Measurement of the Vector and Tensor Asymmetries at Large Missing Momentum in Quasielastic (e →,e′p) Electron Scattering from Deuterium

We report the measurement of the beam-vector and tensor asymmetries AedV and AdT in quasielastic (e→,e′p) electrodisintegration of the deuteron at the MIT-Bates Linear Accelerator Center up to missing momentum of 500 MeV/c. Data were collected simultaneously over a momentum transfer range 0.1<Q2<0.5 (GeV/c)2 with the Bates Large Acceptance Spectrometer Toroid using an internal deuterium gas target polarized sequentially in both vector and tensor states. The data are compared with calculations. The beam-vector asymmetry AedV is found to be directly sensitive to the D-wave component of the deuteron and has a zero crossing at a missing momentum of about 320 MeV/c, as predicted. The tensor asymmetry AdT at large missing momentum is found to be dominated by the influence of the tensor force in the neutron-proton final-state interaction. The new data provide a strong constraint on theoretical models.