The Coulomb Sum and Proton-Proton Correlations in Few-Body Nuclei

Abstract

In simple models of the nuclear charge operator, measurements of the Coulomb sum and the charge form factor of a nucleus directly determine the proton-proton correlations. We examine experimental results obtained for few-body nuclei at Bates and Saclay using models of the charge operator that include both one- and two-body terms. Previous analyses using one-body terms only have failed to reproduce experimental results. However, we find that the same operators which have been used to successfully describe the charge form factors also produce substantial agreement with measurements of the Coulomb sum.