Precision Electromagnetic Studies of the Structure of Nuclei and Nucleons

我们在宇宙中看到的几乎所有可见质量都包含在原子核中。获得关于原子核如何构造的实验数据对于解释宇宙的早期历史、太阳系中化学元素的丰度甚至这些元素在银河系中的分布都是至关重要的。为了这个目的，研究氦的常见同位素He-4是一个很好的原子核。杰斐逊实验室将通过测量高能电子束击出不同能量质子的概率来研究这个原子核。另一种深入了解原子核是如何构成的方法是将一种叫做超子的短命粒子放入原子核中，并观察这些超子的能级。这些实验将为核与粒子物理的研究生和本科生提供重要的训练。这些学生的活动将包括帮助建立实验，进行实验测量，分析数据和学习复杂的模拟技术。在不久的将来，迫切需要训练有素的物理学家。学生们接受的训练已被证明可以转移到物理学以外的其他领域，这些领域受益于他们学到的敏锐的分析技能。

Almost all of the visible mass that we see in the universe is contained in the atomic nucleus. It is of vital importance to gain experimental data about how nuclei are constructed to explain the early history of the universe, the abundances of the chemical elements in our solar system and even the distribution of these elements in our galaxy. An excellent nucleus to study for this purpose is the common isotope of helium, He-4. This nucleus will be a subject of study at Jefferson Lab by measuring the probability of knocking out protons with different energies using the high-energy electron beam. Another method of gaining insight into how nuclei are constructed is by placing short lived particles called hyperons in nuclei and observing the energy levels of these hypernuclei. These experiments will provide vital training for graduate students and undergraduate students in nuclear and particle physics. The activities of these students will include helping set up the experiments, making the experimental measurements, analyzing the data and learning sophisticated simulation techniques. There is a desperate need for well trained physicists in the near future. The training the students receive has been shown to be transferable to other fields besides physics that benefit from the keen analytical skills they learn.