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1. Measurement of the beam-normal single-spin asymmetry for elastic electron scattering from 12C and 27Al

   Androic, D. ; Armstrong, D.S. ; Asaturyan, A ; Bartlett, K. ; Beaufait, J. ; Beminiwattha, R.S. ; Benesch, J. ; Benmokhtar, F. ; Birchall, J. ; Carlini, R.D. ; et al ( July 2021 , Physical review)

   null (Ed.)

   We report measurements of the parity-conserving beam-normal single-spin elastic scattering asymmetries Bn on 12C and 27Al, obtained with an electron beam polarized transverse to its momentum direction. These measurements add an additional kinematic point to a series of previous measurements of Bn on 12C and provide a first measurement on 27Al. The experiment utilized the Qweak apparatus at Jefferson Lab with a beam energy of 1.158 GeV. The average laboratory scattering angle for both targets was 7.7∘, and the average Q2 for both targets was 0.024 37 GeV2 (Q=0.1561 GeV). The asymmetries are Bn=−10.68±0.90(stat)±0.57(syst) ppm for 12C and Bn=−12.16±0.58(stat)±0.62(syst) ppm for 27Al. The results are consistent with theoretical predictions, and are compared to existing data. When scaled by Z/A, the Q dependence of all the far-forward angle (θ<10∘) data from 1H to 27Al can be described by the same slope out to Q≈0.35 GeV. Larger-angle data from other experiments in the same Q range are consistent with a slope about twice as steep. 

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2. Ruling out Color Transparency in Quasielastic 12C(e,e'p) up to Q2 of 14.2 (GeV/c)2

   Bhetuwal, D ; Matter, J ; Szumila-Vance, H ; Kabir, M. L ; Dutta, D ; Ent, R ; Abrams, D ; Ahmed, Z ; Aljawrneh, B ; Alsalmi, S ; et al ( February 2021 , Physical review letters)

   null (Ed.)

   Quasielastic C12(e,e′p) scattering was measured at spacelike 4-momentum transfer squared Q2=8, 9.4, 11.4, and 14.2  (GeV/c)2, the highest ever achieved to date. Nuclear transparency for this reaction was extracted by comparing the measured yield to that expected from a plane-wave impulse approximation calculation without any final state interactions. The measured transparency was consistent with no Q2 dependence, up to proton momenta of 8.5  GeV/c, ruling out the quantum chromodynamics effect of color transparency at the measured Q2 scales in exclusive (e,e′p) reactions. These results impose strict constraints on models of color transparency for protons. 

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3. Measurement of the axial vector form factor from antineutrino–proton scattering

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05478-3  

   Cai, T. ; Moore, M. L. ; Olivier, A. ; Akhter, S. ; Dar, Z. Ahmad ; Ansari, V. ; Ascencio, M. V. ; Bashyal, A. ; Bercellie, A. ; Betancourt, M. ; et al ( February 2023 , Nature)

   Abstract Scattering of high energy particles from nucleons probes their structure, as was done in the experiments that established the non-zero size of the proton using electron beams 1 . The use of charged leptons as scattering probes enables measuring the distribution of electric charges, which is encoded in the vector form factors of the nucleon 2 . Scattering weakly interacting neutrinos gives the opportunity to measure both vector and axial vector form factors of the nucleon, providing an additional, complementary probe of their structure. The nucleon transition axial form factor, F A , can be measured from neutrino scattering from free nucleons, ν μ n  →  μ − p and $${\bar{\nu }}_{\mu }p\to {\mu }^{+}n$$ ν ¯ μ p → μ + n , as a function of the negative four-momentum transfer squared ( Q 2 ). Up to now, F A ( Q 2 ) has been extracted from the bound nucleons in neutrino–deuterium scattering 3–9 , which requires uncertain nuclear corrections 10 . Here we report the first high-statistics measurement, to our knowledge, of the $${\bar{\nu }}_{\mu }\,p\to {\mu }^{+}n$$ ν ¯ μ p → μ + n cross-section from the hydrogen atom, using the plastic scintillator target of the MINERvA 11 experiment, extracting F A from free proton targets and measuring the nucleon axial charge radius, r A , to be 0.73 ± 0.17 fm. The antineutrino–hydrogen scattering presented here can access the axial form factor without the need for nuclear theory corrections, and enables direct comparisons with the increasingly precise lattice quantum chromodynamics computations 12–15 . Finally, the tools developed for this analysis and the result presented are substantial advancements in our capabilities to understand the nucleon structure in the weak sector, and also help the current and future neutrino oscillation experiments 16–20 to better constrain neutrino interaction models. 

