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The cosmic microwave background (CMB) energy spectrum is a near-perfect blackbody. The standard model of cosmology predicts small spectral distortions to this form, but no such distortion of the skyaveraged CMB spectrum has yet been measured. We calculate the largest expected distortion, which arises from the inverse Compton scattering of CMB photons off hot, free electrons, known as the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (TSZ) effect. We show that the predicted signal is roughly one order of magnitude below the current bound from the COBE-FIRAS experiment, but it can be detected at enormous significance (> 1 OOOcr) by the proposed Primordial Inflation Explorer (PIXIE). Although cosmic variance reduces the effective signal-to-noise ratio to 230er, this measurement will still yield a subpercent constraint on the total thermal energy of electrons in the observable Universe. Furthermore, we show that PIXIE can detect subtle relativistic effects in the sky-averaged TSZ signal at 30

The feasibility of the generation of bright ultrashort gamma-ray pulses is demonstrated in the interaction of a relativistic electron bunch with a counterpropagating tightly focused superstrong laser beam in the radiation-dominated regime. The Compton scattering spectra of gamma radiation are investigated using a semiclassical description for the electron dynamics in the laser field and a quantum electrodynamical description for the photon emission. We demonstrate the feasibility of ultrashort gamma-ray bursts of hundreds of attoseconds and of dozens of megaelectronvolt photon energies in the near-backwards direction of the initial electron motion. The tightly focused laser field structure and the radiation reaction are shown to be responsible for such short gamma-ray bursts, which are independent of the durations of the electron bunch and of the laser pulse. The results are measurable with the laser technology available in the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wide-angle exclusive Compton scattering and single-pion photoproduction from the proton have been investigated via measurement of the polarization transfer from a circularly polarized photon beam to the recoil proton. The wide-angle Compton scattering polarization transfer was analyzed at an incident photon energy of 3.7 GeV at a proton scattering angle of θcmp=70°. The longitudinal transfer KLL, measured to be 0.645±0.059±0.048, where the first error is statistical and the second is systematic, has the same sign as predicted for the reaction mechanism in which the photon interacts with a single quark carrying the spin of the proton. However, the observed value is ~3 times larger than predicted by the generalized-parton-distribution-based calculations, which indicates a significant unknown contribution to the scattering amplitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relativistic electrons counterpropagating through the center of a radially polarized J1 optical Bessel beam in vacuum will emit radiation in a manner analogous to the channeling radiation that occurs when charged particles traverse through a crystal lattice. However, since this interaction occurs in vacuum, problems with scattering of the electrons by the lattice atoms are eliminated. Contrary to inverse Compton scattering, the emitted frequency is also determined by the amplitude of the laser field, rather than only by its frequency. Adjusting the value of the laser field permits the tuning of the emitted frequency over orders of magnitude, from terahertz to soft X rays. High flux intensities are predicted (∼100 MW/cm2). Extended interaction lengths are feasible due to the diffraction-free properties of the Bessel beam and its radial field, which confines the electron trajectory within the center of the Bessel beam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bonding characteristics of liquid boron at 2500 K are studied by using high-resolution Compton scattering. An excellent agreement is found between the measurements and the corresponding Car- Parrinello molecular dynamics simulations. Covalent bond pairs are clearly shown to dominate in liquid boron along with the coexistence of diffuse pairs. Our study reveals the complex bonding pattern of liquid boron and gives insight into the unusual properties of this high-temperature liquid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spin polarizabilities of the nucleon describe how the spin of the nucleon responds to an incident polarized photon. The most model-independent way to extract the nucleon spin polarizabilities is through polarized Compton scattering. Double-polarized Compton scattering asymmetries on the proton were measured in the Δ(1232) region using circularly polarized incident photons and a transversely polarized proton target at the Mainz Microtron. Fits to asymmetry data were performed using a dispersion model calculation and a baryon chiral perturbation theory calculation, and a separation of all four proton spin polarizabilities in the multipole basis was achieved. The analysis based on a dispersion model calculation yields γE1E1=-3.5±1.2, γM1M1=3.16±0.85, γE1M2=-0.7±1.2, and γM1E2=1.99±0.29, in units of 10- 4fm4. