Short range correlated (SRC) N N pairs are pairs of nucleons with high relative momentum (prel > kF where kF 250 MeV/c is the Fermi momentum in medium to heavy nuclei) and lower center of mass momentum. The motivation for studying SRC pairs ranges from a desire to achieve a more comprehensive understanding of the many-body nuclear wave-function at high-resolution to searching for explicit QCD-dynamics effects within the nuclear medium, not to mention connections to many other open problems in nuclear physics. Exploring short-range correlations was one of the physics motivations for building CEBAF (now Jefferson Lab). Scientists used the high luminosity and high energy of this cutting-edge machine to find kinematics that cleanly showed the signals of short-range correlations. This paved the way in the last two decades for tremendous progress understanding these correlations. This paper reviews recent progress and highlights outstanding questions and areas that need further study.

The spin structure functions of the proton and the deuteron were measured during the EG4 experiment at Jefferson Lab in 2006. Data were collected for longitudinally polarized electron scattering off longitudinally polarized NH_3 and ND_3 targets, for Q^2 values as small as 0.012 and 0.02 GeV^2, respectively, using the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS). This is the archival paper of the EG4 experiment that summaries the previously reported results of the polarized structure functions g_1, A_1F_1, and their moments Γ_1, γ_0, and I_TT, for both the proton and the deuteron. In addition, we report on new results on the neutron g_1 extracted by combining proton and deuteron data and correcting for Fermi smearing, and on the neutron moments Γ_1, γ_0, and I_TT formed directly from those of the proton and the deuteron. Our data are in good agreement with the Gerasimov-Drell-Hearn sum rule for the proton, deuteron, and neutron. Furthermore, the isovector combination was formed for g_1 and the Bjorken integral Γ_1^p-n, and compared to available theoretical predictions. All of our results provide for the first time extensive tests of spin observable predictions from chiral effective field theory (χEFT) in a Q^2 range commensurate with the pion mass. They motivate further improvement in χEFT calculations from other approaches such as the lattice gauge method.

We perform a global analysis of lattice and experimental data on negative-strangeness meson-baryon scattering using a large set of variations of the theoretical framework based on the chiral unitary approach. For the former, the L & uuml;scher formalism is utilized taking into account all pertinent coupled-channel effects. Through this, systematic uncertainties related to data scarcity, potential ambiguities, and possible framework dependence are quantified for the first time. The implementation of information criteria and other statistical tools is discussed. As a final result we provide pole positions for isoscalar resonances at the physical and lattice points, including statistical and systematic uncertainties. Predictions for the isovector states are also provided, showing large uncertainties.

Near-threshold J /ψ photoproduction is a key aspect of the physics program at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (JLab) 12 GeV upgrade due to the wealth of information it has to offer. J /ψ photoproduction proceeds through the exchange of gluons in the t -channel and is expected to provide unique insight about the nucleon gravitational form factors and the nucleon mass radius. The JLab based CLAS Collaboration, which uses the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS12), aims to measure the J /ψ near threshold photoproduction cross section using both a proton and a deuteron target, from threshold up to 10.6 GeV. The deuteron target further offers the possibility of comparing the proton and neutron gluonic form factors and mass radii in a first measurement of the cross sections off a proton or neutron within the deuteron target. The analysis towards these measurements is ongoing and well advanced, with machine learning based techniques for particle identification already designed and validated with CLAS12 data.

Measuring deeply virtual Compton scattering (DVCS) on the neutron is one of the necessary steps to understand the structure of the nucleon in terms of generalized parton distributions (GPDs). Neutron targets play a complementary role to transversely polarized proton targets in the determination of the GPD E. This poorly known and poorly constrained GPD is essential to obtain the contribution of the quarks' angular momentum to the spin of the nucleon. DVCS on the neutron was measured for the first time selecting the exclusive final state by detecting the neutron, using the Jefferson Lab longitudinally polarized electron beam, with energies up to 10.6 GeV, and the CLAS12 detector. The extracted beam-spin asymmetries, combined with DVCS observables measured on the proton, allow a clean quark-flavor separation of the imaginary parts of the Compton form factors H and E.

