High-momentum nucleons in finite nuclei and y scaling

Abstract

Momentum distributions in several finite nuclei are calculated in the Breuckner-Bethe-Goldstone theory. For momenta larger than 0.3 GeV/c, the distributions are dominated by two-body correlations. These affect mainly the two-nucleon s-wave channels, but also slightly modify other partial waves. By mass 12 the momentum distribution is largely saturated, and by mass 28 it is very close to that of nuclear matter. The y-scaling function suggested by West is calculated and compared to that extracted from experimental quasielastic electron scattering cross sections. The existence of a discrepancy suggests that the true scaling function is not simply related to the momentum density, even in the impulse approximation.