Precision Measurement of the p(e,e

New results are reported from a measurement of π^{0} electroproduction near threshold using the p(e,e^{'}p)π^{0} reaction. The experiment was designed to determine precisely the energy dependence of s- and p-wave electromagnetic multipoles as a stringent test of the predictions of chiral perturbation theory (ChPT). The data were taken with an electron beam energy of 1192 MeV using a two-spectrometer setup in Hall A at Jefferson Lab. For the first time, complete coverage of the ϕ_{π}^{*} and θ_{π}^{*} angles in the pπ^{0} center of mass was obtained for invariant energies above threshold from 0.5 up to 15 MeV. The 4-momentum transfer Q^{2} coverage ranges from 0.05 to 0.155 (GeV/c)^{2} in fine steps. A simple phenomenological analysis of our data shows strong disagreement with p-wave predictions from ChPT for Q^{2}>0.07 (GeV/c)^{2}, while the s-wave predictions are in reasonable agreement.

Observation of the (Λ)(7)He hypernucleus by the (e, e'K+) reaction.

An experiment with a newly developed high-resolution kaon spectrometer and a scattered electron spectrometer with a novel configuration was performed in Hall C at Jefferson Lab. The ground state of a neutron-rich hypernucleus, (Λ)(7)He, was observed for the first time with the (e, e'K+) reaction with an energy resolution of ~0.6 MeV. This resolution is the best reported to date for hypernuclear reaction spectroscopy. The (Λ)(7)He binding energy supplies the last missing information of the A = 7, T = 1 hypernuclear isotriplet, providing a new input for the charge symmetry breaking effect of the ΛN potential.

Compton-scattering cross section on the proton at high momentum transfer.

Cross-section values for Compton scattering on the proton were measured at 25 kinematic settings over the range s=5-11 and -t=2-7 GeV2 with a statistical accuracy of a few percent. The scaling power for the s dependence of the cross section at fixed center-of-mass angle was found to be 8.0+/-0.2, strongly inconsistent with the prediction of perturbative QCD. The observed cross-section values are in fair agreement with the calculations using the handbag mechanism, in which the external photons couple to a single quark.

Experimental study of exclusive 2H(e,e'p)n reaction mechanisms at high Q2.

The reaction 2H(e,e'p)n has been studied with full kinematic coverage for photon virtuality 1.75NN transition is the primary contribution at higher momenta.

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.