Ratio of $\sigma_L / \sigma_T$ for $p(e,e'K^+)\Lambda$ Extracted from Polarization Transfer

Abstract

The ratio of longitudinal to transverse structure functions, $\sigma_L/\sigma_T$, has been extracted from recent beam-recoil transferred polarization data for the $p(\vec e,e'K^+)\vec\Lambda$ reaction. Results have been obtained for $W$=1.72, 1.84, and 1.98 GeV at an average $Q^2$ of 0.77, 0.69, and 0.61 GeV$^2$, respectively. Our results indicate a ratio that is systematically slightly smaller than previously published results using a Rosenbluth separation.