11TH CONFERENCE ON THE INTERSECTIONS OF PARTICLE AND NUCLEAR PHYSICS (CIPANP 2012)
Issue Date:
2013
Abstract(summary):
A major goal of Jefferson Lab at 12 GeV is to map out the 3-D structure of the proton through Generalized Parton Distributions (GPDs). An important tool in this endeavor is Deeply Virtual Compton Scattering, traditionally performed in kinematics where the incoming photon has a spacelike virtuality and the outgoing photon is real. However, measuring the corresponding timelike process, known as Timlike Compton Scattering (TCS), where the incoming photon is real and the outgoing one timelike, offers a unique opportunity to test the universality of GPDs. It also allows to take advantage of the straightforward access in TCS to the real part of the Compton Form Factors, providing constraints on global GPD fits. In addition, the experiment will provide a high-statistics measurement of the J/psi photoproduction cross section near threshold, as this process shares the same final state.