Threshold Electrodisintegration of the Deuteron at High-Momentum Transfer
Abstract
This thesis presents the results of an experiment at the Bates Linear Accelerator Center in which cross section measurements for deuteron electrodisintegration near threshold were made at high momentum transfer with good energy resolution. The experiment was performed at a constant scattering angle of 160^circ at bombarding energies of 347, 576, 754, 820 and 913 MeV. The corresponding measured Q^2 values were 8.7, 20.5, 31.6, 36.0, and 42.4 fm^{-2}. Threshold cross sections averaged over 0-3 MeV and 0-10 MeV in E_{np} were calculated. Measurements were also obtained for elastic electron-deuteron scattering and elastic electron-hydrogen scattering (the latter only at 913 MeV). The analysis of the data involved accurately determining the elastic line shape. Landau straggling, external Bremsstrahlung radiation, and internal Bremsstrahlung radiation (both from the scattered electron and target nucleus) were included. A Monte Carlo simulation was written to include the geometry of the target cell, target collimating slits and model the acceptance of the electron spectrometer. The elastic line shape and spectrometer acceptances agreed very well with the data. The averaged threshold cross sections were compared with existing data in the region of overlap. Good agreement was seen with the Saclay data which was averaged over 0 -3 MeV in E_{np}. And comparison to the poorer resolution SLAC measurement which was averaged over 0-10 MeV in E_{np} also showed good agreement. Comparisons of the data were made with theoretical calculations. The standard nonrelativistic meson-exchange calculations agree only qualitatively agree with trend of the data. These calculations are very model dependent since a fully relativistic theory is not yet present. Hybrid quark-hadron calculations which put quark degrees of freedom in the deuteron wave functions at small distances agree with the overall magnitude of the data. (Copies available exclusively from MIT Libraries, Rm. 14-0551, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307. Ph. 617-253-5668; Fax 617-253-1690.).
- Publication:
-
Ph.D. Thesis
- Pub Date:
- 1993
- Bibcode:
- 1993PhDT.......191S
- Keywords:
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- ELECTRODISINTEGRATION;
- Physics: Nuclear