Jefferson Lab Proton Radius (PRad) experiment

ORAL  · Invited

Abstract

Jefferson Lab Proton Radius (PRad) experiment collected data in 2016 for a high precision determination of the proton charge radius through the electron-proton elastic scattering process using a  novel non-magnetic-spectrometer method. The experiment reached $ep$ scattering angles as low as 0.7$^{\circ}$, thus gaining  access to a record low $Q^2$ range from $2 \times 10^{-4}$ to $6  \times 10^{-2}$ (GeV/c)$^2$. Scattered electrons were detected in a high  resolution, large acceptance electromagnetic calorimeter, as well as  in a pair of large area Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM)  detectors which provided precision coordinate determination. A  windowless hydrogen gas flow target was used to ensure that there was no target window background. Systematic uncertainty  in the $ep$ cross section measurement was  controlled by  normalizing it to the simultaneously measured well known  Moller cross section. The precision of the $ep$ cross section results from the experiment is expected to be better than 1\%. Data analysis is nearing completion now. The preliminary results  will be presented in this talk.

*This work is supported in part by the U.S. Department of Energy under contract No. DE-FG02-03ER41240 and by the National Science Foundation MRI award PHY-1229153.

Presenters

  • Nilanga Liyanage

    • University of Virginia

Authors

  • Nilanga Liyanage

    • University of Virginia
  • Xinzhan Bai

    • University of Virginia