Overview of the Experimental Program for E/M and Gravitational Form Factors

The study of form factors provides insights into the fundamental structure of the proton. This talk presents the experimental program on electromagnetic form factors, which reveal the distribution of charge and quarks inside the proton, and gravitational form factors, which detail the distribution of mass and the mechanical structure of the proton.

While precision measurements of the proton's charge structure are well-established, the exploration of its gravitational structure is nascent. Only in recent years have experimental determinations of gravitational form factors for quarks (via deeply-virtual Compton scattering) and gluons (through near-threshold exclusive J/ψ production) become feasible. These developments offer a new perspective on the proton's mass and mechanical properties.

I will outline the experimental program on the proton’s charge form factor and radius, and the emerging studies of its gravitational form factors. The discussion will include current and forthcoming experiments at Jefferson Lab and the Electron-Ion Collider, with a focus on the near-threshold J/ψ and DVCS programs at Jefferson Lab and new results on the proton’s mass structure.