The nuclear component of the EMC effect beyond the Plane Wave Impulse Approximation

Abstract

We study the response of a nucleus composed of nucleons and confined quarks. Assuming dynamics implied by a non-relativistic cluster model, we prove that the total response is a convolution of the responses of, respectively, a nucleus with interacting point-nucleons and an isolated nucleon with confined quarks. Defining as an intermediary structure functions in terms of the non-relativistic limit of light-cone variables, we subsequently conjecture a generalization to the relativistic regime. That result contains a nuclear part with full inter-nucleon dynamics and allows the study of approximations, as are the Plane Wave Impulse Approximation and a modification of it. The framework also permits a clean treatment of the response of a moving composite nucleon in the nucleus which may be off-shell.