Flavour singlet physics in lattice QCD with background fields

We show that hadronic matrix elements can be extracted from lattice simulations with background fields that arise from operator exponentiation. Importantly, flavour-singlet matrix elements can be evaluated without requiring the computation of disconnected diagrams, thus facilitating a calculation of the quark contribution to the spin of the proton and the singlet axial coupling, $g_A^0$. In the two nucleon sector, a background field approach will allow calculation of the magnetic and quadrupole moments of the deuteron and an investigation of the EMC effect directly from lattice QCD. Matrix elements between states of differing momenta are also analysed in the presence of background fields.