Observing short-range correlations in nuclei through $\rho^0$ photo-production

TL;DR

This paper reports on an experiment at Jefferson Lab that tests the factorization property of the Generalized Contact Formalism in short-range correlations within nuclei by analyzing $ ho^0$ photo-production data.

Contribution

It provides the first experimental test of probe factorization in SRCs using photon scattering, with predictions and projections for future measurements.

Findings

Predicted cross section ratios for SRCs in $^4$He and $^{12}$C

Proposed experimental method to test factorization

Projected high-precision measurements of SRC properties

Abstract

Short-range correlations (SRCs) are a universal feature of nuclear structure. A wide range of measurements, primarily using electron scattering, have revealed SRC properties, such as their abundance in different nuclei, as well as the strong preference for proton-neutron pairing over proton-proton or neutron-neutron pairing. Despite the inherent complexity of many-body systems, a number of the salient features of electron scattering measurements are described by a simple, factorized theory called Generalized Contact Formalism. A key element of this theory, the factorization of the interaction with a hard probe, has yet to be tested. An experiment conducted at Jefferson Lab in 2021 collected data from scattering a tagged photon beam, with an energy up to 10 GeV, from several nuclear targets, measuring final state particles in the large-acceptance GlueX spectrometer. In this paper, we propose a test of probe factorization by measuring cross section ratios sensitive to proton-proton pair prevalence and relative SRC abundances in $^4$He and $^{12}$C. We present GCF predictions of the observables and make projections of the expected precision the experiment can achieve.