Validity of the Impulse Approximation and Quasielastic (e,e'p) Reactions from Nuclei

Abstract

We assess the combined effect of ground-state correlations, meson-exchange and isobar currents upon the cross sections for quasielastic (e,e'p) reactions from nuclei. Four-momenta in the range 0.1 \leq Q^2 \leq 1 GeV^2 are addressed. We observe that for $Q^2$ values exceeding 0.2 GeV^2, quasielastic conditions and missing momenta below the Fermi momentum, the ground-state correlations and two-body currents do not dramatically alter the $(e,e'p)$ predictions as they are obtained in the impulse approximation. Moreover, deviations from the impulse approximation exhibit a rather modest Q^2 dependence.