Study of the Electro-weak Structure of the Nucleon

由该奖项资助的研究项目将提供关于核子结构的实验数据，这些数据可以通过弱相互作用和电磁相互作用来探测。这些目标是通过两个主要项目来实现的，这两个项目计划在奖励期间在杰斐逊实验室采集数据：QWEAK和DVCS/ A大厅实验。QWEAK实验是对极低能量尺度下质子弱电荷的精确测量。粒子物理标准模型预测了质子在各个能量尺度上的弱电荷，而其在低能量尺度上的精确值对标准模型之外的各种物理过程都很敏感。因此，QWEAK可以提供一种测量新粒子影响的方法，这将是对大型强子对撞机直接观测的补充。DVCS/Hall A实验将研究质子内夸克的动量和空间分布之间的关系。这种相关性为研究质子提供了一种新颖的方法，它连接了两种很好探索的核子研究途径：形状因子（空间）分布和部分子分布（动量）函数。该奖项支持的研究小组负责QWEAK的数据采集和数据分析系统，以及DVCS/ a厅实验中的各种硬件和软件项目。这些实验为研究生和本科生提供了出色的机会，使他们能够亲身体验硬件和软件工具，并为国家主要实验室的研究做出贡献。

The research program funded by this award will provide experimental data on nucleon structure that can be probed via the weak and the electromagnetic interactions. These objectives are sought through two major projects which are scheduled to take data at Jefferson Lab during the award period: the QWEAK and DVCS/Hall A experiments. The QWEAK experiment is a precision measurement of the weak charge of the proton at very low energy scale. The weak charge of the proton at various energy scales is predicted by the Standard Model of Particle Physics, and its precise value at low energy scale would be sensitive to various physics processes beyond the Standard Model. Thus QWEAK may provide a measure of the influence of new particles which would be complimenatry to the direct observation at the LHC. The DVCS/Hall A experiment will study of the correlation between the momentum and spatial distribution of the quarks within the proton. This correlation provides a novel way to study the proton that bridges between two well explored avenues of nucleon studies: form factor (spatial) distributions and parton distribution (momentum) functions. The research group supported by this award is responsible for the data acquisition and data analysis systems for QWEAK, and for a variety of hardware and software projects within the DVCS/Hall A experiment. These experiements provide outstanding opportunities for both graduate and undergraduate students to get hands-on experience with hardware and software tools and contribute to research at a major national laboratory.