Book Description

Precise measurements of the electric form factor of the neutron, Gn E, over a wide range of the square of the four-momentum transfer, Q2, are important for understanding nucleon and nuclear electromagnetic structure. In the non-relativistic limit, the electric and magnetic form factors are related to the charge and magnetization distribution inside a nucleon, respectively. The measured values of the form factors also serve as an important test for nucleon models. Among the four nucleon form factors, the electric form factor of the neutron, Gn E, is the most difficult one to measure and therefore has been very poorly known especially in the region Q2 > 1 (GeV/c)2 due to the lack of a free neutron target and the small value of Gn E. The Jefferson Laboratory E93-038 collaboration measured the ratio of the electric to magnetic form factor of the neutron, g = Gn E/Gn M, at three acceptance-averaged Q2 values of 0.45, 1.13 and 1.45 (GeV/c)2 using the quasi-elastic 2H(ẽ, e0ñ)1H reaction. In our experiment, an electron was scattered quasielastically from a neutron in a liquid-deuterium target, and the electron was detected in an electron spectrometer in coincidence with the neutron which was detected in a neutron polarimeter. The polarimeter was used to analyze the polarization of the recoil neutrons by measuring the np elastic scattering asymmetry. The experiment was performed in Hall-C at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility during the period from September 2000 to April 2001. The value of g was determined from the measured ratio of the sideways and longitudinal components of the neutron polarization vector. The values for Gn E were computed from our measured values of g = Gn E/Gn M using the Gn M values obtained from a fit to the world data. The E93-038 collaboration reported the first measurements of Gn E using polarization techniques at Q2 greater than 1 (GeV/c)2. Furthermore, our measurements of Gn E at the two higher Q2 values of 1.13 and 1.45 (GeV/c)2 are more precise than prior measurements at lower Q2. In this dissertation, the data analyses and our results for g and Gn E at Q2=0.45 (GeV/c)2 and Q2=1.13 (GeV/c)2 are given. Our high-accuracy data are included with the 'world' data for Gn E to form an improved data set that was fit with an empirical function to give a simple parameterization of Gn E as a function of Q2. In addition, the data for the ratio Gn E/Gn M are compared to theoretical models of the nucleon. We found that no theoretical model predicts both proton and neutron form factor data.