[en] The deuterium nucleus is a system of two nucleons (proton and neutron) bound together. The configuration of the system is described by a quantum-mechanical wave function and the state of the nucleons at a given time is not know a priori. However, by detecting a backward going proton of moderate momentum in coincidence with a reaction taking place on the neutron in deuterium, the initial state of that neutron can be inferred if we assume that the proton was a spectator to the reaction. This method, known as spectator tagging, was used to study the electron scattering from high-momentum neutrons in deuterium. The data were taken with a 5.765 GeV polarized electron beam on a deuterium target in Jefferson Laboratory's Hall B, using the CLAS detector. The accumulated data cover a wide kinematic range, reaching values of the invariant mass of the unobserved final state W* up to 3 GeV. A data sample of approximately 5 - 10⁵ events, with protons detected at large scattering angles (as high as 136 degrees) in coincidence with the forward electrons, was selected. The product of the neutron structure function with the initial nucleon momentum distribution F_2n. S was extracted for different values of W*, backward proton momenta p_s and momentum transfer Q². The data were compared to a calculation based on the spectator approximation and using the free nucleon form factors and structure functions. A strong enhancement in the data, not reproduced by the model, was observed at cos(theta_pq) > -0.3 (where theta_pq is the proton scattering angle relative to the direction of the momentum transfer) and can be associated with the contribution of final state interactions (FSI) that were not incorporated into the model. The bound nucleon structure function F_2n was studied in the region cos(theta_pq) < -0.3 as a function of W* and scaling variable x*. At high spectator proton momenta the struck neutron is far off its mass shell. At p_s > 400 MeV/c, the model overestimate s the value of F_2n in the region of x* between 0.25 and 0.6. A modification of the bound neutron structure is one of the possible effects that can cause the observed deviation

[en] The reaction γp → K⁺K^-p was studied at Jefferson Lab with photon energies from 1.8 to 3.8 GeV using a tagged photon beam. The goal was to search for a Θ⁺⁺ pentaquark, a narrow doubly charged baryon state having strangeness S = +1 and isospin I = 1, in the pK⁺ invariant mass spectrum. No statistically significant evidence of a Θ⁺⁺ was found. Upper limits on the total and differential production cross section for the reaction γp → K^-Θ⁺⁺ were obtained in the mass range from 1.5 to 2.0 GeV/c², with an upper limit of about 0.15 nb, 95% C.L. for a narrow resonance with a mass M_#Theta#_#sup ++# = 1.54 GeV/c². This result places a very stringent upper limit on the Θ⁺⁺ width

[en] The reaction ²H(e,e(prime) p)n has been studied with full kinematic coverage for photon virtuality 1.75 < 5.5 ∼ GeV². Comparisons of experimental data with theory indicate that for very low values of neutron recoil momentum (p_n < 100 MeV/c) the neutron is primarily a spectator and the reaction can be described by the plane-wave impulse approximation. For 100 < 750 MeV/c proton-neutron rescattering dominates the cross section, while Δ production followed by the NΔ → NN transition is the primary contribution at higher momenta

[en] For the first time, the reaction gamma d -> Lambda n K+ has been analyzed in order to search for the exotic pentaquark baryon Theta+(1540). The data were taken at Jefferson Lab, using the Hall-B tagged-photon beam of energy between 0.8 and 3.6 GeV and the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS). No statistically significant structures were observed in the nK+ invariant mass distribution. The upper limit on the gamma d -> Lambda Theta+ integrated cross section has been calculated and found to be between 5 and 25 nb, depending on the production model assumed. The upper limit on the differential cross section is also reported

[en] The cross section and decay angular distributions for the coherent φ meson photoproduction on the deuteron have been measured for the first time up to a squared four-momentum transfer t =(p_γ-p_φ)² = -2 GeV²/c², using the CLAS detector at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. The cross sections are compared with predictions from a re-scattering model. In a framework of vector meson dominance, the data are consistent with the total φ-N cross section σ_φN at about 10 mb. If vector meson dominance is violated, a larger σ_φN is possible by introducing larger t-slope for the φN → φN process than that for the γN → φN process. The decay angular distributions of the φ are consistent with helicity conservation