The Qweak: Precision Measurement of the Proton’s Weak Charge by Parity Violating Experiment

Abstract

The Qweak experiment at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility measures the parity violating asymmetry in longitudinally polarized electron scattering from the proton at very low momentum transfer, Q ² = 0.026 (GeV/c)², at an incident electron beam energy of 1.16 GeV. With this measurement and the earlier results of the parity violating elastic scattering experiments, the Qweak experiment determines the weak charge of the proton, ${Q^p_{\rm W}}$, with a 4% combined statistical and systematic error. This measurement will be used to determine the weak mixing angle, ${\sin^2\theta_{\rm W}}$, that is predicted by the Standard Model from the Z ⁰ pole down to lower energies. Qweak will determine ${\sin^2\theta_{\rm W}}$ to a 0.3% relative precision, providing a competitive measurement of the running of this quantity. Moreover, if there is a significant deviation of the weak mixing angle from the Standard Model prediction, then the Qweak experiment will give a glimpse of possible extensions of the Standard Model.