Measurement of the flavor asymmetry in the nucleon sea /

A precise measurement made by Fermilab experiment E866 of the ratio of Drell- Yan yields from an 800 GeV/c proton beam incident on hydrogen and deuterium targets is reported. From this ratio of yields the asymmetry between anti-down and anti-up quark distributions in the nucleon is determined over a...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Hawker, Eric Andrew, 1969-
Format: Thesis Book
Language:English
Published: [Place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified] ; 1998.
Subjects:
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Summary:A precise measurement made by Fermilab experiment E866 of the ratio of Drell- Yan yields from an 800 GeV/c proton beam incident on hydrogen and deuterium targets is reported. From this ratio of yields the asymmetry between anti-down and anti-up quark distributions in the nucleon is determined over a wide range in Bjorken-z. The z dependence of the ratio of [#(z)] to ['p,(z)] quarks shows a substantial excess of [#(z)] with respect to [/(z)] for x < 0.25. For x > 0.25 the data show the [#(z)] to ['p,(z)] ratio to be much closer to unity. Predictions made by current nucleon structure parametrizations are shown to be in reasonable agreement with the measured asymmetry results below an x of 0.15, but are in sharp disagreement with the results at values of x higher than 0.2. These very same results and issues are discussed in brief in a recent paper [The E866 Collaboration, E. A. Hawker et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 80, 3715 (1998)]. The asymmetry measurements are also shown to be able to support or reject several current theoretical models which aim to describe the nucleon sea as arising from nonperturbative QCD processes.
Item Description:Vita.
Physical Description:xii, 94 leaves : illustrations ; 28 cm.
Issued also on microfiche from University Microfilm Inc.
Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references: pages 90-92.