The Gluex Experiment in Hall-D
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The GlueX Experiment in Hall-D The GlueX Collaboration∗ (Dated: 1 July, 2010) The goal of the GlueX experiment is to provide critical data needed to address one of the outstand- ing and fundamental challenges in physics { the quantitative understanding of the confinement of quarks and gluons in quantum chromodynamics (QCD). Confinement is a unique property of QCD and understanding confinement requires an understanding of the soft gluonic field responsible for binding quarks in hadrons. Hybrid mesons, and in particular exotic hybrid mesons, provide the ideal laboratory for testing QCD in the confinement regime since these mesons explicitly manifest the gluonic degrees of freedom. Photoproduction is expected to be particularly effective in producing exotic hybrids but there is little data on the photoproduction of light mesons. GlueX will use the coherent bremsstrahlung technique to produce a linearly polarized photon beam. A solenoid-based hermetic detector will be used to collect data on meson production and decays with statistics after the first full year of running that will exceed the current photoproduction data in hand by several orders of magnitude. These data will also be used to study the spectrum of conventional mesons, including the poorly understood excited vector mesons. In order to reach the ideal photon energy of 9 GeV for this mapping of the exotic spectrum, 12 GeV electrons are required. This document updates the physics goals, the beam and apparatus of the GlueX detector in Hall-D since the original proposal was presented to PAC 30 in 2006 [1]. I. INTRODUCTION lead-glass calorimeter barrel time-of Quantum chromodynamics (QCD) provides a clear de- calorimeter -flight scription of the strong interaction of quarks and gluons target at high energy; however, obtaining quantitative predic- tions from QCD at low energy remains challenging. In- terestingly, it is at these low energies that we observe the most obvious physical manifestation of QCD, the spec- trum of particles that make up the universe we live in, baryons and mesons. While models do provide predic- tions for this spectrum, to obtain this spectrum as a so- lution to QCD is currently only possible using numerical techniques to calculate it, lattice QCD (LQCD). The observation, nearly five decades ago, that mesons are grouped in nonets, each characterized by unique val- forward drift ues of J PC {spin (J), parity (P ) and charge conjugation chambers (C) quantum numbers|led to the development of the central drift quark model. Within this picture, mesons are bound chamber states of a quark (q) and antiquark (¯q). The three light- quark flavors (up, down and strange) suffice to explain superconducting the spectroscopy of most but not all of the charmless magnet mesons lighter than the cc¯ ground state (≈ 3 GeV). Our understanding of how quarks form mesons has FIG. 1. A cut-away view of the GlueX detector. See evolved within QCD, and we now expect a richer spec- Section VI for a description of the components. trum of mesons that takes into account not only the quark degrees of freedom but also the gluonic degrees of freedom. Gluonic mesons with no quarks (glueballs) are expected. Since the expected quantum numbers of low- they can mix with qq¯. Excitations of the gluonic field lying glueballs (below 4 GeV) are not exotic, they should binding the quarks can also give rise to so-called hybrid manifest themselves as extraneous states that cannot be mesons that can be viewed as bound states of a quark, accommodated within qq¯ nonets [2]. Thus, their unam- antiquark and valence gluon (qqg¯ ). biguous identification is complicated by the fact that An alternative picture of hybrid mesons, supported by LQCD [3], is one in which a gluonic flux tube forms between the quark and antiquark and the excitations of this flux tube lead to so-called hybrid mesons. Conven- ∗ Spokesperson: Curtis A. Meyer, ([email protected]) tional qq¯ mesons arise when the flux tube is in its ground state, while hybrid mesons arise when the flux tube is ex- State Mass (GeV) Width (GeV) cited. In many models, some hybrid mesons can have a π1(1400) 1:351 ± 0:03 0:313 ± 0:040 unique signature, exotic (not allowed in a simple qq¯ sys- π (1600) 1:662 ± 0:015 0:234 ± 0:050 tem) J PC quantum numbers. This signature simplifies 1 the spectroscopy of these exotic hybrid mesons because π1(2015) 2:01 ± 0:03 0:28 ± 0:05 they do not mix with conventional qq¯ states. Lattice cal- State Production Decays − − z 0 z culations presented in Section III support the existence π1(1400) π p,¯pn π η ,π η of exotic-quantum-number states within the meson spec- − 0 z π1(1600) π p,¯pp