Studies of Light Meson Structure and Validation of the Exclusive Reaction Mechanism

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Understanding the nature of matter in terms of its basic building blocks, how these interact and form the elements and properties we observe, is one of the mysteries of the universe. Nuclear physics research is fundamental to our understanding of all forms of matter and how this knowledge can benefit society in the areas of national health, prosperity and welfare, and national security. This research program at The Catholic University of America is focused on studying and comparing the underlying quark-gluon structure of the basic building blocks of the atomic nucleus: its protons, neutrons, pions and kaons. This research contributes significantly to educating the future advanced STEM workforce through training of graduate, undergraduate, and high school students in state-of-the art instrumentation and machine-learning-informed software development. This research program aims at deepening the understanding of the lightest subatomic particles, the pions and kaons - their form factors, their structure functions, and their masses, and at providing measurements to validate the framework for 3D hadron imaging. The program focuses in the near and intermediate term on Jefferson Lab 12 GeV, and in the long term on the US-based Electron-Ion Collider (EIC). The experimental method uses beams of highly energetic electrons and/or photons to probe the deep inside of a hadron through exclusive and semi-inclusive scattering processes. Young scientists and students at all levels play an integral part in this project, which provides opportunities to gain experience in the design, assembly, and testing of modern subatomic particle detectors, fast signal processing electronics, and scientific data analysisThis award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.