Measurement of the Q^{2} Dependence of the Deuteron Spin Structure Function g_{1} and its Moments at Low Q^{2} with CLAS

Phys Rev Lett. 2018 Feb 9;120(6):062501. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.120.062501.

Abstract

We measured the g_{1} spin structure function of the deuteron at low Q^{2}, where QCD can be approximated with chiral perturbation theory (χPT). The data cover the resonance region, up to an invariant mass of W≈1.9 GeV. The generalized Gerasimov-Drell-Hearn sum, the moment Γ_{1}^{d} and the spin polarizability γ_{0}^{d} are precisely determined down to a minimum Q^{2} of 0.02 GeV^{2} for the first time, about 2.5 times lower than that of previous data. We compare them to several χPT calculations and models. These results are the first in a program of benchmark measurements of polarization observables in the χPT domain.