This White Paper presents an overview of the current status and future perspective of QCD research, based on the community inputs and scientific conclusions from the 2022 Hot and Cold QCD Town Meeting. We present the progress made in the last decade toward a deep understanding of both the fundamental structure of the sub-atomic matter of nucleon and nucleus in cold QCD, and the hot QCD matter in heavy ion collisions. We identify key questions of QCD research and plausible paths to obtaining answers to those questions in the near future, hence defining priorities of our research over the coming decades.

Background: Measurements of the polarization observables {\Sigma}, P, T, Ox, Oz for the reaction {\gamma}p {\rightarrow) KS0 {\Sigma}+ using a linearly polarized photon beam of energy 1.1 to 2.1 GeV are reported. Purpose: The measured data provide information on a channel that has not been studied extensively, but is required for a full coupled-channel analysis in the nucleon resonance region. Method: Observables have been simultaneously extracted using likelihood sampling with a Markov-Chain Monte- Carlo process. Results: Angular distributions in bins of photon energy E{\gamma} are produced for each polarization observable. T, Ox and Oz are first time measurements of these observables in this reaction. The extraction of {\Sigma} extends the energy range beyond a previous measurement. The measurement of P, the recoil polarization, is consistent with previous measurements. Conclusions: The measured data are shown to be significant enough to affect the estimation of the nucleon resonance parameters when fitted within a coupled-channels model.

This document presents the initial scientific case for upgrading the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) at Jefferson Lab (JLab) to 22 GeV. It is the result of a community effort, incorporating insights from a series of workshops conducted between March 2022 and April 2023. With a track record of over 25 years in delivering the world's most intense and precise multi-GeV electron beams, CEBAF's potential for a higher energy upgrade presents a unique opportunity for an innovative nuclear physics program, which seamlessly integrates a rich historical background with a promising future. The proposed physics program encompass a diverse range of investigations centered around the nonperturbative dynamics inherent in hadron structure and the exploration of strongly interacting systems. It builds upon the exceptional capabilities of CEBAF in high-luminosity operations, the availability of existing or planned Hall equipment, and recent advancements in accelerator technology. The proposed program cover various scientific topics, including Hadron Spectroscopy, Partonic Structure and Spin, Hadronization and Transverse Momentum, Spatial Structure, Mechanical Properties, Form Factors and Emergent Hadron Mass, Hadron-Quark Transition, and Nuclear Dynamics at Extreme Conditions, as well as QCD Confinement and Fundamental Symmetries. Each topic highlights the key measurements achievable at a 22 GeV CEBAF accelerator. Furthermore, this document outlines the significant physics outcomes and unique aspects of these programs that distinguish them from other existing or planned facilities. In summary, this document provides an exciting rationale for the energy upgrade of CEBAF to 22 GeV, outlining the transformative scientific potential that lies within reach, and the remarkable opportunities it offers for advancing our understanding of hadron physics and related fundamental phenomena.

The new experimental measurements of beam spin asymmetry were performed for the deeply virtual exclusive π0 production in a wide kinematic region with the photon virtualities Q2 up to 6.6 GeV2 and the Bjorken scaling variable xB in the valence regime. The data were collected by the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS12) at Jefferson Lab with longitudinally polarized 10.6 GeV electrons scattered on an unpolarized liquid-hydrogen target. Sizable asymmetry values indicate a substantial contribution from transverse virtual photon amplitudes to the polarized structure functions. The interpretation of these measurements in terms of the Generalized Parton Distributions (GPDs) demonstrates their sensitivity to the chiral-odd GPD E¯T, which contains information on quark transverse spin densities in unpolarized and polarized nucleons and provides access to the nucleon's transverse anomalous magnetic moment. Additionally, the data were compared to a theoretical model based on a Regge formalism that was extended to the high photon virtualities.

