Probing Strangeness in Hard Processes

TL;DR

This paper discusses the importance of studying strangeness in high-energy processes, highlighting how a new RICH detector at CLAS12 can advance understanding of hadronic physics, nucleon structure, and exotic mesons.

Contribution

It proposes the implementation of a RICH detector in CLAS12 to enhance strangeness measurements in hard processes, enabling breakthroughs across multiple areas of hadronic physics.

Findings

Enhanced capabilities for strange hadron detection with RICH

Potential to improve understanding of nucleon structure

Facilitation of searches for exotic mesons

Abstract

Since the discovery of strangeness almost five decades ago, interest in this degree of freedom has grown up and now its investigation spans the scales from quarks to nuclei. Measurements with identified strange hadrons can provide important information on several hot topics in hadronic physics: the strange distribution and fragmentation functions, the nucleon tomography and quark orbital momentum, accessible through the study of the {\it generalized} parton distribution and the {\it transverse momentum dependent} parton distribution functions, the quark hadronization in the nuclear medium, the hadron spectroscopy and the search for exotic mesons. The CLAS12 large acceptance spectrometer in Hall B at the Jefferson Laboratory upgraded with a RICH detector together with the 12 GeV CEBAF high intensity, high polarized electron beam can open new possibilities to study strangeness in hard processes allowing breakthroughs in all those areas. This paper summarizes the physics case for a RICH detector for CLAS12. Many topics have been intensively discussed at the International Workshop "Probing Strangeness in Hard Processes" (PSHP2010) \cite{PSHP-workshop} held in Frascati, Italy in October 2010. The authors of this papers like to thank all speakers and participants of the workshop for their contribution and very fruitful discussion.