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New Measurements of the Deuteron-to-Proton F2 Structure-Function Ratio

D. Biswas1, F. A. Gonzalez2, W. Henry3, A. Karki4, C. Morean5, A. Nadeeshani1, A. Sun6, Z. Ahmed7, S. Alsalmi8,9 et al. (Hall C Collaboration)

S. Alsalmi8,9, W. Armstrong10, A. Asaturyan3, C. Ayerbe Gayoso11,4, V. Berdnikov12,3, H. Bhatt4, D. Bhetuwal4, P. Bosted11, E. Brash13, M. H. S. Bukhari14, J. P. Chen3, M. Chen15, M. E. Christy1,3, S. Covrig Dusa3, K. Craycraft5, S. Danagoulian16, D. Day15, M. Diefenthaler3, M. Dlamini17, J. Dunne4, B. Duran10, D. Dutta4, R. Ent3, H. Fenker3, N. Fomin5, E. Fuchey18, D. Gaskell3, T. N. Gautam1, J. O. Hansen3, F. Hauenstein19,3, A. V. Hernandez12, T. Horn12, G. M. Huber7, M. K. Jones3, S. Joosten20, M. L. Kabir4, C. Keppel3, A. Khanal21, P. M. King17, E. Kinney22, M. Kohl1, N. Lashley-Colthirst1, S. Li23, W. B. Li11, A. H. Liyanage1, D. Mack3, S. Malace3, P. Markowitz21, J. Matter15, D. Meekins3, R. Michaels3, A. Mkrtchyan24, H. Mkrtchyan24, Z. Moore25, S. J. Nazeer1, S. Nanda4, G. Niculescu25, I. Niculescu25, D. Nguyen15, Nuruzzaman26, B. Pandey1,27, S. Park2, E. Pooser3, A. J. R. Puckett18, M. Rehfuss10, J. Reinhold21, B. Sawatzky3, G. R. Smith3, H. Szumila-Vance3,21, A. S. Tadepalli26, V. Tadevosyan24, R. Trotta12, S. A. Wood3, C. Yero21,12, and J. Zhang2 (Hall C Collaboration)

  • 1Hampton University, Hampton, Virginia 23669, USA
  • 2Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York 11794, USA
  • 3Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
  • 4Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, Mississippi 39762, USA
  • 5University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA
  • 6Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, USA
  • 7University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan S4S 0A2, Canada
  • 8Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 44240, USA
  • 9King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
  • 10Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122, USA
  • 11The College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia 23185, USA
  • 12Catholic University of America, Washington, DC 20064, USA
  • 13Christopher Newport University, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
  • 14Jazan University, Jazan 45142, Saudi Arabia
  • 15University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 22903, USA
  • 16North Carolina A&T State University, Greensboro, North Carolina 27411, USA
  • 17Ohio University, Athens, Ohio 45701, USA
  • 18University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, USA
  • 19Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia 23529, USA
  • 20Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, Illinois 60439, USA
  • 21Florida International University, University Park, Florida 33199, USA
  • 22University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA
  • 23University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire 03824, USA
  • 24A.I. Alikhanyan National Science Laboratory (Yerevan Physics Institute), Yerevan 0036, Armenia
  • 25James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Virginia 22807, USA
  • 26Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08854, USA
  • 27Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Virginia, 24450 USA

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 151902 – Published 8 October, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/1xx8-rxlv

Abstract

Nucleon structure functions, as measured in lepton-nucleon scattering, have historically provided a critical observable in the study of partonic dynamics within the nucleon. However, at very large parton momenta, it is both experimentally and theoretically challenging to extract parton distributions due to the probable onset of nonperturbative contributions and the unavailability of high-precision data at critical kinematics. Extraction of the neutron structure and the d quark distribution have been further challenging because of the necessity of applying nuclear corrections when utilizing scattering data from a deuteron target to extract the free neutron structure. However, a program of experiments has been carried out recently at the energy-upgraded Jefferson Lab electron accelerator aimed at significantly reducing the nuclear correction uncertainties on the d quark distribution function at large partonic momentum. This allows leveraging the vast body of deuterium data covering a large kinematic range to be utilized for d quark parton distribution function extraction. In this Letter, we present new data from experiment E12-10-002, carried out in Jefferson Lab Experimental Hall C, on the deuteron to proton cross section ratio at large Bjorken x. These results significantly improve the precision of existing data and provide a first look at the expected impact on quark distributions extracted from parton distribution function fits.

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Supplemental Material

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Outline

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 151902– Published 8 October, 2025
  • Received 25 September 2024
  • Revised 28 March 2025
  • Accepted 17 July 2025
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