Scattering and Reactions of Intermediate Energy Projectiles

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This proposal will support the continuation of the experimental researchprogram of the intermediate energy experimental nuclear physics group atRutgers University. The three faculty members collaborate with a largenumber of physicists throughout the world on experiments at JeffersonLaboratory in Newport News, Virginia, home to CEBAF, a continuous beamelectron accelerator with energies available up to 6 GeV. In keepingwith the mission of the Laboratory, the experiments of the group aredesigned to unfold the quark structure of nuclei and nucleons. The majorwork for the coming grant period will be concentrated on the followingmeasurements at Jefferson Laboratory: deep virtual Compton scattering,neutron spin structure, and the nucleon elastic form factors. The firsttwo measurements are intended to explore the substructure of the nucleonmeasuring the position and momentum distributions of the quarks makingup the nucleon. The last elastic measurements study the properties ofthe nucleon as a whole. The combination of these measurements andothers will help us understand the complex region where the descriptionof a nucleon as composed of quarks and gluons transforms into a pictureof nucleons surrounded by clouds of mesons. This grant period will alsosee an expansion of the group's activities to the study of neutrinointeractions at Fermilab, in Batavia, Illinois. The goals are similarto those being pursued at Jefferson Lab. However, neutrinos have adifferent sensitivity to the substructure of the nucleon than doelectrons and photons. The study of neutrino interactions allows us todevelop a more complete understanding of the nucleon structure.Beyond improving our basic understanding of nature, this project willhelp train students in the techniques of basic research. Past studentstrained by this group have gone on to contribute to society in diversefields including medical physics, management of nuclear waste and,development of state of the art vacuum instrumentation.