No abstract

Differential and total cross sections for the quasifree reactions γp → ηp and γn → ηn have been determined at the MAMI-C electron accelerator using a liquid deuterium target. Photons were produced via bremsstrahlung from the 1.5 GeV incident electron beam and energy-tagged with the Glasgow photon tagger. Decay photons of the neutral decay modes η → 2γ and η → 3π 0 → 6γ and coincident recoil nucleons were detected in a combined setup of the Crystal Ball and the TAPS calorimeters. The η-production cross sections were measured in coincidence with recoil protons, recoil neutrons, and in an inclusive mode without a condition on recoil nucleons, which allowed a check of the internal consistency of the data. The effects from nuclear Fermi motion were removed by a kinematic reconstruction of the final-state invariant mass and possible nuclear effects on the quasifree cross section were investigated by a comparison of free and quasifree proton data. The results, which represent a significant improvement in statistical quality compared to previous measurements, agree with the known neutron-to-proton cross-section ratio in the peak of the S11(1535) resonance and confirm a peak in the neutron cross section, which is absent for the proton, at a center-of-mass energy W = (1670 ± 5) MeV with an intrinsic width of Γ ≈ 30 MeV.

The complex nature of the nuclear forces generates a broad range and diversity of observational phenomena. Heavy nuclei, though orders of magnitude less massive than neutron stars, are governed by the same underlying physics, which is enshrined in the nuclear equation of state. Heavy nuclei are expected to develop a neutron-rich skin where many neutrons collect near the surface. Such a skin thickness is strongly sensitive to the poorly-known density dependence of the symmetry energy near saturation density. An accurate and model-independent determination of the neutron-skin thickness of heavy nuclei would provide a significant first constraint on the density dependence of the nuclear symmetry energy.The determination of the neutron-skin thickness of heavy nuclei has far reaching consequences in many areas of physics as diverse as heavy-ion collisions, polarized electron and proton scattering off nuclei, precision tests of the standard model using atomic parity violation, and nuclear astrophysics.While a systematic and concerted experimental effort has been made to measure the neutron-skin thickness of heavy nuclei, a precise and model-independent determination remains elusive. The measurement of parity-violating asymmetries provides a clean and model-independent determination of the weak form factor of the nucleus which is dominated by the neutron distribution. However, measuring parity-violating asymmetries of the order of a part per million is both challenging and time-consuming. Alternative observables sensitive to the symmetry energy have been proposed and measured succesfully in recent experimental campaigns. These data are valuable, but interpretations contain implicit model dependence that hinder the clean determination of the neutron-skin thickness. How to move forward at a time when many new facilities are being commissioned and how to strengthen the synergy with other areas of physics are primary goals of this review.

No abstract

No abstract

A massive, but light abelian U (1) gauge boson is a well motivated possible signature of physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics. In this paper, the search for the signal of such a U (1) gauge boson in electron-positron pair-production at the spectrometer setup of the A1 Collaboration at the Mainz Microtron (MAMI) is described. Exclusion limits in the mass range of 40 MeV/c 2 up to 300 MeV/c 2 with a sensitivity in the mixing parameter of down to 2 = 8 × 10 −7 are presented. A large fraction of the parameter space has been excluded where the discrepancy of the measured anomalous magnetic moment of the muon with theory might be explained by an additional U (1) gauge boson.

Coherent photoproduction of η-mesons off 3 He, i.e. the reaction γ 3 He → η 3 He, has been investigated in the near-threshold region. The experiment was performed at the Glasgow tagged photon facility of the Mainz MAMI accelerator with the combined Crystal Ball -TAPS detector. Angular distributions and the total cross section were measured using the η → γγ and η → 3π 0 → 6γ decay channels. The observed extremely sharp rise of the cross section at threshold and the behavior of the angular distributions are evidence for a strong η 3 He final state interaction, pointing to the existence of a resonant state. The search for further evidence of this state in the excitation function of π 0 -proton back-to-back emission in the γ 3 He → π 0 pX reaction revealed a very complicated structure of the background and could not support previous conclusions.

The photoproduction of η-mesons off nucleons bound in 2 H and 3 He has been measured in coincidence with recoil protons and recoil neutrons for incident photon energies from threshold up to 1.4 GeV. The experiments were performed at the Mainz MAMI accelerator, using the Glasgow tagged photon facility. Decay photons from the η → 2γ and η → 3π 0 decays and the recoil nucleons were detected with an almost 4π electromagnetic calorimeter combining the Crystal Ball and TAPS detectors. The data from both targets are of excellent statistical quality and show a narrow structure in the excitation function of γn → nη. The results from the two measurements are consistent taking into account the expected effects from nuclear Fermi motion. The best estimates for position and intrinsic width of the structure are W = (1670±5) MeV and Γ = (30±15) MeV. For the first time precise results for the angular dependence of this structure have been extracted.