Single pi0 electroproduction off the proton in the resonance region

Date of Completion

January 2012

Keywords

Physics, Radiation|Physics, Elementary Particles and High Energy

Degree

Ph.D.

Abstract

We study a π0 electroproduction off the proton in the invariant mass range for the pπ0 system of W = 1.1 – 1.8 GeV in the broad range of the photon virtualities Q2 = 0.4 – 1.0 GeV2. The experiment was conducted in the Hall B at the Jefferson Lab with the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS) detector which is uniquely suited for the spectroscopic measurements. The channel is identified by subsequent determination of the electron using information from the forward angle electromagnetic calorimeter and the drift chambers, and proton from the time of flight and drift chambers signals. Kinematical relations between the charged particles separate the single pion events. The detector efficiency and the geometrical acceptance are studied with the GEANT simulation of the CLAS. The exclusive channel radiative corrections are developed and applied. The full differential cross section of the π0 electroproduction is measured with high statistical accuracy and small systematical error. The quality of the overall data analysis is checked against the firmly established benchmark reactions. The structure functions and Legendre multipoles are extracted and show the sensitivity of our measurements to the different resonance electroproduction amplitudes. The advanced phenomenological approach will be used to extract the Q2 evolution of the electromagnetic transition form factors of the different resonance states in the combined analysis of the major exclusive channels. This information will notably improve our understanding of the structure of the nucleon. ^

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