Probing the Structure of Deuteron at Very Short Distances

Authors

Frank Vera, Florida International UniversityFollow

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Major/Program

Physics

First Advisor's Name

Misak Sargsian

First Advisor's Committee Title

Committee chair

Second Advisor's Name

Rajamani Narayanan

Second Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Third Advisor's Name

Werner Boeglin

Third Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Fourth Advisor's Name

Mirroslav Yotov

Fourth Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Keywords

nuclear physics, electro-disintegration, quasi-elastic kinematics, high-energy nuclear reaction, light front dynamics, deuteron relativistic wave function, off-shell electromagnetic current, off-shell cross section

Date of Defense

7-1-2021

Abstract

We study the electro-disintegration of deuteron at quasi-elastic kinematics and high transferred momentum as a probe for the short distance structure in nuclei. In this reaction, an electron hits a nucleus of deuterium, which breaks up into a pair of nucleons (proton-neutron). We focus our attention on events where fast nucleons emerge, corresponding to nuclear configurations where the bound nucleons have a high relative momentum (exceeding 700 MeV/c). The present research is relevant to physical systems where high-density nuclear matter is present. This condition covers a wide range of physics, from neutron stars to nuclei stability and the repulsive nuclear core.

Our calculations differ from others in two crucial features. One is that our definition of the deuteron wave function, as used in high-energy electro-disintegration, depends on terms (with a relativistic origin) that can be ordered according to their contribution. These terms, related to the off-shell properties of the nucleon-nucleon bound-state, are forbidden within non-relativistic quantum mechanics, and they become increasingly important in describing configurations with a high nucleon-nucleon relative momentum. The second essential difference is that we account for the off-shell nature of the bound-nucleon that enters on the (half-off-shell) electromagnetic current. We avoid many of the difficulties inherent to the relativistic nature of the processes involved by adopting a theoretical framework known as Light Front dynamics. Simplifications in the coherent definition for the relativistic proton-neutron bound-state wave function and the treatment of the bound-nucleon (half-off-shell) electromagnetic current are among the essential advantages resulting from the use of Light Front dynamics. Furthermore, the rescattering between the emerging nucleons in the final stage of the reaction is also simplified within the Light Front framework.

Our new theoretical calculation provides new venues for the exploration of the relativistic structure of nuclear matter. We compared our results with experimental data produced in a recent experiment conducted at Jefferson Laboratory in Virginia, USA.

Identifier

FIDC010262

ORCID

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4620-0804

Previously Published In

Vera, F. and Sargsian, M. Electron scattering from a deeply bound nucleon on the light-front. Phys. Rev. C 98, 035202 (2018).

Recommended Citation

Vera, Frank, "Probing the Structure of Deuteron at Very Short Distances" (2021). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 4735.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/4735