Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2025
DOI
10.1103/1xx8-rxlv
Publication Title
Physical Review Letters
Volume
135
Issue
15
Pages
151902
Abstract
Nucleon structure functions, as measured in lepton-nucleon scattering, have historically provided a critical observable in the study of partonic dynamics within the nucleon. However, at very large parton momenta, it is both experimentally and theoretically challenging to extract parton distributions due to the probable onset of nonperturbative contributions and the unavailability of high-precision data at critical kinematics. Extraction of the neutron structure and the d quark distribution have been further challenging because of the necessity of applying nuclear corrections when utilizing scattering data from a deuteron target to extract the free neutron structure. However, a program of experiments has been carried out recently at the energy-upgraded Jefferson Lab electron accelerator aimed at significantly reducing the nuclear correction uncertainties on the d quark distribution function at large partonic momentum. This allows leveraging the vast body of deuterium data covering a large kinematic range to be utilized for d quark parton distribution function extraction. In this Letter, we present new data from experiment E12-10-002, carried out in Jefferson Lab Experimental Hall C, on the deuteron to proton cross section ratio at large Bjorken x. These results significantly improve the precision of existing data and provide a first look at the expected impact on quark distributions extracted from parton distribution function fits.
Rights
© 2025 The Authors.
Published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the authors and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI. Funded by SCOAP3.
Original Publication Citation
Biswas, D., Gonzalez, F. A., Henry, W., Karki, A., Morean, C., Nadeeshani, A., Sun, A., Ahmed, Z., Alsalmi, S., Armstrong, W., Asaturyan, A., Gayoso, C. A., Berdnikov, V., Bhatt, H., Bhetuwal, D., Bosted, P., Brash, E., Bukhari, M. H. S., Chen, J. P.,…Zhang, J. (2025). New measurements of the deuteron-to-proton F₂ structure-function ratio. Physical Review Letters, 135(15), 1-7, Article 151902. https://doi.org/10.1103/1xx8-rxlv
ORCID
0000-0002-1265-2212 (Hauenstein)
Repository Citation
Biswas, D.; Gonzalez, F. A.; Henry, W.; Karki, A.; Morean, C.; Nadeeshani, A.; Sun, A.; Ahmed, Z.; Alsalmi, S.; Armstrong, W.; Asaturyan, A.; Ayerbe Gayoso, C.; Berdnikov, V.; Bhatt, H.; Bhetuwal, D.; Bosted, P.; Brash, E.; Bukhari, M. H. S.; Chen, J. P.; Chen, M.; Christy, M. E.; Covrig Dusa, S.; Craycraft, K.; Danagoulian, S.; Day, D.; Diefenthaler, M.; Dlamini, M.; Dunne, J.; Duran, B.; Dutta, D.; Ent, R.; Fenker, H.; Fomin, N.; Fuchey, E.; Gaskell, D.; Gautam, T. N.; Hansen, J. O.; Hauenstein, F.; Hernandez, A. V.; Horn, T.; Huber, G. M.; Jones, M. K.; Joosten, S.; Kabir, M. L.; Keppel, C.; Khanal, A.; King, P. M.; Kinney, E.; Kohl, M.; Lashley-Colthirst, M.; Li, S.; Li, W. B.; Liyanage, A. H.; Mack, D.; Malace, S.; Markowitz, P.; Matter, J.; Meekins, D.; Michaels, R.; Mkrtchyan, A.; Moore, Z.; Nazeer, S. J.; Nanda, S.; Niculescu, G.; Niculescu, I.; Nguyen, D.; Nuruzzaman, B. Pandey; Park, S.; Pooser, E.; Puckett, A. J. R.; Rehfuss, M.; Reinhold, J.; Sawatzky, B.; Smith, G. R.; Szumila-Vance, H.; Tadepalli, A. S.; Tadevosyan, V.; Trotta, R.; Wood, S. A.; Yero, C.; and Zhang, J., "New Measurements of the Deuteron-to-Proton F₂ Structure-Function Ratio" (2025). Physics Faculty Publications. 997.
https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/physics_fac_pubs/997
Supplemental Material 1
f2_deut2hyd_ratio_E1210002.txt (32 kB)
Supplemental Material 2