Potential for Open-charm Meson Measurements at Jefferson Laboratory

The inner structure of the proton and heavy nuclei, even in the high Bjorken-x valence region, is not well understood and the root of many open questions in nuclear physics. The study of exotic meson production, such as open-charm production from charmonium, experimentally tests our understanding of hadron structure. Using Monte Carlo simulations and hadronization models we estimate acceptance rates for certain open-charm production events for various detector geometries. For example, the CEBAF electron-ion collider at Jefferson Lab is a candidate to observe such events, especially after the upcoming high energy upgrade. We also explore the potential benefits that a muon (and neutral hadron) forward calorimeter system would bring to these studies by tagging muons and neutrons from charmed baryons. We present a possible design and simulated performance of the implementation of such as system in a cost effective method with plastic scintillator and silicon photomultiplier readout. Such a design is also applicable to the upcoming Electron Ion Collider which will open new avenues of discovery.