Parity violation in deuteron electrodisintegration near threshold with a (0.5–4.0) GeV electron beam

Making use of a formalism previously developed by Hwang, Henley, and Miller, we obtain numerical predictions for the electron scattering double differential cross section and the parity-violating asymmetry (caused by Z-boson exchange), both defined in the laboratory frame, for the kinematics suitable for the upcoming Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility. For the kinematic regime characterized by $q^2$≤15 ${\mathrm{fm}}^{\mathrm{-}2}$ and $E_{\mathrm{rel}\mathrm{\le }10}$ MeV with $q^2$ and $E_{\mathrm{rel}}$, respectively, the four-momentum transfer squared and the n-p excitation energy, the asymmetry is of order ${10}^{\mathrm{-}5}$–${10}^{\mathrm{-}4}$ while the cross section remains large, so that a precision test of the standard Glashow-Weinberg-Salam electroweak theory may be attempted. For the kinematic regime characterized by $q^2$≥30 ${\mathrm{fm}}^{\mathrm{-}2}$ and $E_{\mathrm{rel}\mathrm{\le }10}$ MeV, the asymmetry may be of order ${10}^{\mathrm{-}3}$ so that one may attempt an experiment at backward scattering angles to extract interesting information regarding the large $q^2$ behavior of the nucleon electromagnetic and weak form factors.