We have measured parity-violating asymmetries in elastic electron-proton scattering over the range of momentum transfers 0.12 < or =Q2 < or =1.0 GeV2. These asymmetries, arising from interference of the electromagnetic and neutral weak interactions, are sensitive to strange-quark contributions to the currents of the proton. The measurements were made at Jefferson Laboratory using a toroidal spectrometer to detect the recoiling protons from a liquid hydrogen target. The results indicate nonzero, Q2 dependent, strange-quark contributions and provide new information beyond that obtained in previous experiments.

In an exclusive measurement of the reaction gammad-->K(+)K(-)pn, a narrow peak that can be attributed to an exotic baryon with strangeness S=+1 is seen in the K(+)n invariant mass spectrum. The peak is at 1.542+/-0.005 GeV/c(2) with a measured width of 0.021 GeV/c(2) FWHM, which is largely determined by experimental mass resolution. The statistical significance of the peak is (5.2+/-0.6)sigma. The mass and width of the observed peak are consistent with recent reports of a narrow S=+1 baryon by other experimental groups.

We report the first results of the beam-spin asymmetry measured in the reaction e⃗p→epγ at a beam energy of 4.25 GeV. A large asymmetry with a sinφ modulation is observed, as predicted for the interference term of deeply virtual compton scattering (DVCS) and the Bethe-Heitler process. The amplitude of this modulation is α = 0.202±0.028. In leading-order and leading-twist perturbative QCD, the α is directly proportional to the imaginary part of the DVCS amplitude

The ratios of inclusive electron scattering cross sections of 4 He, 12 C, and 56 Fe to 3 He have been measured for the first time. It is shown that these ratios are independent of x B at Q 2 Ͼ1.4 GeV 2 for x B Ͼ1.5, where the inclusive cross section depends primarily on the high momentum components of the nuclear wave function. The observed scaling shows that the momentum distributions at high-momenta have the same shape for all nuclei and differ only by a scale factor. The observed onset of the scaling at Q 2 Ͼ1.4 GeV 2 and x B Ͼ1.5 is consistent with the kinematical expectation that two-nucleon short range correlations ͑SRC͒ dominate the nuclear wave function at p m տ300 MeV/c. The values of these ratios in the scaling region can be related to the relative probabilities of SRC in nuclei with Aу3. Our data, combined with calculations and other measurements of the 3 He/deuterium ratio, demonstrate that for nuclei with Aу12 these probabilities are 4.9-5.9 times larger than in deuterium, while for 4 He it is larger by a factor of about 3.8.

Experimental Hall B at Je!erson Laboratory houses the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer, the magnetic "eld of which is produced by a superconducting toroid. The six coils of this toroid divide the detector azimuthally into six sectors, each of which contains three large multi-layer drift chambers for tracking charged particles produced from a "xed target on the toroidal axis. Within the 18 drift chambers are a total of 35,148 individually instrumented hexagonal drift cells. The novel geometry of these chambers provides for good tracking resolution and e$ciency, along with large acceptance. The design and construction challenges posed by these large-scale detectors are described, and detailed results are presented from in-beam measurements.