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present an incisive spectroscopic technique for directly probing redox orbitals based on bulk electron momentum density measurements via high-resolution x-ray Compton scattering. Application of our method to spinel LixMn2O4, a lithium ion battery cathode material, is discussed. The orbital involved in the lithium insertion and extraction process is shown to mainly be the oxygen 2p orbital. Moreover, the manganese 3d states are shown to experience spatial delocalization involving 0.16 ± 0.05 electrons per Mn site during the battery operation. Our analysis provides a clear understanding of the fundamental redox process involved in the working of a lithium ion battery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A measurement of the electroproduction of photons off protons in the deeply inelastic regime was performed at Jefferson Lab using a nearly 6 GeV electron beam, a longitudinally polarized proton target, and the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer. Target-spin asymmetries for ep → e'p'γ events, which arise from the interference of the deeply virtual Compton scattering and the Bethe-Heitler processes, were extracted over the widest kinematics in Q2,xB,t, and ϕ, for 166 four-dimensional bins. In the framework of generalized parton distributions, at leading twist the t dependence of these asymmetries provides insight into the spatial distribution of the axial charge of the proton, which appears to be concentrated in its center. These results also bring important and necessary constraints for the existing parametrizations of chiral-even generalized parton distributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electromagnetic polarizabilities of the nucleon are fundamental properties that describe its response to external electric and magnetic fields. They can be extracted from Compton-scattering data-and have been, with good accuracy, in the case of the proton. In contradistinction, information for the neutron requires the use of Compton scattering from nuclear targets. Here, we report a new measurement of elastic photon scattering from deuterium using quasimonoenergetic tagged photons at the MAX IV Laboratory in Lund, Sweden. These first new data in more than a decade effectively double the world data set. Their energy range overlaps with previous experiments and extends it by 20 MeV to higher energies. An analysis using chiral effective field theory with dynamical A(1232) degrees of freedom shows the data are consistent with and within the world data set. After demonstrating that the fit is consistent with the Baldin sum rule, extracting values for the isoscalar nucleon polarizabilities, and combining them with a recent result for the proton, we obtain the neutron polarizabilities as αn = [11.55+1.25(stat)+0.2(BSR)+ 0.8(th)] x 10-4 fm3 and βn = [3.65≠ 1.25(stat) +0.2(BSR) ≠ 0.8(th)] x 10-4 fm3, with X2 = 45.2 for 44 degrees of freedom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a theoretical study of two-color ionization of hydrogen with keV photons at intensities ranging from 1016 to 1018 W/cm2. We consider the atom in interaction with a superposition of two electromagnetic pulses centered around two frequencies that differ by a few atomic units and we present in detail the case of the frequencies 55 and 50 a.u. We present the electron energy spectra, angular distributions, and ionization rates based on nonperturbative and perturbative calculations. Although the ejected electron energy distribution is dominated by one-photon ionization from each pulse, we are able to identify the contribution of stimulated Compton scattering, a process in which one photon is absorbed while the other is emitted, the photon energy difference being transferred to the electron. This leads to low-energy electrons, and we show in particular that it is of crucial importance to consider the retardation effects on the ionization rates and the electron angular distributions. The relative propagation direction of the two fields also plays an important role; in the case of counterpropagating fields, the ionization by stimulated Compton scattering is dominated by A2 and competes with one-photon ionization at high intensities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the momentum distributions of the nucleus and of the electrons from double ionization of the helium atom by Compton scattering of photons with hν=40 keV. We find that the doubly charged ion momentum distribution is very close to the Compton profile of the nucleus in the ground state of the helium atom, and the momentum distribution of the singly charged ion to give a precise image of the electron Compton profile. To reproduce these results, nonrelativistic calculations require the use of highly correlated initial- and final-state wave functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A setup of a unique x-ray source is put forward employing a relativistic electron beam interacting with two counterpropagating laser pulses in the nonlinear few-photon regime. In contrast to Compton scattering sources, the envisaged x-ray source exhibits an extremely narrow relative bandwidth of the order of 10-4, comparable with an x-ray free-electron laser. The brilliance of the x rays can be an order of magnitude higher than that of a state-of-the-art Compton source. By tuning the laser intensities and the electron energy, one can realize either a single peak or a comblike x-ray source of around keV energy. The laser intensity and the electron energy in the suggested setup are rather moderate, rendering this scheme compact and tabletop size, as opposed to x-ray free-electron laser and synchrotron infrastructures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the first measurement of the timelike Compton scattering process, γp→p′γ*(γ*→e+e-), obtained with the CLAS12 detector at Jefferson Lab. The photon beam polarization and the decay lepton angular asymmetries are reported in the range of timelike photon virtualities 2.25

