Moments of the spin structure functions [formula omitted] and [formula omitted] for [formula omitted

Abstract

The spin structure functions g 1 for the proton and the deuteron have been measured over a wide kinematic range in x and Q 2 using 1.6 and 5.7 GeV longitudinally polarized electrons incident upon polarized NH 3 and ND 3 targets at Jefferson Lab. Scattered electrons were detected in the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer, for 0.05 < Q 2 < 5 GeV 2 and W < 3 GeV . The first moments of g 1 for the proton and deuteron are presented – both have a negative slope at low Q 2 , as predicted by the extended Gerasimov–Drell–Hearn sum rule. The first extraction of the generalized forward spin polarizability of the proton γ 0 p is also reported. This quantity shows strong Q 2 dependence at low Q 2 . Our analysis of the Q 2 evolution of the first moment of g 1 shows agreement in leading order with Heavy Baryon Chiral Perturbation Theory. However, a significant discrepancy is observed between the γ 0 p data and Chiral Perturbation calculations for γ 0 p , even at the lowest Q 2 .