Electron and Neutrino Scattering from Light Nuclei

原子核和形成原子核的核子的结构是基础研究的一个迷人领域，对其他科学领域具有重要意义，例如理解中微子的性质，天体物理学，以及更多的应用领域，如国土安全。从轻原子核散射电子束使我们能够了解原子核和核子的结构，以及核子结合成原子核的强相互作用。科学界的一项重大新投资是计划在布鲁克海文国家实验室建造新的电子离子对撞机。与固定靶加速器相比，电子与原子核碰撞具有达到更高能量的优点，因此可以解决更多细节。 然而，理论计算对于对撞机实验来说更加困难。PI和她的合作者已经开发了一个框架，用于在任何框架中执行计算的简单方法，他们正在使用这个框架来确定未来对撞机上各种实验的最佳条件。该项目将支持在美国进行的电子和中微子散射实验。PI将继续在俄亥俄州西北部的农村地区进行推广，并让感兴趣的本科生参与这项研究项目。电子从轻核散射给了我们许多关于原子核基态结构的见解。在杰斐逊实验室进行的高精度实验需要同样高精度的理论。PI已经开发了一个完全相对论描述的D（e，e 'p）反应，包括自旋相关的最终状态相互作用。轻核的中微子散射需要许多用于描述电子散射反应的相同元素。在未来，电子-离子对撞机将使我们能够在更大的能量和动量转移范围内探索原子核。PI和她的合作者已经开发了必要的形式主义，通过对对撞机框架中的观测量的不变响应，将在静止框架中进行的理论计算联系起来。这种形式主义适用于未来的实验在杰斐逊实验室和电子离子对撞机的设计和分析。独家电子散射氦-3在一个简单的模型进行了研究，以建立这些实验在对撞机的可行性和更精细的计算已被确定为有前途的运动学区域。为了支持杰斐逊实验室的实验计划，张量不对称性的包容电子散射从氘核的调查。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过评估使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准的支持。

The structure of nuclei and of the nucleons which form them is a fascinating area of basic research with important implications for other areas of science, e.g. understanding the nature of neutrinos, astrophysics, and for more applied areas like homeland security. Scattering electron beams from light nuclei enables us to learn about the structure of nuclei and nucleons, and the strong interaction which binds the nucleons into nuclei. A major new investment of the science community is the planned new Electron Ion Collider at the Brookhaven National Laboratory. Colliding electrons with nuclei has the advantage that higher energies are reached, and thus more detail can be resolved, than for fixed target accelerators. Theoretical calculations, however, are more difficult to perform for a collider experiment. The PI and her collaborators have developed a framework for an easy way to perform calculations in any frame, and they are using this to identify the best conditions for various experiments at the future collider. This project will support both electron and neutrino scattering experiments performed in the US. The PI will continue to do outreach in rural northwestern Ohio, and involve interested undergraduate students in this research project. Electron scattering from light nuclei has given us many insights on the structure of the nuclear ground state. High precision experiments performed at Jefferson Lab require an equally high precision theory. The PI has developed a fully relativistic description of the D(e,e'p) reaction, including spin-dependent final state interactions. Neutrino scattering from light nuclei requires many of the same elements used to describe the electron scattering reactions. In the future, the Electron-Ion Collider will allow us to explore nuclei at an even larger range of energy and momentum transfers. The necessary formalism to relate theory calculations performed in the rest frame through the invariant responses to observables in the collider frame has been developed by the PI and her collaborators. This formalism is applied towards the design and analysis of future experiments at Jefferson Lab and the Electron Ion Collider. Exclusive electron scattering from Helium-3 in a simple model is investigated to establish the feasibility of these experiments in a collider and more refined calculations are performed for kinematic regions that have been identified as promising. In support of Jefferson Lab’s experimental program, the tensor asymmetry for inclusive electron scattering from the deuteron is investigated.This 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.