Arts & Sciences Events
[PAST EVENT] Yang Wang: Physics Dissertation Defense
Abstract: The nucleon form factors have been investigated by physicists for decades because of its fundamental importance. The world data of the proton magnetic form factor GMp shows that the measurements have been focused on Q2 lower than 5 GeV2 and it has large uncertainties at higher GeV2. Experiment E12-07-108 aims to improve the accuracy of the e ? p elastic cross section to better than 2% over a Q2 range of 7 ? 14 GeV2. From 2015 to 2016, the e ? p elastic cross section was measured over a wide range of Q2 from 0.66 ? 12.56 GeV2 at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Virginia, USA. An unpolarized electron beam was scattered off a cryogenic hydrogen target and the scattered electron was detected in the single arm of the high resolution spectrometers (HRS).
This thesis focuses on the analysis of the data taken in the spring of 2015, Q2 = 0.66 ? 1.66 GeV2. At Q2 = 0.66 GeV2, the uncertainty < 3% was achieved while < 5% was achieved for the other three Q2 at the moment. The results were compared with the world data and provided confidence for the E12-07-108 measuremnts at higher Q2.
Bio: Yang Wang was born and grew up in Jiang Su, China. She developed a special interest in Physics since high school. She graduated from the University of Technology and Science of China with a B.S. in Physics and in the same year, she entered William & Mary to pursue her Ph.D. In 2013, she joined Todd Averett's research group and the GMp collaboration at Jefferson Lab, where she has studied the proton's form factors.