In recent years, many high precision experiments were carried aiming to improve the accuracy on the measurements of the neutrino oscillation parameters. One of the main source of uncertainty for neutrino oscillation experiments is due to the lack of a comprehensive theoretical description of neutrino-nucleus interactions. The US Deep Underground Neutrino Oscillation Experiments (DUNE) will deploy a series of detectors using Liquid Argon Time Projection Chambers (LArTPCs). A fully consistent parameter-free theoretical neutrino-nucleus scattering model on argon does not exist. The first step towards constructing a nuclear model will be to determine the energy and momentum distribution of protons and neutrons inside the argon nucleus. The JLab E12-14-012 experiment performed at Jefferson Laboratory in Newport News, Virginia, ran in 2017 and will provide such measurements in Argon and Titanium using electron scattering (e,e'p). The data collected by the experiment covers a wide range of energy transfers and also includes several other targets like aluminum and carbon. This Ph.D. thesis will present details of the JLab E12-14-012 experiment, together with first data analysis results of the exclusive (e,e'p) data on Argon and Titanium. / Doctor of Philosophy / Neutrino, a tiny, nearly massless particle was discovered about one hundred years ago. Neutrinos are everywhere around us. If you put your hands under the sunlight, each second, there will be about one billion neutrinos pass through them. As the second most abundant particle in the universe, it is extremely important to study neutrinos as they affect many fundamental aspects of our lives. For examples, neutrinos could help us study the nucleons' structure, and how the matter evolved from one particle to many. Since neutrinos are produced in nuclear fusion processes from the sun and stars, we could also understand the sun and universe better by studying the property of neutrinos.
Neutrinos have three flavors, and they could change flavors through neutrino oscillation. Measuring the neutrino oscillation parameters is one of the priority tasks for the physics society. Lots of experiments were carried aiming to enhance the understanding of neutrinos and improve the neutrino oscillation measurements accuracy. The most exciting and famous one is the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) that will be carried in Fermilab. DUNE is an accelerator based experiment that will use Argon as the neutrino target to study the neutrino oscillation. In order to improve the measurement accuracy of the oscillation parameters for the DUNE, a well defined theoretical model for neutrino interaction on Argon is needed. Thus, the JLab E12-14-012 experiment was performed in Hall A at Jefferson Lab in Newport, News, VA to help people get ready for this through electron scattering. The primary goal of this experiment is to measure the electron-nucleus interaction through (e,e$^\prime$p) reactions and further develop a electron-nucleus model to be used in the future neutrino experiments. This thesis will present an overview of the experimental setup and results from the data analysis.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/104091 |
| Date | 01 July 2021 |
| Creators | Gu, Linjie |
| Contributors | Physics, Mariani, Camillo, Horiuchi, Shunsaku, O'Donnell, Thomas, Pitt, Mark L. |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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