Search for Exotic Gluonic States in the Nucleus, A Letter of Intent to Jefferson Lab PAC 44

Abstract

We renew our intent to submit a proposal to perform a search for a non-zero value of the unmeasured hadronic double helicity flip structure function $\Delta(x,Q^2)$, predicted to be sensitive to gluons in the nucleus. This would be performed with an unpolarized electron beam and transversely polarized, spin-1, nuclear target. This structure function was first identified by Jaffe and Manohar in 1989 as "a clear signature for exotic gluonic components in the target," and a recent lattice QCD result by our collaborators has prompted renewed interest in the topic. An inclusive search with deep inelastic scattering, below $x$ of 0.3, via single spin tensor asymmetries may be feasible using the CEBAF 12 GeV electron beam and JLab/UVa solid polarized target, and would represent the first experimental exploration of this quantity.