In Compton scattering light sources, a laser pulse is scattered by a relativistic electron beam to generate tunable x and gamma rays. Because of the inhomogeneous nature of the incident radiation, the relativistic Lorentz boost of the electrons is modulated by the ponderomotive force during the interaction, leading to intrinsic spectral broadening and brightness limitations. These effects are discussed, along with an optimization strategy to properly balance the laser bandwidth, diffraction, and nonlinear ponderomotive force. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water confined on the scale of 20 Å, is known to have different transport and thermodynamic properties from that of bulk water, and the proton momentum distribution has recently been shown to have qualitatively different properties from that exhibited in bulk water. The electronic ground state of nanoconfined water must be responsible for these anomalies but has so far not been investigated. We show here for the first time, using x-ray Compton scattering and a computational model, that the ground state configuration of the valence electrons in a particular nanoconfined water system, Nafion, is so different from that of bulk water that the weakly electrostatically interacting molecule model of water is clearly inapplicable. We argue that this is a generic property of nanoconfinement. The present results demonstrate that the electrons, and hence the protons as well, of nanoconfined water are in a distinctly different quantum state from that of bulk water. Biological cell function must make use of the properties of this state and cannot be expected to be described correctly by empirical models based on the weakly interacting molecules model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose to determine the magnetic dipole polarizability of the proton from the beam asymmetry of low-energy Compton scattering based on the fact that the leading non-Born contribution to the asymmetry is given by the magnetic polarizability alone; the electric polarizability cancels out. The beam asymmetry thus provides a simple and clean separation of the magnetic polarizability from the electric one. Introducing polarizabilities in a Lorentz-invariant fashion, we compute the higher-order (recoil) effects of polarizabilities on beam asymmetry and show that these effects are suppressed in forward kinematics. With the prospects of precision Compton experiments at the Mainz Microtron and High Intensity Gamma Source facilities in mind, we argue why the beam asymmetry could be the best way to measure the elusive magnetic polarizability of the proton. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the generation of MeV x rays using an undulator and accelerator that are both driven by the same 100-terawatt laser system. The laser pulse driving the accelerator and the scattering laser pulse are independently optimized to generate a high energy electron beam (>200 MeV) and maximize the output x-ray brightness. The total x-ray photon number was measured to be ~1×107, the source size was 5 μm, and the beam divergence angle was ~10 mrad. The x-ray photon energy, peaked at 1 MeV (reaching up to 4 MeV), exceeds the thresholds of fundamental nuclear processes (e.g., pair production and photodisintegration). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel approach for isomer depletion in ion-atom collisions is proposed and considered theoretically. Analyses are performed for the depletion of the 93mMo isomer for which an unexpectedly large probability was measured in the beam-based experiment of Chiara et al. [Nature (London) 554, 216 (2018)]. The subsequent attempt at a theoretical description based on state-of-the-art atomic theory did not reproduce the experimental result [Wu et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 122, 212501 (2019)] and showed a dramatic disagreement with the experiment (by many orders of magnitude). This conflict calls for further research on the nature of isomer depletion mechanisms occurring in atomic processes. Here, we propose to consider the 93mMo isomer depletion as the nuclear excitation by electron capture in resonant transfer process taking into account the momentum distribution of the target electrons. Although our results only slightly shift the upper theoretical limit for the total 93mMo isomer depletion probability toward the experimental value, they show the importance of considering the Compton profile in the theoretical description, in particular for the L shell, for which the depletion probability increases by many orders of magnitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An analytic formula is given for the total scattering cross section of an electron and a photon at order α³ in QED. This includes both the double-Compton scattering real-emission contribution as well as the virtual Compton scattering part. When combined with the recent analytic result for the pair-production cross section, the complete α³ cross section is now known. Both the next-to-leading order calculation as well as the pair-production cross section are computed using modern multiloop calculation techniques, where cut diagrams are decomposed into a set of master integrals that are then computed using differential