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Results for “PROTON SCATTERING”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Bayesian inference of nuclear-matter density from proton scattering

Background: Proton elastic scattering at intermediate energy is widely employed as a tool for determining the matter radius of atomic nuclei. Here, the sensitivity of the approach relies on high-resolution measurements at small scattering angles and low-momentum transfer. Under these conditions, the Glauber multiple scattering theory accurately describes the proton-nucleus elastic cross section. Purpose: Investigate the sensitivity of the Glauber multiple scattering theory to uncertainties associated with input parameters such as the nuclear-matter density distribution and nucleon-nucleon data. Method: A joint Bayesian inference was performed using 12 angular distributions of elastic scattering at different energies on 58 Ni, 90 Zr, and 208 Pb targets. A Metropolis-Hastings algorithm was implemented to make an uncertainty quantification analysis for the input parameters used in the Glauber multiple scattering theory. Results: The experimental cross sections were fitted simultaneously using a joint Bayesian inference approach. Posterior probability density distributions of 42 input parameters were obtained from the analysis. A moderate correlation between the nuclear density parameters and the nucleon-nucleon cross sections was found. This correlation impacts the extraction of the nuclear-matter radius. Conclusions: The present analysis provided a consistent method for extracting the nuclear-matter density distribution of 58 Ni, 90 Zr, and 208 Pb from data across different incident energies. Due to the correlation of the nucleon-nucleon cross sections with the other input parameters, a constrained Bayesian inference using free nucleon-nucleon cross section data was performed. The nuclear-matter radii obtained from the analysis are in good agreement with multiple results reported in the literature.

190 ≤ A ≤ 219↗
DOE OSTI2025

Determination of proton and neutron contributions to the 0$^+_{𝑔⁡𝑠}$ → 2$^+_{1}$ excitations in 42 Si and 44 S using inelastic proton scattering in inverse kinematics and intermediate-energy Coulomb excitation

Here, we have measured the 0$^+_{𝑔⁡𝑠}$ → 2$^+_1$ transition in the neutron-rich 𝑁 = 28 isotope 42 Si using the probes of intermediate-energy Coulomb excitation and inelastic proton scattering in inverse kinematics at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams with beam particle rates of ≈ 5 particles/s. The results of these two measurements allowed us to determine 𝑀 𝑛 /𝑀 𝑝 , the ratio of the neutron and proton transition matrix elements for the 0$^+_{𝑔⁡𝑠}$ → 2$^+_1$ transition. In addition, we have measured the 0$^+_{𝑔⁡𝑠}$ → 2$^+_1$ transition in the isotone 44 S using inverse kinematics inelastic proton scattering. By comparing the 44 S proton-scattering result with a recent intermediate-energy Coulomb excitation result on the same transition, we were able to determine 𝑀 𝑛 /𝑀 𝑝 for the 0$^+_{𝑔⁡𝑠}$ → 2$^+_1$ transition in this nucleus as well. This work strengthens the evidence that 42 Si has a stable quadrupole deformation in its ground state and that 44 S does not. Both conclusions are further supported by shell-model calculations carried out with the FSU interaction.

39 ≤ A ≤ 58↗
DOE OSTI2024

Absorptive corrections to the electromagnetic form factor in high-energy elastic proton-proton scattering

Recently, it was noted that absorptive corrections to the electromagnetic form factor in high-energy proton-proton scattering are important for the theoretical interpretation of the p ↑ p and p ↑ A analyzing power A N ( t ) measurements with the Hydrogen Jet Target polarimeter (HJET) at RHIC. Here, a concise expression for the absorptive correction was derived within the eikonal approach. The resulting analysis reveals a systematic bias, nearly independent of the beam energy, in the experimental determination of the real-to-imaginary ratio ρ when absorption effects are overlooked in the data analysis. Quantification of this bias, as ρ meas = ρ + ( 0.036 ± 0.016 ) bias , was achieved using a Regge fit applied to available proton-proton measurements of ρ meas ( s ) and σ tot meas ( s ) . Considering the potential impact of such an effect on the experimentally determined A N ( t ) , one may enhance consistency between the HJET and STAR measurements of the hadronic spin-flip amplitude. While the sign of the bias in the value of ρ aligns with the anticipated effective increase in the proton charge radius in p p scattering due to absorption, it amplifies the observed discrepancy between σ tot meas and ρ meas values at s = 13 TeV as measured in the TOTEM experiment. Evaluation (using published TOTEM data) of the measured proton-proton d σ / d t dependence on the absorptive corrections indicated that possible soft photon corrections to the hadronic amplitude slope may be essential for such data analysis. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Ab initio leading order effective potential for elastic proton scattering based on the symmetry-adapted no-core shell model

