Polarization transfer in theH2(e→,e′p→)nreaction up toQ2=1.61(GeV/c)2

The recoil proton polarization was measured in the {sup 2}H(e-vector,e{sup '}p-vector)n reaction in Hall A of the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. The electron kinematics were centered on the quasielastic peak (x{sub Bj}{approx_equal}1) and included three values of the squared four-momentum transfer, Q{sup 2}=0.43,1.00 and 1.61 (GeV/c){sup 2}. For Q{sup 2}=0.43 and 1.61 (GeV/c){sup 2}, the missing momentum, p{sub m}, was centered at zero, whereas for Q{sup 2}=1.00 (GeV/c){sup 2} two values of p{sub m} were chosen: 0 and 174 MeV/c. At low p{sub m}, the Q{sup 2} dependence of the longitudinal polarization, P{sub z}{sup '}, is not well described by a state-of-the-art calculation. Further, at higher p{sub m}, a 3.5{sigma} discrepancy was observed in the transverse polarization, P{sub x}{sup '}. Understanding the origin of these discrepancies is important to confidently extract the neutron electric form factor from the analogous {sup 2}H(e-vector,e{sup '}n-vector)p experiment.