Structure of the Nucleon and Few-Body Nuclear Systems with Electron Scattering

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This award provides support to investigate the internal structure anddynamics of the proton and neutron, and of the lightest nuclei innature: deuterium and helium. The investigation will be based onexperimental studies of high-energy electrons scattering off hydrogen,deuterium, tritium and helium nuclei. The proposed research will usethe high-intensity, high-energy electron beam of the Thomas JeffersonNational Accelerator Facility to bombard nuclei in cryogenic targetenvironments and to study the nuclear reaction products with particledetection devices using superconducting magnets and subatomic particledetectors. The results are expected to provide fundamental informationon the distributions of the three quarks inside the proton and neutron,on the quantum mechanical wave functions of deuterium and helium, and onthe mechanism of the interaction of the proton and neutron constituentsof these two light nuclei. The expected experimental data from theproposed investigation will offer valuable input to our understanding ofthe structure of the proton and neutron in terms of their three quarkconstituents and to the establishment of a consistent modern theorydescribing the simplest nuclear systems.