Cross-Section Measurements of Electro-Disintegration of the Deuteron at High Four Momentum Transfers (Q²)

The deuteron electro-disintegration experiment aims to measure D(e,e'p)n cross sections at high momentum transfer, and neutron-recoil momenta greater than 500 MeV/c with great statistical precision. To obtain a greater understanding of the strong nuclear force, we must probe the nucleus at sub-fermi distances. In this region, the nucleon-nucleon interaction potential is not well understood with the current data. The deuteron is the simplest bound NN system, which makes it the perfect lab for understanding the strong nuclear force. This experiment was conducted in Hall C of Jefferson Lab. The 11 GeV electron beam was incident on a deuterium target, and the recoil proton and electron were detected by the High Momentum Spectrometer (HMS) and Super HMS, respectively. The neutron momentum is reconstructed from kinematics. This reaction, in which the nucleons can be directly correlated, is described by the plane wave impulse approximation. Other short-range correlation processes (final state interactions, meson exchange currents, and isobar configurations) can be suppressed under selected kinematics. Previous experiments showed a discrepancy between the data and the non-relativistic theoretical models. In the spring of 2023, we took data up to even higher missing momenta, which will allow us to extend the cross-section domain beyond 1 GeV/c with great statistics. The data is currently being analyzed and should be ideal for testing fully relativistic and ligth-front deuteron wave function models.