The Neutron Charge Form Factor at Low $Q^2$

At the MIT-Bates Linear Accelerator Center, the neutron charge form factor $G_{E}^{n}$ has been measured by means of quasielastic scattering of polarized electrons from vector-polarized deuterium $^{2}\vec H(\vec e,e^{\prime}n)p$. The experiment used the longitudinally polarized, stored electron beam of the MIT-Bates South Hall Ring along with an isotopically pure, highly polarized internal deuterium target provided by an atomic beam source. The measurements have been carried out with the symmetric Bates Large Acceptance Spectrometer Toroid (BLAST) detector with enhanced neutron detection capability. From the beam-target double polarization asymmetry with the target spin oriented perpendicular to the momentum transfer the form factor $G_{E}^{n}$ is extracted over a range of four-momentum transfer, $Q^{2}$, between 0.1 and 0.55 (GeV/c)$^2$ with minimized systematic errors.