Deeply virtual compton scattering off the neutron

Phys Rev Lett. 2007 Dec 14;99(24):242501. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.99.242501. Epub 2007 Dec 10.

Abstract

The present experiment exploits the interference between the deeply virtual Compton scattering (DVCS) and the Bethe-Heitler processes to extract the imaginary part of DVCS amplitudes on the neutron and on the deuteron from the helicity-dependent D(e,e'gamma)X cross section measured at Q2=1.9 GeV2 and xB=0.36. We extract a linear combination of generalized parton distributions (GPDs) particularly sensitive to E_{q}, the least constrained GPD. A model dependent constraint on the contribution of the up and down quarks to the nucleon spin is deduced.