Research Focus

Understanding the origin and dynamics of hadron structure and in turn that of atomic nuclei is a central goal of nuclear physics. Studies of the structure of excited baryons are key to achieve this goal and to the N* program at Jefferson Lab (JLab). With the Hall B CLAS12 detector at the 12-GeV upgraded Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (TJNAF), dedicated experiments will aim to extract the N to N* transition form factors up to high photon virtualities. These experiments will hence allow us to explore N* resonances up to the highest photon virtualities ever yet achieved. The broad domain of now accessible photon virtualities will make it possible to probe the baryon structure at distance scales ranging from meson baryon effective degrees of freedom to where dressed quarks and gluons are dominant and mapping it out as they continuously undress towards the nearly massless bare quarks and gluons of quantum chromodynamics (QCD). Dr. Gothe is spokes person for all four N* electroexcitation experiments with CLAS12 at JLab.