First Determination of the Weak Charge of the Proton
- et al.
The Qweak experiment has measured the parity-violating asymmetry in polarized e-p elastic scattering at Q2 = 0.025(GeV/c)2, employing 145 microamps of 89% longitudinally polarized electrons on a 34.4cm long liquid hydrogen target at Jefferson Lab. The results of the experiment's commissioning run are reported here, constituting approximately 4% of the data collected in the experiment. From these initial results the measured asymmetry is Aep = -279 +- 35 (statistics) +- 31 (systematics) ppb, which is the smallest and most precise asymmetry ever measured in polarized e-p scattering. The small Q2 of this experiment has made possible the first determination of the weak charge of the proton, QpW, by incorporating earlier parity-violating electron scattering (PVES) data at higher Q2 to constrain hadronic corrections. The value of QpW obtained in this way is QnW(PVES) = 0.064 +- 0.012, in good agreement with the Standard Model prediction of QpW(SM) = 0.0710 +- 0.0007. When this result is further combined with the Cs atomic parity violation (APV) measurement, significant constraints on the weak charges of the up and down quarks can also be extracted. That PVES+APV analysis reveals the neutron's weak charge to be QnW(PVES+APV) = -0.975 +- 0.010.
- Research Organization:
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (TJNAF), Newport News, VA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC)
- Contributing Organization:
- Qweak Collaboration
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-06OR23177
- OSTI ID:
- 1095271
- Report Number(s):
- JLAB-PHY-13-1756; DOE/OR/23177-2619; arXiv:1307.5275
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review Letters, Vol. 111, Issue 14; ISSN 0031-9007
- Publisher:
- American Physical Society (APS)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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