Neutron structure functions from nuclear data.
Date
1996
Authors
Melnitchouk, W.
Thomas, A.
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Journal article
Citation
Physics Letters, 1996; 27(6):1407-1424
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Abstract
The spin-averaged structure function of the neutron, F<inf>2</inf><sup>n</sup>, is extracted from the latest deuteron data, taking into account the most recent developments in the treatment of nuclear effects in the deuteron. At small x, the F<inf>2</inf><sup>D</sup>/F<inf>2</inf><sup>p</sup> ratio measured by the New Muon and Fermilab E665 Collaborations is interpreted to suggest a small amount of shadowing in deuterium, which acts to enhance F<inf>2</inf><sup>n</sup> for x≲0.1. A careful treatment of Fermi motion, binding and nucleon off-shell effects in the deuteron also indicates that the neutron/proton structure functio ratio as x → 1 is consistent with the perturbative QCD expectation of 3/7, but larger than the traditional value of 1/4.