Neutron Structure Functions

TL;DR

This paper presents a method to extract neutron structure functions from proton and deuteron data without relying on deep inelastic scattering approximations, emphasizing the importance of Q^2 dependence.

Contribution

It introduces a model-independent approach to determine neutron structure functions by interpolating data at fixed Q^2, avoiding assumptions about quark structure.

Findings

The neutron to proton structure function ratio decreases with increasing x up to 0.9.

Proper Q^2 dependence is critical for accurate extraction.

Lack of data at x > 0.9 limits conclusions.

Abstract

Neutron structure functions can be extracted from proton and deuteron data and a representation of the deuteron structure. This procedure does not require DIS approximations or quark structure assumptions. We find that the results depend critically on properly accounting for the Q^2 dependence of proton and deuteron data. We interpolate the data to fixed Q^2, and extract the ratio of neutron to proton structure functions. The extracted ratio decreases with increasing x, up to x \approx 0.9, while there are no data available to constrain the behavior at larger x.