Submission + - MARATHON experiment offers most precise measurement of nucleon structure yet (phys.org)
Agnapot writes: A few Particle Physicists got to do a once in a lifetime experiment.
Over the past decades, some physicists have been trying to devise new experiments that could help to shed new light on the internal structure of nucleons (Protons and Neutrons). One of these experiments is the so-called MARATHON (MeAsurement of the F/F, d/u Ratio and A=3 EMC Effect in Deep Inelastic Scattering off Tritium and Helium-3 Mirror Nuclei) [In the running for Most Convoluted Acronym Ever!] experiment, carried by the Jefferson Lab Hall A Tritium Collaboration.
Recently, the researchers involved in this experiment published the most precise measurement yet of the ratio of the neutron and proton structure functions (F/F), which essentially describes the share of momentum among quarks inside nucleons. Their paper, published in Physical Review Letters, opens new possibilities for testing modern models of quantum chromodynamics (QCD) and other theoretical predictions.
"This is the second publication of the MARATHON Jefferson Lab experimental project, which was initiated back by Mina Katramatou and Makis Petratos of Kent State University, Javier Gomez of Jefferson Lab and Roy Holt of Argonne National Lab. The experiment had to wait for the 12 GeV energy upgrade of the Lab and a lengthy safety review process as it required the use of a radioactive tritium gas target. It was fully approved in 2011 and took data in 2018—almost 20 years after its inception." Makis Petratos, spokesperson of the JLab MARATHON experiment, told Phys.org.
Over the past decades, some physicists have been trying to devise new experiments that could help to shed new light on the internal structure of nucleons (Protons and Neutrons). One of these experiments is the so-called MARATHON (MeAsurement of the F/F, d/u Ratio and A=3 EMC Effect in Deep Inelastic Scattering off Tritium and Helium-3 Mirror Nuclei) [In the running for Most Convoluted Acronym Ever!] experiment, carried by the Jefferson Lab Hall A Tritium Collaboration.
Recently, the researchers involved in this experiment published the most precise measurement yet of the ratio of the neutron and proton structure functions (F/F), which essentially describes the share of momentum among quarks inside nucleons. Their paper, published in Physical Review Letters, opens new possibilities for testing modern models of quantum chromodynamics (QCD) and other theoretical predictions.
"This is the second publication of the MARATHON Jefferson Lab experimental project, which was initiated back by Mina Katramatou and Makis Petratos of Kent State University, Javier Gomez of Jefferson Lab and Roy Holt of Argonne National Lab. The experiment had to wait for the 12 GeV energy upgrade of the Lab and a lengthy safety review process as it required the use of a radioactive tritium gas target. It was fully approved in 2011 and took data in 2018—almost 20 years after its inception." Makis Petratos, spokesperson of the JLab MARATHON experiment, told Phys.org.
