Measurement of the N-->Delta(+)(1232) transition at high-momentum transfer by pi(0) electroproduction.

We report a new measurement of the exclusive electroproduction reaction gamma(*)p-->pi(0)p to explore the evolution from soft nonperturbative physics to hard processes via the Q(2) dependence of the magnetic (M(1+)), electric (E(1+)), and scalar (S(1+)) multipoles in the N-->Delta transition. 9000 differential cross section data points cover W from threshold to 1.4 GeV/c(2), 4pi center-of-mass solid angle, and Q(2) from 3 to 6 GeV(2)/c(2), the highest yet achieved. It is found that the magnetic form factor G(M)(*) decreases with Q(2) more steeply than the proton magnetic form factor, the ratio E(1+)/M(1+) is small and negative, indicating strong helicity nonconservation, and the ratio S(1+)/M(1+) is negative, while its magnitude increases with Q(2).

Measurement of two- and three-nucleon short-range correlation probabilities in nuclei.

The ratios of inclusive electron scattering cross sections of 4He, 12C, and 56Fe to 3He have been measured at 1 < xB <. At Q2 > 1.4 GeV2, the ratios exhibit two separate plateaus, at 1.5 < xB < 2 and at xB > 2.25. This pattern is predicted by models that include 2- and 3-nucleon short-range correlations (SRC). Relative to A = 3, the per-nucleon probabilities of 3-nucleon SRC are 2.3, 3.1, and 4.4 times larger for A = 4, 12, and 56. This is the first measurement of 3-nucleon SRC probabilities in nuclei.

Beam-helicity asymmetries in double-charged-pion photoproduction on the proton.

Beam-helicity asymmetries for the two-pion-photoproduction reaction gammap-->ppi(+)pi(-) have been studied for the first time in the resonance region for center-of-mass energies between 1.35 and 2.30 GeV. The experiment was performed at Jefferson Lab with the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer using circularly polarized tagged photons incident on an unpolarized hydrogen target. Beam-helicity-dependent angular distributions of the final-state particles were measured. The large cross-section asymmetries exhibit strong sensitivity to the kinematics and dynamics of the reaction. The data are compared with the results of various phenomenological model calculations, and show that these models currently do not provide an adequate description for the behavior of this new observable.

Onset of asymptotic scaling in deuteron photodisintegration.

We investigate the transition from the nucleon-meson to the quark-gluon description of the strong interaction using the photon energy dependence of the d(gamma,p)n differential cross section for photon energies above 0.5 GeV and center-of-mass proton angles between 30 degrees and 150 degrees. A possible signature for this transition is the onset of cross-section s(-11) scaling with the total energy squared, s, at some proton transverse momentum P(T). The results show that the scaling has been reached for proton transverse momentum above about 1.1 GeV/c. This may indicate that the quark-gluon regime is reached above this momentum.

Proton source size measurements in the eA-->e'ppX reaction.

Two-proton correlations at small relative momentum q were studied in the eA(3He,4He,C,Fe)-->e(')ppX reaction at E(0)=4.46 GeV using the CLAS detector at Jefferson Lab. The enhancement of the correlation function at small q was found to be in accordance with theoretical expectations. Sizes of the emission region were extracted, and proved to be dependent on A and on the proton momentum. The size of the two-proton emission region for He was measured in eA reactions for the first time.

Two-nucleon momentum distributions measured in 3He(e,e'pp)n.

We have measured the 3He(e,e'pp)n reaction at 2.2 GeV over a wide kinematic range. The kinetic energy distribution for "fast" nucleons (p>250 MeV/c) peaks where two nucleons each have 20% or less, and the third nucleon has most of the transferred energy. These fast pp and pn pairs are back to back with little momentum along the three-momentum transfer, indicating that they are spectators. Calculations by Sargsian and by Laget also indicate that we have measured distorted two-nucleon momentum distributions by striking one nucleon and detecting the spectator correlated pair.

Measurement of the proton spin structure function g1(x,Q2) for Q2 from 0.15 to 1.6 GeV2 with CLAS.

Double-polarization asymmetries for inclusive ep scattering were measured at Jefferson Lab using 2.6 and 4.3 GeV longitudinally polarized electrons incident on a longitudinally polarized NH3 target in the CLAS detector. The polarized structure function g(1)(x,Q2) was extracted throughout the nucleon resonance region and into the deep inelastic regime, for Q(2)=0.15-1.64 GeV2. The contributions to the first moment Gamma(1)(Q2)= integral g(1)(x,Q2) dx were determined up to Q(2)=1.2 GeV2. Using a parametrization for g(1) in the unmeasured low x regions, the complete first moment was estimated over this Q2 region. A rapid change in Gamma(1) is observed for Q2<1 GeV2, with a sign change near Q(2)=0.3 GeV2, indicating dominant contributions from the resonance region. At Q(2)=1.2 GeV2 our data are below the perturbative QCD evolved scaling value.

