, E. and Zhang, Y.-W. and Allada, K. and Anderson, B. and Annand, J.R.M. and Averett, T. and Bertozzi, W. and Boeglin, W. and Bradshaw, P. and Camsonne, A. and Canan, M. and Cates, G.D. and Chen, C. and Chen, J.P. and C "Measurement of double-polarization asymmetries in the quasi-elastic

{\overset{?}{He}}

Physics Letters B , v.788 , 2019 10.1016/j.physletb.2018.10.063 Citation Details

Nguyen, D. and Neuburger, C. and Cruz-Torres, R. and Schmidt, A. and Higinbotham, D.W. and Kahlbow, J. and Monaghan, P. and Piasetzky, E. and Hen, O. "Search for a bound di-neutron by comparing 3He(e,e'p)d and 3H(e,e'p)X measurements" Physics Letters B , v.831 , 2022 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physletb.2022.137165 Citation Details

Sulkosky, V. and Singh, J.T. and Peng, C. and Chen, J.-P. and Deur, A. and Abrahamyan, S. and Aniol, K.A. and Armstrong, D.S. and Averett, T. and Bailey, S.L. and Beck, A. and Bertin, P. and Butaru, F. and Boeglin, W. and Camsonne, A. and Cates, G.D. and "Measurement of the 3He spin-structure functions and of neutron (3He) spin-dependent sum rules at 0.035Q20.24 GeV2" Physics Letters B , v.805 , 2020 10.1016/j.physletb.2020.135428 Citation Details

Sulkosky, Vincent and Peng, Chao and Chen, Jian-ping and Deur, Alexandre and Abrahamyan, Sergey and Aniol, Konrad A. and Armstrong, David S. and Averett, Todd and Bailey, Stephen J. and Beck, Arie and Bertin, Pierre and Butaru, Florentin and Boeglin, Wern "Measurement of the generalized spin polarizabilities of the neutron in the low-Q2 region" Nature Physics , 2021 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-021-01245-9 Citation Details

PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT

Disclaimer

This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.

The research program based at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facilty (JLab) had three main goals: the successful mentoring and training of both undergraduate and graduate students; improving the fundamental understanding of nucleon structure through electron scattering experiments; continued development of Parton Distribution Functions (PDFs) from global fits to all available world data.

The funding supported three Masters-level graduate students and six undergraduate students to do research in experimental nuclear physics at JLab on all the projects in which the group was involved. More than half of the students supported by this funding are from underrepresented groups. From the experience and skills gained during their research projects, five of the students decided to pursue higher degrees in physics.

Measurements of the electric and magnetic form factors started and are continuing at JLab as part of the Super Bigbite Spectrometer (SBS) program. The group has contributed to the SBS through the design, construction and commissioning of a new detector for use in the SBS program, in which the supported students have contributed significantly. This project provided opportunities for students to gain experience in detctor construction, development of data acquisition systems and development of software for data analysis.

Further development of the global PDF analysis program within the CJ collaboration has resulted in several publications and updates to provide the nuclear physics community with more robust sets of PDFs, for use by the whole community for theoretical calculations. The effect of different contributions to the PDFs continues to be studied.

The research program also included a continuing development of a proposal to measure the form factor of the delta-resonance as part of the ongoing SBS experimental program. This provided a unique opportunity for the undergraduate students to contribute to future research at JLab.

Last Modified: 01/13/2023
Modified by: Peter A Monaghan

Please report errors in award information by writing to: awardsearch@nsf.gov.

Success

Error