Nucleon structure and Its modification in nuclei

Abstract

Inclusive electron scattering experiments using fixed targets are an important tool for studying the structure of the nucleons. The electromagnetic structure of the proton, as encapsulated by its elastic form factors, can be extracted through measurements of the elastic electron-proton scattering cross-section. The GMp experiment in Hall A at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (JLab) seeks to measure this cross-section with high precision up to large momentum transfers. In addition, it is known that the inelastic structure of the nucleon is modified inside the nucleus. This modification, known as the EMC effect, can be studied using inclusive electron Deep Inelastic Scattering (DIS) on a nuclear target. Evidence suggests that the EMC effect may arise due to nucleon Short Range Correlations (SRC). This thesis describes studies of the elastic proton form factor measured in the GMp experiment at Hall A of JLab and studies of the EMC effect in nuclei relative to deuterium using data collected at the CLAS detector in Hall B at JLab. Furthermore, this works presents new measurements of SRC pair abundances in nuclei and develops a data-driven SRCbased phenomenological model of the EMC effect, which can correctly describe the effect across nuclei.