STUDY OF NUCLEON CORRELATIONS IN HEAVY NUCLEI WITH HIGH ENERGY ELASTIC ELECTRON SCATTERING

Abstract

During the last decade the detailed analysis of several observables and especially of electron scattering data has shown conclusively the presence of short-range nucleon correlations. As a result the degree to which the shape and amplitude of a correlated wave function can be approximated by an independent particle wave function has emerged as a question of fundamental importance. A presentation will be given below of an experiment that will be performed at the Bates Linear Accelerator Center attempting to study this question. The elastic cross-section ratios from 208,207,206Pb,205Ti(e,e) will be measured with high accuracy up to momentum transfers of 3.4 fm^-1 in order to study the influence of correlations on the shape of the 3s1/2 proton wave function. The purpose, motivation and main aspects of the new research will be explained and the experimental considerations together with the running scenario for the experiment will be presented.