Extraction and Parametrization of Isobaric Trinucleon Elastic Cross Sections and Form Factors

By mining data from Jefferson Lab Hall A experiment E08-014 a new measurement of the 3He elastic cross section at Q^2 ≈ 34 fm^−2 was extracted from a large quasielastic background. This new data point falls approximately halfway between the first and second diffractive minima of the 3He form factors. When combined with recent high Q^2 3He elastic cross section measurements from JLab this new point improves our knowledge of the cross section and form factors at large momentum transfers. The new high Q^2 data motivate a reanalysis of the 3He elastic cross section world data and promise an improved understanding of the magnetic form factor in particular. For this analysis the elastic cross section world data for 3He, and its mirror nuclei 3H, were collected. The world data spans five decades and many different experimental facilities. The world data were then fit using a sum of Gaussians parametrization which allowed for the extraction of both targets’ magnetic and electric form factors, along with charge densities and radii. These new fit results were contrasted with past fit results and compared to modern theoretical predictions