Calculating microscopic optical potentials for elastic scattering at intermediate energies from light nuclei in an ab initio fashion within the Watson expansion has been established within the last few years. Based on the Watson expansion of the multiple scattering series, we employ a nonlocal translationally invariant nuclear density derived within the symmetry-adapted no-core shell model (SA-NCSM) framework from a chiral next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) nucleon-nucleon interaction and the very same interaction for a consistent full-folding calculation of the effective (optical) potential for nucleon-nucleus scattering for medium-heavy nuclei. The leading order effective (optical) folding potential is computed by integrating over a translationally invariant SA-NCSM one-body scalar density, spin-projected momentum distribution, and the Wolfenstein amplitudes 𝐴, 𝐶, and 𝑀. The resulting nonlocal potentials serve as input for a momentum space Lippmann-Schwinger equation. In the SA-NCSM, the model space is systematically up-selected using Sp⁡(3,ℝ) symmetry considerations. For the light nucleus of 6 He, we establish a systematic selection scheme in the SA-NCSM for scattering observables. Then, we apply this scheme to calculations of scattering observables, such as differential cross sections, analyzing powers, and spin rotation functions for elastic proton scattering from 20 Ne and 40 Ca in the energy regime between 65 and 200 MeV, and compare to available data. Furthermore, our calculations show that the leading order effective nucleon-nucleus potential in the Watson expansion of multiple scattering theory obtained from an up-selected SA-NCSM model space describes 40 Ca elastic scattering observables reasonably well to about 60 degrees in the center-of-mass frame, which coincides roughly with the validity of the NNLO chiral interaction used to calculate both the nucleon-nucleon amplitudes and the one-body scalar and spin nuclear densities.

Ab initio calculations↗
NASA NTRS1973

Proton scattering in the region near the earth's bow shock.

Lockheed spectrometer data from orbits 1 through 20 of Ogo 5 are used to study proton scattering near the bow shock. Correlative UCLA fluxgate magnetometer data from the satellite are used to complete motion studies of the bow shock when spectrometer data are missing. Thirty-eight analyzable sets of multiple shock crossings show 358 shock encounters ranging from 10 to 22 earth radii and spanning sun-earth-satellite angles from 30 to 90 deg. Gross features of the study show that the location and shape of the bow shock are in good agreement with the hydrodynamic model of the bow shock.

Ossakow, S. L.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Electron-Proton Scattering Event Generation using Structured Tokenization

Recent work such as Omnijet-$\alpha$ has demonstrated that effective tokenization combined with transformer-based architectures can produce effective foundation models for jet physics. While tokenization may help models capture generalizable event characteristics, it also introduces discretization errors that may compromise the precision required for downstream physics analyses. As the number and complexity of the particle features grow, these errors are likely to grow proportionally. In this study, we investigate new tokenization strategies to improve the application of generative transformer models to \textsc{Pythia8} simulations of electron-proton scattering at the Electron-Ion Collider. Specifically, we propose a feature-based structured tokenization approach that utilizes multiple tokens per particle, improving expressivity, while reducing the total number of unique tokens needed. We evaluate this method against grid-based binning, K-means clustering, and vector-quantized variational auto-encoders on the event simulations. Our results show that feature-based structured tokenization reduces discretization error, leading to more accurate generative modeling of particle-level events.

Goldenberg, Steven [Thomas Jefferson National Acce↗
DOE OSTI2025

Electron-Proton Scattering Event Generation using Structured Tokenization

Recent work such as Omnijet-$\alpha$ has demonstrated that effective tokenization combined with transformer-based architectures can produce effective foundation models for jet physics. While tokenization may help models capture generalizable event characteristics, it also introduces discretization errors that may compromise the precision required for downstream physics analyses. As the number and complexity of the particle features grow, these errors are likely to grow proportionally. In this study, we investigate new tokenization strategies to improve the application of generative transformer models to \textsc{Pythia8} simulations of electron-proton scattering at the Electron-Ion Collider. Specifically, we propose a feature-based structured tokenization approach that utilizes multiple tokens per particle, improving expressivity, while reducing the total number of unique tokens needed. We evaluate this method against grid-based binning, K-means clustering, and vector-quantized variational auto-encoders on the event simulations. Our results show that feature-based structured tokenization reduces discretization error, leading to more accurate generative modeling of particle-level events.

Goldenberg, Steven [Thomas Jefferson National Acce↗
DOE OSTI2025

First study of polarized proton-proton scattering with small-𝑥 helicity evolution

We perform a phenomenological study of helicity-dependent parton distribution functions (PDFs) using small-𝑥 helicity evolution equations, incorporating for the first time single-inclusive jet production data in polarized proton-proton (𝑝⁢𝑝) scattering at parton momentum fractions 𝑥 <0.1. We also simultaneously include double-longitudinal spin asymmetries in inclusive and semi-inclusive deep-inelastic scattering probing 𝑥 <0.1. Employing the polarized small-𝑥 pure-glue calculation of 𝑝⁢𝑝 → 𝑔⁡𝑋 for the jet production cross section, we modify the large-𝑁 𝑐 &𝑁 𝑓 KPS-CTT evolution equations by setting 𝑁 𝑓 = 0 to replicate the large-𝑁𝑐 (pure-glue) limit, while retaining external quark flavors for the spinor field operators. We find that the 𝑝⁢𝑝 data have a considerable impact on the helicity PDFs at small 𝑥, reducing their uncertainties and leading to a total quark and gluon helicity in the proton for 𝑥 < 0.1 of −0.04 ±0.23. Combining our analysis with a recent JAM helicity PDF analysis of the world polarized data, which includes 𝑥 > 0.1, we find a total quark and gluon helicity contribution for 𝑥 >10 −7 of between 0.02 and 0.51.

Adamiak, Daniel [Michigan State University] (ORCID↗