Quarks in the Nucleus - Recent Results and Future Measurements at Jefferson Lab

A major part of the Jefferson Lab experimental program has been to elucidate the role of quarks in the nucleus. Since the 1980's, we have known that the distribution of quarks in the nucleus is not the same as in the free proton and neutron. This modification of quark distributions, known as the EMC Effect, has been the subject of much experimental study for more than 30 years.

Results from the 6 GeV Jefferson Lab program showed that the EMC Effect appears to depend on the local, rather than average, nuclear density. In addition, it was found that a seemingly unrelated quantity, the number of protons and neutrons found to be in a correlated pair in the nucleus (Short Range Correlations), shares the same nuclear dependence as the EMC Effect.

In this presentation I will review the Jefferson Lab 6 GeV measurements that provided exciting hints as to the origin of the EMC Effect and its connection with Short Range Correlations. In addition, I will discuss the program of measurements planned as part of the 12 GeV program that will further explore this EMC-SRC connection and provide crucial insight into the role of quarks and nucleons in the nucleus.