The OLYMPUS Collaboration reports on a precision measurement of the positron-proton to electronproton elastic cross section ratio, R 2γ , a direct measure of the contribution of hard two-photon exchange to the elastic cross section. In the OLYMPUS measurement, 2.01 GeV electron and positron beams were directed through a hydrogen gas target internal to the DORIS storage ring at DESY. A toroidal magnetic spectrometer instrumented with drift chambers and time-of-flight scintillators detected elastically scattered leptons in coincidence with recoiling protons over a scattering angle range of ≈20°to 80°. The relative luminosity between the two beam species was monitored using tracking telescopes of interleaved gas electron multiplier and multiwire proportional chamber detectors at 12°, as well as symmetric Møller or Bhabha calorimeters at 1.29°. A total integrated luminosity of 4.5 fb −1 was collected. In the extraction of R 2γ , radiative effects were taken into account using a Monte Carlo generator to simulate the convolutions of internal bremsstrahlung with experiment-specific conditions such as detector acceptance and reconstruction efficiency. The resulting values of R 2γ , presented here for a wide range of virtual photon polarization 0.456 < ϵ < 0.978, are smaller than some hadronic two-photon exchange calculations predict, but are in reasonable agreement with a subtracted dispersion model and a phenomenological fit to the form factor data.
A cryogenic apparatus is described that enables a new experiment, nEDM@SNS, with a major improvement in sensitivity compared to the existing limit in the search for a neutron Electric Dipole Moment (EDM). This apparatus uses superfluid 4 He to produce a high density of Ultra-Cold Neutrons (UCN) which are contained in a suitably coated pair of measurement cells. The experiment, to be operated at the Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, uses polarized 3 He from an Atomic Beam Source injected into the superfluid 4 He and transported to the measurement cells where it serves as a co-magnetometer. The superfluid 4 He is also used as an insulating medium allowing significantly higher electric fields, compared to previous experiments, to be maintained across the measurement cells. These features provide an ultimate statistical uncertainty for the EDM of 2 − 3 × 10 −28 e-cm, with anticipated systematic uncertainties below this level.
The OLYMPUS experiment was designed to measure the ratio between the positronproton and electron-proton elastic scattering cross sections, with the goal of determining the contribution of two-photon exchange to the elastic cross section. Two-photon exchange might resolve the discrepancy between measurements of the proton form factor ratio,, made using polarization techniques and those made in unpolarized experiments. OLYMPUS operated on the DORIS storage ring at DESY, alternating between 2.01 GeV electron and positron beams incident on an internal hydrogen gas target. The experiment used a toroidal magnetic spectrometer instrumented with drift chambers and time-of-flight detectors to measure rates for elastic scattering over the polar angular range of approximately 25• -75• . Symmetric Møller/Bhabha calorimeters at 1.29• and telescopes of GEM and MWPC detectors at 12• served as luminosity monitors. A total luminosity of approximately 4.5 fb −1 was collected over two running periods in 2012.
We report on the highest precision yet achieved in the measurement of the polarization of a lowenergy, O(1 GeV), continuous wave (CW) electron beam, accomplished using a new polarimeter based on electron-photon scattering, in Hall C at Jefferson Lab. A number of technical innovations were necessary, including a novel method for precise control of the laser polarization in a cavity and a novel diamond microstrip detector which was able to capture most of the spectrum of scattered electrons. The data analysis technique exploited track finding, the high granularity of the detector and its large acceptance. The polarization of the 180 µA, 1.16 GeV electron beam was measured with a statistical precision of < 1% per hour and a systematic uncertainty of 0.59%. This exceeds the level of precision required by the Q weak experiment, a measurement of the weak vector charge of the proton. Proposed future low-energy experiments require polarization uncertainty < 0.4%, and this result represents an important demonstration of that possibility. This measurement is the first use of diamond detectors for particle tracking in an experiment. It demonstrates the stable operation of a diamond based tracking detector in a high radiation environment, for two years.
We describe the current status of the DarkLight experiment at Jefferson Laboratory. DarkLight is motivated by the possibility that a dark photon in the mass range 10 to 100 MeV/c 2 could couple the dark sector to the Standard Model. DarkLight will precisely measure electron proton scattering using the 100 MeV electron beam of intensity 5 mA at the Jefferson Laboratory energy recovering linac incident on a windowless gas target of molecular hydrogen. The complete final state including scattered electron, recoil proton, and e + e − pair will be detected. A phase-I experiment has been funded and is expected to take data in the next eighteen months. The complete phase-II experiment is under final design and could run within two years after phase-I is completed. The DarkLight experiment drives development of new technology for beam, target, and detector and provides a new means to carry out electron scattering experiments at low momentum transfers.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2025 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.