The 3H–3He Charge Radii Difference

• Main Authors: Myers L. S., Arrington J. R., Higinbotham D. W.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: EDP Sciences 2016-01-01
• Series: EPJ Web of Conferences
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/201611308013

The upcoming E12-14-009 [1] experiment at Jefferson Lab will determine the ratio of the electric form factors for the A=3 mirror nuclei 3He and 3H. The measurement will use a 1.1 GeV electron beam, a special collimator plate to allow for simultaneous optics measurements, and the low-activity tritium target being prepared for Jefferson Lab. By observing the dependence of the form factor ratio as a function of Q2 over 0.05–0.09 GeV2, the dependence of the radii extraction on the shape of the form factors is minimized. As a result, we anticipate the uncertainty of the extracted charge radii difference to be 0.03 fm, a reduction of 70% from the current measurement. Using precise measurements of the 3He charge radius from isotopic shift or μHe measurements [2–4], we can deduce the absolute 3H charge radius. The results will provide a direct comparison to recent calculations of the charge radii.