Speaker
David Gaskell
(Jefferson Lab)
Description
Measurements of Deep Inelastic Scattering (DIS) from nuclei, aimed at
understanding the nuclear dependence of inelastic structure functions (the
EMC effect), are typically performed at high energies, hence effects due to
the acceleration of electrons in the Coulomb field of a large $Z$ nucleus are
usually ignored. However, there are certain kinematics, in particular at
large $x$ and large electron scattering angles (small $\epsilon$) where
so-called Coulomb corrections can become significant. This is particularly
relevant for experiments that wish to extract information about the nuclear
dependence of $R=\sigma_L/\sigma_T$, which need to make measurements over a
range of scattered electron momenta and angle at fixed $x$ and $Q^2$.
While Coulomb corrections have been studied theoretically and experimentally
for quasielastic electron scattering, this is not the case for DIS. Studies
of DIS using both electron and positron beams would provide crucial
information about the role of Coulomb effects in DIS.
This presentation will discuss the impact of Coulomb corrections on existing
and future measurements of the nuclear dependence of $R$. The feasibility of
measurements that would be maximally sensistive to placing constraints on
Coulomb corrections will also be discussed.
Primary author
David Gaskell
(Jefferson Lab)
