Searching for an Enhanced Signal of the Onset of Color Transparency in Baryons with D(<i>e</i>,<i>e</i>′<i>p</i>)<i>n</i> Scattering

oleh: Shujie Li, Carlos Yero, Jennifer Rittenhouse West, Clare Bennett, Wim Cosyn, Douglas Higinbotham, Misak Sargsian, Holly Szumila-Vance

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2022-12-01

Deskripsi

Observation of the onset of color transparency in baryons would provide a new means of studying the nuclear strong force and would be the first clear evidence of baryons transforming into a color-neutral point-like size in the nucleus as predicted by quantum chromodynamics. Recent C<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mo>(</mo><mi>e</mi><mo>,</mo><msup><mi>e</mi><mo>′</mo></msup><mi>p</mi><mo>)</mo></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> results from electron-scattering did not observe the onset of color transparency (CT) in protons up to spacelike four-momentum transfers squared, <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><msup><mi>Q</mi><mn>2</mn></msup><mo>=</mo><mn>14.2</mn></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> GeV<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><msup><mrow></mrow><mn>2</mn></msup></semantics></math></inline-formula>. The traditional methods of searching for CT in <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mo>(</mo><mi>e</mi><mo>,</mo><msup><mi>e</mi><mo>′</mo></msup><mi>p</mi><mo>)</mo></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> scattering use heavy targets favoring kinematics with already initially reduced final state interactions (FSIs) such that any CT effect that further reduces FSIs will be small. The reasoning behind this choice is the difficulty in accounting for all FSIs. D<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mo>(</mo><mi>e</mi><mo>,</mo><msup><mi>e</mi><mo>′</mo></msup><mi>p</mi><mo>)</mo><mi>n</mi></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>, on the other hand, has well-understood FSI contributions from double scattering with a known dependence on the kinematics and can show an increased sensitivity to hadrons in point-like configurations. Double scattering is the square of the re-scattering amplitude in which the knocked-out nucleon interacts with the spectator nucleon, a process that is suppressed in the presence of point-like configurations and is particularly well-studied for the deuteron. This suppression yields a quadratic sensitivity to CT effects and is strongly dependent on the choice of kinematics. Here, we describe a possible Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (JLab) electron-scattering experiment that utilizes these kinematics and explores the potential signal for the onset of CT with enhanced sensitivity as compared to recent experiments.