The Precision Measurement of the Neutron Spin Structure Function Using Polarized HE-3 Target

Using a 48.6 GeV polarized electron beam scattering off a polarized {sup 3}He target at Stanford Linear Accelerator Centre (SLAC), they measured the neutron spin structure function g{sub 1}{sup n} over kinematic(x) ranging 0.014 < x <0.7 and 1 < Q{sup 2} < 17GeV{sup 2}. The measurement gave the integral result over the neutron spin structure function {integral}{sub 0.014}{sup 0.7} g{sub 1}{sup n}(x)dx = -0.036 {+-} 0.004(stat) {+-} 0.005(syst) at an average Q{sup 2} = 5GeV{sup 2}. Along with the proton results from SLAC E143 experiment (0.03 < x) and SMC experiment (0.014 < x < 0.03), they find the Bjorken sum rule appears to be largely saturated by the data integrated down to x of 0.014. However, they observe relatively large values for g{sub 1}{sup n} at low x. The result calls into question the usual methods (Regge theory) for extrapolating to x = 0 to find the full neutron integral {integral}{sub 0}{sup t} g{sub 1}{sup n}(x) dx, needed for testing the Quark-Parton Model (QMP).