Theses and Dissertations

ORCID

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2859-5961

Advisor

Dutta, Dipangkar

Committee Member

Szumila-Vance, Holly

Committee Member

Afanasjev, Anatoli

Committee Member

Crider, Benjamin

Committee Member

Winger, Jeff Allen

Date of Degree

12-12-2025

Original embargo terms

Immediate Worldwide Access

Document Type

Dissertation - Open Access

Major

Physics

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Department of Physics and Astronomy

Abstract

Photonuclear reactions using a real photon beam offer a unique opportunity to explore fundamental aspects of QCD within the nuclear medium. The experiment E12-19-003, conducted at Jefferson Lab’s Hall D in 2021, aimed to look for the transition from hadronic to partonic degrees of freedom and to explore the predicted QCD phenomenon known as color transparency in photons, mesons, and baryons. A key objective was to examine the transition of the photons from a resolved (hadronic fluctuation) configuration to a point-like electromagnetic probe. The experiment utilized liquid deuterium, helium, and carbon foils as target nuclei, which were probed by photon beams with energies of 6.5 - 10.8 GeV. Differential cross sections and nuclear transparency were extracted and compared with theoretical predictions. While the data are generally consistent with the resolved photon regime at lower momentum transfers, they do not provide conclusive evidence in favour of any specific scenario - resolved or unresolved photon regime, with or without color transparency effects.

Sponsorship (Optional)

U.S. DOE Grant Number: DE-FG02-07ER41528

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