Fast, efficient and accurate triggers are a critical requirement for modern high energy physics experiments given the increasingly large quantities of data that they produce. The CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS12) employs a highly efficient electron trigger to filter the amount of data recorded by requiring at least one electron candidate in each event, at the cost of a low purity in electron identification. However, machine learning algorithms are increasingly employed for classification tasks such as particle identification due to their high accuracy and fast processing times. In this proceeding we present recently published work that showed how a convolutional neural network could be deployed as a Level 3 electron trigger at CLAS12. We demonstrate that this AI trigger would achieve a significant data reduction compared to the conventional CLAS12 electron trigger, whilst preserving a 99.5% electron identification efficiency, at nominal CLAS12 beam currents.

The double-spin-polarization observable E for gamma(->) p(->) -> p pi(0) p pi 0 has been measured with the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS) at photon beam energies E gamma from 0.367 to 2.173 GeV (corresponding to center-of mass energies from 1.240 to 2.200 GeV) for pion center-of mass angles, cos theta(pi)0(c.m.) , between 0.86 and 0.82. These new CLAS measurements cover a broader energy range and have smaller uncertainties compared to previous CBELSA data and provide an important independent check on systematics. These measurements are compared to predictions as well as new global fits from The George Washington University, Mainz, and Bonn-Gatchina groups. Their inclusion in multi pole analyses will allow us to refine our understanding of the single-pion production contribution to the Gerasimov-DrellHearn sum rule and improve the determination of resonance properties, which will be presented in a future publication.

We report the first measurements of deep inelastic scattering spin-dependent azimuthal asymmetries in back-to-back dihadron electroproduction in the deep inelastic scattering process. In this reaction, two hadrons are produced in opposite hemispheres along the z axis in the virtual photon-target nucleon center-of-mass frame, with the first hadron produced in the current-fragmentation region and the second in the target-fragmentation region. The data were taken with longitudinally polarized electron beams of 10.2 and 10.6 GeV incident on an unpolarized liquid-hydrogen target using the CLAS12 spectrometer at Jefferson Lab. Observed nonzero sinΔϕ modulations in ep→e^{'}pπ^{+}X events, where Δϕ is the difference of the azimuthal angles of the proton and pion in the virtual photon and target nucleon center-of-mass frame, indicate that correlations between the spin and transverse momenta of hadrons produced in the target- and current-fragmentation regions may be significant. The measured beam-spin asymmetries provide a first access in dihadron production to a previously unexplored leading-twist spin- and transverse-momentum-dependent fracture function. The fracture functions describe the hadronization of the target remnant after the hard scattering of a virtual photon off a quark in the target particle and provide a new avenue for studying nucleonic structure and hadronization.

Fast, efficient and accurate triggers are a critical requirement for modern high energy physics experiments given the increasingly large quantities of data that they produce. The CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS12) employs a highly efficient electron trigger to filter the amount of recorded data by requiring at least one electron in each event, at the cost of a low purity in electron identification. Machine learning algorithms are increasingly employed for classification tasks such as particle identification due to their high accuracy and fast processing times. In this article we show how a convolutional neural network could be deployed as a Level 3 electron trigger at CLAS12. We demonstrate that the Artificial Intelligence (AI) trigger would achieve a significant data reduction compared to the traditional trigger, whilst preserving a 99.5% electron identification efficiency. The AI trigger purity as a function of increased luminosity is improved relative to the traditional trigger. As a consequence, this AI trigger can achieve a data recording reduction improvement of about 65% at standard CLAS12 luminosities when compared to the traditional trigger. A reduction in data output also reduces storage costs and post-processing times, which in turn reduces time to publication of new physics measurements.

The polarized cross-section ratio σ_{LT^{'}}/σ_{0} from hard exclusive π^{-}Δ^{++} electroproduction off an unpolarized hydrogen target has been extracted based on beam-spin asymmetry measurements using a 10.2  GeV/10.6  GeV incident electron beam and the CLAS12 spectrometer at Jefferson Lab. The study, which provides the first observation of this channel in the deep-inelastic regime, focuses on very forward-pion kinematics in the valence regime, and photon virtualities ranging from 1.5  GeV^{2} up to 7  GeV^{2}. The reaction provides a novel access to the d-quark content of the nucleon and to p→Δ^{++} transition generalized parton distributions. A comparison to existing results for hard exclusive π^{+}n and π^{0}p electroproduction is provided, which shows a clear impact of the excitation mechanism, encoded in transition generalized parton distributions, on the asymmetry.

