A Study of the Spin Structure on the Neutron in Deep Inelastic Scattering of Polarized Electrons on Polarized Neutrons

Abstract

The internal spin structure of the neutron, was studied in deep inelastic scattering of longitudinally polarized electrons from a polarized {sup 3}He target in the End Station A of the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC). The spin asymmetry of the neutron was measured at energies between 19 and 26 GeV in the range 0.03 {le} x {le} 0.06 at an average Q{sup 2} of 2 (GeV/c){sup 2}. The results are in agreement with a new measurement of the asymmetry by SMC within their six times larger uncertainties. The spin dependent structure function g{sub 1}(x) for the neutron was determined from the asymmetry measurement and, its integral over x is found to be {integral}g{sub 1}{sup n}(x)dx = -0.038 {+-} 0.009. This result is 2.7 standard deviations from the Ellis-Jaffe Sum Rule and combined with the EMC results from the proton in very good agreement with the Bjorken Sum Rule. In the Quark Parton Model (QPM), in conjunction with the weak coupling constants F and D, from baryon decay, the result implies that the quarks contribute approximately 32% of the nucleon helicity. Finally, different ways of evolving the data, based on various theoretical models, is attempted and future aspects for spin physics, with emphasis at spin physics at SLAC, are discussed.