equations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nonlinear Compton scattering is a promising source of bright gamma rays. Using readily available intense laser pulses to scatter off the energetic electrons, on the one hand, allows us to significantly increase the total photon yield, but on the other hand, leads to a dramatic spectral broadening of the fundamental emission line as well as its harmonics due to the laser pulse shape induced ponderomotive effects. In this Letter we propose to avoid ponderomotive broadening in harmonics by using the polarization gating technique--a well-known method to construct a laser pulse with temporally varying polarization. We show that by restricting harmonic emission only to the region near the peak of the pulse, where the polarization is linear, it is possible to generate a bright narrow bandwidth comb in the gamma region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the results of an experimental search for ultralight axionlike dark matter in the mass range 162-166 neV. The detection scheme of our Cosmic Axion Spin Precession Experiment is based on a precision measurement of 207Pb solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance in a polarized ferroelectric crystal. Axionlike dark matter can exert an oscillating torque on 207Pb nuclear spins via the electric dipole moment coupling gd or via the gradient coupling gaNN. We calibrate the detector and characterize the excitation spectrum and relaxation parameters of the nuclear spin ensemble with pulsed magnetic resonance measurements in a 4.4 T magnetic field. We sweep the magnetic field near this value and search for axionlike dark matter with Compton frequency within a 1 MHz band centered at 39.65 MHz. Our measurements place the upper bounds |gd|<9.5×10-4  GeV-2 and |gaNN|<2.8×10-1  GeV-1 (95% confidence level) in this frequency range. The constraint on gd corresponds to an upper bound of 1.0×10-21  e cm on the amplitude of oscillations of the neutron electric dipole moment and 4.3×10-6 on the amplitude of oscillations of CP-violating θ parameter of quantum chromodynamics. Our results demonstrate the feasibility of using solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance to search for axionlike dark matter in the neV mass range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We exploit free-space interactions between electron beams and tailored light fields to imprint on-demand phase profiles on the electron wave functions. Through rigorous semiclassical theory involving a quantum description of the electrons, we show that monochromatic optical fields focused in vacuum can be used to correct electron beam aberrations and produce selected focal shapes. Stimulated elastic Compton scattering is exploited to imprint the required electron phase, which is proportional to the integral of the optical field intensity along the electron path and depends on the transverse beam position. The required light intensities are attainable in currently available ultrafast electron microscope setups, thus opening the field of free-space optical manipulation of electron beams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photon bursts with a wavelength smaller than the plasma interparticle distance can drive plasma wakes via Compton scattering. We investigate this fundamental process analytically and numerically for different photon frequencies, photon flux, and plasma magnetization. Our results show that Langmuir and extraordinary modes are driven efficiently when the photon energy density lies above a certain threshold. The interaction of photon bursts with magnetized plasmas is of distinguished interest as the generated extraordinary modes can convert into pure electromagnetic waves at the plasma-vacuum boundary. This could possibly be a mechanism for the generation of radio waves in astrophysical scenarios in the presence of intense sources of high energy photons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the available data on deeply virtual Compton scattering (DVCS) off protons and utilizing neural networks enhanced by the dispersion relation constraint, we determine six out of eight leading Compton form factors in the valence quark kinematic region. Furthermore, adding recent data on DVCS off neutrons, we separate contributions of up and down quarks to the dominant form factor, thus paving the way towards a three-dimensional picture of the nucleon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The implosion efficiency in inertial confinement fusion depends on the degree of stagnated fuel compression, density uniformity, sphericity, and minimum residual kinetic energy achieved. Compton scattering-mediated 50-200 keV x-ray radiographs of indirect-drive cryogenic implosions at the National Ignition Facility capture the dynamic evolution of the fuel as it goes through peak compression, revealing low-mode 3D nonuniformities and thicker fuel with lower peak density than simulated. By differencing two radiographs taken at different times during the same implosion, we also measure the residual kinetic energy not transferred to the hot spot and quantify its impact on the implosion performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compton scattering of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) from hot ionized gas produces a range of effects, and the leading order effects are the kinetic and thermal Sunyaev Zel'dovich (kSZ and tSZ) effects. In the near future, CMB surveys will provide the precision to probe beyond the