Measurement of ep-->e' ppi+ pi- and baryon resonance analysis.

The cross section for the reaction ep-->e(')ppi(+)pi(-) was measured in the resonance region for 1.4

First measurement of transferred polarization in the exclusive ep-->e'K+Lambda--> reaction.

The first measurements of the transferred polarization for the exclusive e-->p-->e(')K+Lambda--> reaction have been performed at Jefferson Laboratory using the CLAS spectrometer. A 2.567 GeV beam was used to measure the hyperon polarization over Q2 from 0.3 to 1.5 (GeV/c)(2), W from 1.6 to 2.15 GeV, and over the full K+ center-of-mass angular range. Comparison with predictions of hadrodynamic models indicates strong sensitivity to the underlying resonance contributions. A nonrelativistic quark-model interpretation of our data suggests that the ssmacr; quark pair is produced with spins predominantly antialigned. Implications for the validity of the most widely used quark-pair creation operator are discussed.

Photoproduction of the omega meson on the proton at large momentum transfer.

The differential cross section, dsigma/dt, for omega meson exclusive photoproduction on the proton above the resonance region (2.6

Observation of an exotic S = +1 baryon in exclusive photoproduction from the deuteron.

In an exclusive measurement of the reaction gammad-->K(+)K(-)pn, a narrow peak that can be attributed to an exotic baryon with strangeness S=+1 is seen in the K(+)n invariant mass spectrum. The peak is at 1.542+/-0.005 GeV/c(2) with a measured width of 0.021 GeV/c(2) FWHM, which is largely determined by experimental mass resolution. The statistical significance of the peak is (5.2+/-0.6)sigma. The mass and width of the observed peak are consistent with recent reports of a narrow S=+1 baryon by other experimental groups.

Eta photoproduction on the proton for photon energies from 0.75 to 1.95 GeV.

Differential cross sections for gammap-->etap have been measured with tagged real photons for incident photon energies from 0.75 to 1.95 GeV. Mesons were identified by missing mass reconstruction using kinematical information for protons scattered in the production process. The data provide the first extensive angular distribution measurements for the process above W=1.75 GeV. Comparison with preliminary results from a constituent quark model support the suggestion that a third S11 resonance with mass approximately 1.8 GeV couples to the etaN channel.

Q2 Dependence of quadrupole strength in the gamma*p --> Delta(+)(1232) --> p pi(0) transition.

Models of baryon structure predict a small quadrupole deformation of the nucleon due to residual tensor forces between quarks or distortions from the pion cloud. Sensitivity to quark versus pion degrees of freedom occurs through the Q2 dependence of the magnetic (M1+), electric (E1+), and scalar (S1+) multipoles in the gamma*p-->Delta(+)-->p pi(0) transition. We report new experimental values for the ratios E(1+)/M(1+) and S(1+)/M(1+) over the range Q2 = 0.4-1.8 GeV2, extracted from precision p(e,e(')p)pi(0) data using a truncated multipole expansion. Results are best described by recent unitary models in which the pion cloud plays a dominant role.

First measurement of the double spin asymmetry in (-->)e(-->)p-->e(prime)pi(+)n in the resonance region.

The double spin asymmetry in the (-->)e(-->)p --> e(prime)pi(+)n reaction has been measured for the first time in the resonance region for four-momentum transfer Q2 = 0.35-1.5 GeV(2). Data were taken at Jefferson Lab with the CLAS detector using a 2.6 GeV polarized electron beam incident on a polarized solid NH3 target. Comparison with predictions of phenomenological models shows strong sensitivity to resonance contributions. Helicity-1/2 transitions are found to be dominant in the second and third resonance regions. The measured asymmetry is consistent with a faster rise with Q(2) of the helicity asymmetry A1 for the F(15)(1680) resonance than expected from the analysis of the unpolarized data.

Photoproduction of the rho(0) meson on the proton at large momentum transfer.

The differential cross section, d sigma/dt, for rho(0) meson photoproduction on the proton above the resonance region was measured up to a momentum transfer -t = 5 GeV2 using the CLAS detector at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. The rho(0) channel was extracted from the measured two charged-pion cross sections by fitting the pi(+)pi(-) and p pi(+) invariant masses. The low momentum transfer region shows the typical diffractive pattern expected from Reggeon exchange. The flatter behavior at large -t cannot be explained solely in terms of QCD-inspired two-gluon exchange models. The data indicate that other processes, like quark interchange, are important to fully describe rho photoproduction.