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4. Measurement of the central exclusive production of charged particle pairs in proton-proton collisions at $$ \sqrt{s} $$ = 200 GeV with the STAR detector at RHIC

   https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP07(2020)178  

   Adam, J. ; Adamczyk, L. ; Adams, J. R. ; Adkins, J. K. ; Agakishiev, G. ; Aggarwal, M. M. ; Ahammed, Z. ; Alekseev, I. ; Anderson, D. M. ; Aparin, A. ; et al ( July 2020 , Journal of High Energy Physics)

   null (Ed.)

   A bstract We report on the measurement of the Central Exclusive Production of charged particle pairs h + h − ( h = π, K, p ) with the STAR detector at RHIC in proton-proton collisions at $$ \sqrt{s} $$ s = 200 GeV. The charged particle pairs produced in the reaction pp → p ′ + h + h − + p ′ are reconstructed from the tracks in the central detector and identified using the specific energy loss and the time of flight method, while the forward-scattered protons are measured in the Roman Pot system. Exclusivity of the event is guaranteed by requiring the transverse momentum balance of all four final-state particles. Differential cross sections are measured as functions of observables related to the central hadronic final state and to the forward-scattered protons. They are measured in a fiducial region corresponding to the acceptance of the STAR detector and determined by the central particles’ transverse momenta and pseudorapidities as well as by the forward-scattered protons’ momenta. This fiducial region roughly corresponds to the square of the four-momentum transfers at the proton vertices in the range 0 . 04 GeV 2 < −t 1 , −t 2 < 0 . 2 GeV 2 , invariant masses of the charged particle pairs up to a few GeV and pseudorapidities of the centrally-produced hadrons in the range |η| < 0 . 7. The measured cross sections are compared to phenomenological predictions based on the Double Pomeron Exchange (DPE) model. Structures observed in the mass spectra of π + π − and K + K − pairs are consistent with the DPE model, while angular distributions of pions suggest a dominant spin-0 contribution to π + π − production. For π + π − production, the fiducial cross section is extrapolated to the Lorentz-invariant region, which allows decomposition of the invariant mass spectrum into continuum and resonant contributions. The extrapolated cross section is well described by the continuum production and at least three resonances, the f 0 (980), f 2 (1270) and f 0 (1500), with a possible small contribution from the f 0 (1370). Fits to the extrapolated differential cross section as a function of t 1 and t 2 enable extraction of the exponential slope parameters in several bins of the invariant mass of π + π − pairs. These parameters are sensitive to the size of the interaction region. 

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5. Measurement of the helicity asymmetry $${\mathbb {E}}$$ for the $$\vec {\gamma }\vec {p} \rightarrow p \pi ^0$$ reaction in the resonance region: The CLAS Collaboration

   https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/s10050-023-01123-3  

   Kim, C. W. ; Zachariou, N. ; Bashkanov, M. ; Briscoe, W. J. ; Fegan, S. ; Kashevarov, V. L. ; Nikonov, K. ; Sarantsev, A. ; Schmidt, A. ; Strakovsky, I. I. ; et al ( September 2023 , The European Physical Journal A)

   The double-spin-polarization observable E for γ p → pπ0 has been measured with the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS) at photon beam energies Eγ from 0.367 to 2.173 GeV (corresponding to center-ofmass energies from 1.240 to 2.200 GeV) for pion center-ofmass angles, cos θc.m. π0 , between − 0.86 and 0.82. These new CLAS measurements cover a broader energy range and have smaller uncertainties compared to previous CBELSA data and provide an important independent check on systematics. These measurements are compared to predictions as well as new global fits from The George Washington University, Mainz, and Bonn-Gatchina groups. Their inclusion in multipole analyses will allow us to refine our understanding of the single-pion production contribution to the Gerasimov-Drell- Hearn sum rule and improve the determination of resonance properties, which will be presented in a future publication. 

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