A multidimensional extraction of the structure function ratio σLT′/σ0 from the hard exclusive e→p→e′nπ+ reaction above the resonance region has been performed. The study was done based on beam-spin asymmetry measurements using a 10.6 GeV incident electron beam on a liquid-hydrogen target and the CLAS12 spectrometer at Jefferson Lab. The measurements focus on the very forward regime (t/Q2 ≪ 1) with a wide kinematic range of xB in the valence regime (0.17 < xB < 0.55), and virtualities Q2 ranging from 1.5 GeV2 up to 6 GeV2. The results and their comparison to theoretical models based on Generalized Parton Distributions demonstrate the sensitivity to chiral-odd GPDs and the directly related tensor charge of the nucleon. In addition, the data is compared to an extension of a Regge formalism at high photon virtualities. It was found that the Regge model provides a better description at low Q2, while the GPD model is more appropriate at high Q2.

Deeply virtual Compton scattering (DVCS) allows one to probe Generalized Parton Distributions (GPDs) describing the 3D structure of the nucleon. We report the first measurement of the DVCS beam-spin asymmetry using the CLAS12 spectrometer with a 10.2 and 10.6 GeV electron beam scattering from unpolarised protons. The results greatly extend the $Q^2$ and Bjorken-$x$ phase space beyond the existing data in the valence region and provide over 2000 new data points measured with unprecedented statistical uncertainty, setting new, tight constraints for future phenomenological studies.

AbstractThe double-spin-polarization observable$${\mathbb {E}}$$Efor$$\vec {\gamma }\vec {p}\rightarrow p\pi ^0$$γ→p→→pπ0has been measured with the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS) at photon beam energies$$E_\gamma $$Eγfrom 0.367 to$$2.173~\textrm{GeV}$$2.173GeV(corresponding to center-of-mass energies from 1.240 to$$2.200~\textrm{GeV}$$2.200GeV) for pion center-of-mass angles,$$\cos \theta _{\pi ^0}^{c.m.}$$cosθπ0c.m., between$$-$$-0.86 and 0.82. These new CLAS measurements cover a broader energy range and have smaller uncertainties compared to previous CBELSA data and provide an important independent check on systematics. These measurements are compared to predictions as well as new global fits from The George Washington University, Mainz, and Bonn-Gatchina groups. Their inclusion in multipole analyses will allow us to refine our understanding of the single-pion production contribution to the Gerasimov-Drell-Hearn sum rule and improve the determination of resonance properties, which will be presented in a future publication.

The double-spin-polarization observable 𝔼 for γ⃗p⃗→ pπ ^0 has been measured with the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS) at photon beam energies E_γ from 0.367 to 2.173 GeV (corresponding to center-of-mass energies from 1.240 to 2.200 GeV ) for pion center-of-mass angles, cosθ _π ^0^c.m. , between - 0.86 and 0.82. These new CLAS measurements cover a broader energy range and have smaller uncertainties compared to previous CBELSA data and provide an important independent check on systematics. These measurements are compared to predictions as well as new global fits from The George Washington University, Mainz, and Bonn-Gatchina groups. Their inclusion in multipole analyses will allow us to refine our understanding of the single-pion production contribution to the Gerasimov-Drell-Hearn sum rule and improve the determination of resonance properties, which will be presented in a future publication.

Near-threshold J/ψ photoproduction is a key aspect of the physics program at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (JLab) 12 GeV upgrade due to the wealth of information it has to offer. J/ψ photoproduction proceeds through the exchange of gluons in the t-channel and is expected to provide unique insight about the nucleon gravitational form factors and the nucleon mass radius. The JLab based CLAS Collaboration, which uses the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS12), aims to measure the J/ψ near threshold photoproduction cross section using both a proton and a deuteron target, from threshold up to 10.6 GeV. The deuteron target further offers the possibility of comparing the proton and neutron gluonic form factors and mass radii in a first measurement of the cross sections off a proton or neutron within the deuteron target. The analysis towards these measurements is ongoing and well advanced, with machine learning based techniques for particle identification already designed and validated with CLAS12 data.