Inclusive studies of two- and three-nucleon short-range correlations in $^3$H and $^3$He

TL;DR

This study investigates short-range correlations in light nuclei using inclusive electron scattering, revealing extended scaling regions and evidence for three-nucleon SRCs, with implications for understanding high-momentum nucleon behavior.

Contribution

It provides new experimental data on $^2$H, $^3$H, and $^3$He, demonstrating expanded scaling regions and insights into three-nucleon SRCs in light nuclei.

Findings

Extended scaling region observed in light nuclei.

Evidence for three-nucleon SRCs at high momenta.

High-momentum nucleons in $^3$He show nearly isospin-independent configurations.

Abstract

Inclusive electron scattering at carefully chosen kinematics can isolate scattering from the high-momentum nucleons in short-range correlations (SRCs). SRCs are produced by the hard, short-distance interactions of nucleons in the nucleus, and because the two-nucleon (2N) SRCs arise from the same N-N interaction in all nuclei, the cross section in the SRC-dominated regime is identical up to an overall scaling factor. This scaling behavior has been used to identify SRC dominance and to measure the contribution of SRCs in a wide range of nuclei. We examine this scaling behavior over a range of momentum transfers using new data on $^2$H, $^3$H, and $^3$He, and find an expanded scaling region compared to heavy nuclei. Motivated by this improved scaling, we examine the $^3$H and $^3$He data in kinematics where three-nucleon SRCs may play an important role. The data for the largest struck nucleon momenta are consistent with isolation of scattering from three-nucleon SRCs, and suggest that the very highest momentum nucleons in $^3$He have a nearly isospin-independent momentum configuration.