Article
Measurement of the generalized spin polarizabilities of the neutron in the low-Q2 region
Nature Physics
(2021)
Abstract
Understanding the nucleon spin structure in the regime where the strong interaction becomes truly strong poses a challenge to both experiment and theory. At energy scales below the nucleon mass of about 1 GeV, the intense interaction among the quarks and gluons inside the nucleon makes them highly correlated. Their coherent behaviour causes the emergence of effective degrees of freedom, requiring the application of non-perturbative techniques such as chiral effective field theory1. Here we present measurements of the neutron’s generalized spin polarizabilities that quantify the neutron’s spin precession under electromagnetic fields at very low energy-momentum transfer squared down to 0.035 GeV2. In this regime, chiral effective field theory calculations2,3,4 are expected to be applicable. Our data, however, show a strong discrepancy with these predictions, presenting a challenge to the current description of the neutron’s spin properties.
Disciplines
Publication Date
June, 2021
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-021-01245-9
Citation Information
Vincent Sulkosky, . ..., Todd Averett and et al.. "Measurement of the generalized spin polarizabilities of the neutron in the low-Q2 region" Nature Physics Vol. 17 (2021) p. 687 - 692 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/todd-averett/10/