Coulomb corrections in quasi-elastic scattering: tests of the effective-momentum approximation

TL;DR

This paper evaluates Coulomb corrections in quasi-elastic electron-nucleus scattering using eikonal distorted waves, confirming the accuracy of the effective-momentum approximation and the Rosenbluth separation at energies of 500 MeV and above.

Contribution

It provides a detailed assessment of Coulomb corrections and validates the effective-momentum approximation for high-energy electron scattering.

Findings

Spin-dependent phase shifts are negligible at high energies.

The Rosenbluth separation remains accurate with Coulomb corrections.

Effective-momentum approximation effectively removes Coulomb effects.

Abstract

Coulomb corrections for quasi-elastic scattering of electrons by nuclei are calculated using eikonal distorted waves. Corrections to the lowest-order eikonal approximation are included in order to obtain accurate results. Spin-dependent eikonal phase shifts are evaluated and they yield very small corrections to the longitudinal and transverse cross sections at electron energies of 500 MeV or higher. Because of this the Rosenbluth procedure is accurate for separation of the longitudinal and transverse response functions. The effective-momentum approximation is also found to be accurate with regard to removal of the remaining Coulomb effects from the distorted waves. Calculations are presented for electron scattering from Pb and Fe nuclei at energies of 500 MeV and 800 MeV and momentum transfers q = 550 MeV/c and 900 MeV/c.