Parity-Violating Electron Scattering and the Electric and Magnetic Strange Form Factors of the Nucleon

TL;DR

This paper reviews experimental efforts using parity-violating electron scattering to measure the strange quark contributions to the nucleon's electromagnetic form factors, highlighting technical progress and recent physics results.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of experimental methods, technical advancements, and recent findings in measuring the strange quark content of the nucleon.

Findings

Strange quark contributions to nucleon form factors have been quantified.

Technical progress has enabled precise measurements across multiple laboratories.

Recent theoretical calculations support experimental results.

Abstract

Measurement of the neutral weak vector form factors of the nucleon provides unique access to the strange quark content of the nucleon. These form factors can be studied using parity-violating electron scattering. A comprehensive program of experiments has been performed at three accelerator laboratories to determine the role of strange quarks in the electromagnetic form factors of the nucleon. This article reviews the remarkable technical progress associated with this program, describes the various methods used in the different experiments, and summarizes the physics results along with recent theoretical calculations.