leading order effects. In this Letter, we study the cosmological information content of the next order term which combines the tSZ and kSZ effects, hereafter called the thermal-kinetic Sunyaev Zel'dovich (tkSZ) effect. As the tkSZ effect has the same velocity dependence as the kSZ effect, it will also have many of the useful properties of the kSZ effect. However, it also has its own, unique spectral dependence, which allows it to be isolated from all other CMB signals. We show that with currently envisioned CMB missions the tkSZ effect can be detected and can be used to reconstruct large scale velocity fields, with no appreciable bias from either the kSZ effect or other extragalactic foregrounds. Furthermore, since the tkSZ effect arises from the well-studied pressure of ionized gas, rather than the gas number density as in the kSZ effect, the degeneracy due to uncertain gas physics will be significantly reduced. Finally, for a very low-noise experiment the tkSZ effect will be measurable at higher precision than the kSZ effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Searches for pseudoscalar axionlike-particles (ALPs) typically rely on their decay in beam dumps or their conversion into photons in haloscopes and helioscopes. We point out a new experimental direction for ALP probes via their production by the intense gamma ray flux available from megawatt-scale nuclear reactors at neutrino experiments through Primakoff-like or Compton-like channels. Low-threshold detectors in close proximity to the core will have visibility to ALP decays and inverse Primakoff and Compton scattering, providing sensitivity to the ALP-photon and ALP-electron couplings. We find that the sensitivity to these couplings at the ongoing MINER and various other reactor based neutrino experiments, e.g., CONNIE, CONUS, ν-cleus, etc., exceeds existing limits set by laboratory experiments and, for the ALP-electron coupling, we forecast the world's best laboratory-based constraints over a large portion of the sub-MeV ALP mass range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Black holes are known to launch powerful relativistic jets and emit highly variable gamma radiation. How these jets are loaded with plasma remains poorly understood. Spark gaps are thought to drive particle acceleration and pair creation in the black-hole magnetosphere. In this Letter, we perform 2D axisymmetric general-relativistic particle-in-cell simulations of a monopole black-hole magnetosphere with a realistic treatment of inverse Compton scattering and pair production. We find that the magnetosphere can self-consistently fill itself with plasma and activate the Blandford-Znajek mechanism. A highly time-dependent spark gap opens near the inner light surface, which injects pair plasma into the magnetosphere. These results may account for the high-energy activity observed in active galactic nuclei and explain the origin of plasma at the base of the jet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

If dark matter has a finite size that is larger than its Compton wavelength, the corresponding self-interaction cross section decreases with the velocity. We investigate the implications of this puffy dark matter for addressing the small-scale problems of the Λ cold dark matter model and show that the way the nonrelativistic cross section varies with the velocity is largely independent of the dark matter internal structure. Even in the presence of a light particle mediating self-interactions, we find that the finite-size effect may dominate the velocity dependence. We present an explicit example in the context of a QCD-like theory and discuss possible ways to differentiate puffy dark matter from the usual light-mediator scenarios. Particularly relevant for this are low-threshold direct-detection experiments and indirect signatures associated with the internal structure of dark matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We show that the Fermi surface can survive the presence of extreme compositional disorder in the equiatomic alloy Ni0.25Fe0.25Co0.25Cr0.25. Our high-resolution Compton scattering experiments reveal a Fermi surface which is smeared across a significant fraction of the Brillouin zone (up to 40% of 2p/a). The extent of this smearing and its variation on and between different sheets of the Fermi surface have been determined, and estimates of the electron mean free path and residual resistivity have been made by connecting this smearing with the coherence length of the quasiparticle states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Generation of circularly polarized (CP) and linearly polarized (LP) γ rays via the single-shot interaction of an ultraintense laser pulse with a spin-polarized counterpropagating ultrarelativistic electron beam has been investigated in nonlinear Compton scattering in the quantum radiation-dominated regime. For the process simulation, a Monte Carlo method is developed which employs the electron-spin-resolved probabilities for polarized photon emissions. We show efficient ways for the transfer of the electron polarization to the high-energy photon polarization. In particular, multi-GeV CP (LP) γ rays with polarization of up to about 95% can be generated by a longitudinally (transversely) spin-polarized electron beam, with a photon flux meeting the requirements of recent proposals for the vacuum birefringence measurement in ultrastrong laser fields. Such high-energy, high-brilliance, high-polarization γ rays are also beneficial for other