η π,b1π,f1π,ρπ trum, independent of specific models. − The GlueX detector (shown in Figure 1) has been de- π1(2015) π p b1π,f1π signed to observe these exotic-quantum-number hybrid State Experiments states. A program in spectroscopy, supported by a so- π1(1400) E852, CBAR phisticated amplitude analysis, will map out the spec- π1(1600) E852, VES, COMPASS, CBAR trum of the exotic-quantum-number states. At the same time, the spectrum of the normal qq¯ mesons will be stud- π1(2015) E852 ied. Detailed comparisons of our experimental results TABLE I. The three exotic-quantum-number states for to theoretical predictions on the excitations of the glu- which some experimental evidence exists. The masses onic field in mesonic systems will lead to a more detailed and widths are the Particle Data Group average [7]. The understanding of the role of glue in the confinement of decays with a superscript z are considered controversial. quarks inside hadronic matter. VES experiment observed the π1(1600) in its other three II. MESON SPECTROSCOPY AND THE reported decay modes, but they were never able to con- SEARCH FOR QCD EXOTICS firm the 3π decay of the π1(1600) (even with large statis- tics) [9]. Recently, the COMPASS experiment at CERN Despite an active experimental program, data sup- published their first results on 3π final states produced porting the existence states with exotic J PC are still in peripheral pion production on nuclear targets [10, 11]. sparse. Recent review articles [2, 4, 5] provide a sum- They report a robust signal for the π1(1600) in 3π, which mary of the field. Briefly, evidence exists for up to three is shown in Figure 2. Their analysis appears to include PC −+ isovector, J = 1 , exotic-quantum-number states: all the decays of the π2(1670), but the published infor- π1(1400), π1(1600) and π1(2015) (whose properties are mation is still limited. Their results are also somewhat summarized in Table I). The lightest state, the π1(1400), surprising in that both the π2(1670) and the π1(1600) may not be a resonance. If it is resonant, it is almost cer- have virtually the same mass and width. This is most tainly not a hybrid meson, rather, it is more naturally clearly seen by the lack of phase motion between these explained as a four-quark object [6]. two states, shown in Figure 2, and leads to concerns that The π1(1600) and the π1(2015) are both potential can- the exotic state may be the result of unaccounted for didates for hybrid mesons. The π1(1600) suffers from a feed-through from the stronger π2 state, possibly caused number of inconsistencies in its production, which ap- by the use of the isobar model. Additional studies look- pears different depending on how the π1 decays. There ing at other final states of the π1(1600) will be required is also a good deal of controversy about its ρπ decay, with if this issue is to be resolved. the existence of the decay mode apparently strongly de- In photoproduction, the CLAS collaboration has car- pendent on assumptions in the analysis. However, the ried out the first search for the π1(1600) ! 3π using number and variety of the experimental results suggest a 4 − 5 GeV photon beam. They see no evidence for that this state does exists. The highest-mass state is the the π1(1600) [12]. This result could indicate that the result of very-low statistics analysis from a single exper- π1(1600) does not decay to 3π, it is not produced in pho- iment (E852), and needs confirmation. Either of these toproduction, or both. In summary, while the π1(1600) higher-mass states is consistent with lattice predictions appears reasonably solid via its other decay modes (η0π, for the mass of the π1 hybrid. If both of these states are b1π and f1π), the simple 3π mode has been called into confirmed, they could be explained as the ground and question and needs clarification. first-excited states of the 1−+ system. A result which While there is evidence for the isovector member of appears to be consistent with the recent lattice calcula- the J PC = 1−+ nonet, we also expect two isoscalar states 0 tions discussed below. (η1 and η1), as well as two additional exotic nonets with As noted above, the ρπ (3π) decay mode of the J PC = 0+− and 2+−. There is still no experimental π1(1600) remains controversial. In 2005, a high-statistics evidence for any of these other states. The former are analysis of E852 data showed that the signal for the necessary to establish the nonet nature of the π1 states, π1(1600) could be attributed to feed-through from the and the latter are expected in most models of hybrids. well-established π2(1670) due to the use of an incom- Table II lists the nine expected exotic-quantum number plete set of the known π2 decays in the analysis [8].