Separated kaon electroproduction cross section and the kaon form factor from 6 GeV JLab data

Journal Article · 27 February 2018 · Physical Review. C

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.97.025204 · OSTI ID:1427724

Carmignotto, M.; Ali, S.; Aniol, K.; Arrington, J.; Barrett, B.; Beise, E. J.; Blok, H. P.; Boeglin, W.; Brash, E. J.; Breuer, H.; Chang, C. C.; Christy, M. E.; Dittmann, A.; Ent, R.; Fenker, H.; Gaskell, D.; Gibson, E.; Holt, R. J.; Horn, T.; Huber, G. M. ; Jin, S.; Jones, M. K.; Keppel, C. E.; Kim, W.; King, P. M.; Kovaltchouk, V.; Liu, J.; Lolos, G. J.; Mack, D. J.; Margaziotis, D. J.; Markowitz, P.; Matsumura, A.; Meekins, D.; Miyoshi, T.; Mkrtchyan, H.; Niculescu, G.; Niculescu, I.; Okayasu, Y.; Pegg, I. L.; Pentchev, L.; Perdrisat, C.; Potterveld, D.; Punjabi, V.; Reimer, P. E.; Reinhold, J.; Roche, J.; Sarty, A.; Smith, G. R.; Tadevosyan, V.; Tang, L. G.; Trotta, R.; Tvaskis, V.; Vargas, A.; Vidakovic, S.; Volmer, J.; Vulcan, W.; Warren, G.; Wood, S. A.; Xu, C.; Zheng, X.

The ¹H(e,e^'K⁺)Λ reaction was studied as a function of the Mandelstam variable -t using data from the E01-004 (FPI-2) and E93-018 experiments that were carried out in Hall C at the 6 GeV Jefferson Laboratory. The cross section was fully separated into longitudinal and transverse components, and two interference terms at four-momentum transfers Q² of 1.00, 1.36, and 2.07 GeV². The kaon form factor was extracted from the longitudinal cross section using the Regge model by Vanderhaeghen et al. [Phys. Rev. C 57, 1454 (1998)]. Here, the results establish the method, previously used successfully for pion analyses, for extracting the kaon form factor. Data from 12 GeV Jefferson Laboratory experiments are expected to have sufficient precision to distinguish between theoretical predictions, for example, recent perturbative QCD calculations with modern parton distribution amplitudes. The leading-twist behavior for light mesons is predicted to set in for values of Q² between 5 and 10 GeV², which makes data in the few-GeV regime particularly interesting. Finally, the Q² dependence at fixed x and -t of the longitudinal cross section that we extracted seems consistent with the QCD factorization prediction within the experimental uncertainty.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Nuclear Physics (NP)
• Contributing Organization: JLAB FPI-2 and E93-018 Collaboration
• Grant/Contract Number: AC02-06CH11357; AC05-06OR23177; AC02-05CH11231
• OSTI ID: 1427724
• Journal Information: Physical Review. C, Journal Name: Physical Review. C Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 97; ISSN PRVCAN; ISSN 2469-9985
• Publisher: American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English