applications in high-energy physics, and laboratory astrophysics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Virtual Compton scattering on the proton has been investigated at three yet unexplored values of the four-momentum transfer Q²: 0.10, 0.20, and 0.45 GeV², at the Mainz Microtron. Fits performed using either the low-energy theorem or dispersion relations allowed the extraction of the structure functions PLL-PTT/ε and PLT, as well as the electric and magnetic generalized polarizabilities αE1(Q²) and βM1(Q²). These new results show a smooth and rapid falloff of αE1(Q²), in contrast to previous measurements at Q²=0.33 GeV², and provide for the first time a precise mapping of βM1(Q²) in the low-Q² region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An analytic expression is derived for the leading-order finite-volume effects arising in lattice QCD calculations of the hadronic-vacuum-polarization contribution to the muon's magnetic moment aμHVP,LO≡(g-2)μHVP,LO/2. For calculations in a finite spatial volume with periodicity L, aμHVP,LO(L) admits a transseries expansion with exponentially suppressed L scaling. Using a Hamiltonian approach, we show that the leading finite-volume correction scales as exp[-MπL] with a prefactor given by the (infinite-volume) Compton amplitude of the pion, integrated with the muon-mass-dependent kernel. To give a complete quantitative expression, we decompose the Compton amplitude into the spacelike pion form factor Fπ(Q²) and a multiparticle piece. We determine the latter through next-to leading order in chiral perturbation theory and find that it contributes negligibly and through a universal term that depends only on the pion decay constant, with all additional low-energy constants dropping out of the integral. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use the planetary ephemeris INPOP17b to constrain the existence of a Yukawa suppression to the Newtonian potential, generically associated with the graviton's mass. We also give an interpretation of this result for a specific case of fifth force framework. We find that the residuals for the Cassini spacecraft significantly (90% C.L.) degrade for Compton wavelengths of the graviton smaller than 1.83×1013 km, which correspond to a graviton mass bigger than 6.76×10-23 eV/c². This limit is comparable in magnitude to the one obtained by the LIGO-Virgo Collaboration in the radiative regime. We also use this specific example to defend that constraints on alternative theories of gravity obtained from postfit residuals may be generically overestimated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past two decades, deeply virtual Compton scattering of electrons has been successfully used to advance our knowledge of the partonic structure of the free proton and investigate correlations between the transverse position and the longitudinal momentum of quarks inside the nucleon. Meanwhile, the structure of bound nucleons in nuclei has been studied in inclusive deep-inelastic lepton scattering experiments off nuclear targets, showing a significant difference in longitudinal momentum distribution of quarks inside the bound nucleon, known as the EMC effect. In this Letter, we report the first beam spin asymmetry (BSA) measurement of exclusive deeply virtual Compton scattering off a proton bound in 4He. The data used here were accumulated using a 6 GeV longitudinally polarized electron beam incident on a pressurized 4He gaseous target placed within the CLAS spectrometer in Hall-B at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. The azimuthal angle (ϕ) dependence of the BSA was studied in a wide range of virtual photon and scattered proton kinematics. The Q², xB, and t dependencies of the BSA on the bound proton are compared with those on the free proton. In the whole kinematical region of our measurements, the BSA on the bound proton is smaller by 20% to 40%, indicating possible medium modification of its partonic structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We discuss the use of optical cavities as tools to search for dark matter (DM) composed of virialized ultralight fields (VULFs). Such fields could lead to oscillating fundamental constants, resulting in oscillations of the length of rigid bodies. We propose searching for these effects via differential strain measurement of rigid and suspended-mirror cavities. We estimate that more than 2 orders of magnitude of unexplored phase space for VULF DM couplings can be probed at VULF Compton frequencies in the audible range of 0.1-10 kHz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an alternative to Compton backscattering and bremsstrahlung, the process of colliding high-energy electron beams with strong laser fields can more efficiently provide both a cleaner and brighter source of photons in the multi-GeV range for fundamental studies in nuclear and quark-gluon physics. In order to favor the emission of high-energy quanta and minimize their decay into electron-positron pairs, the fields must not only be sufficiently strong, but also well localized. We here examine these aspects and develop the concept of a laser-particle collider tailored for high-energy photon generation. We show that the use of multiple colliding laser pulses with 0.4 PW of total power is capable of converting more than 18% of multi-GeV electrons passing through the high-field region into photons, each of which carries more than half of the electron initial energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]