The nucleon momentum distribution $n_A(k)$ for $A=$2, 3, 4, 16, and 40 nuclei is systematically analyzed in terms of wave functions resulting from advanced solutions of the nonrelativistic Schr{o}dinger equation, obtained within different many-body a
pproaches. Particular attention is paid to the separation of the momentum distributions into the mean-field and short-range correlations (SRC) contributions. It is shown that at high values of the momentum $k$ the high-momentum components ($kgtrsim 1.5-2$ fm$^{-1}$) of all nuclei considered are very similar, exhibiting the well-known scaling behavior with the mass number $A$, independently of the used many-body approach and the details of the bare $NN$ interaction. The number of $NN$ pairs in a given ($ST$) state, viz., ($ST$)=(10), (00), (01), and (11), and the contribution of these states to the nucleon momentum distributions are calculated. It is shown that, apart from the (00) state, which has very small effects, all other spin-isospin states contribute to the momentum distribution in a wide range of momenta. It is shown that that for all nuclei considered the momentum distributions in the states T=0 and T=1 exhibit at $kgtrsim 1.5-2$ fm$^{-1}$ very similar behaviors, which represents strong evidence of the A-independent character of SRCs. The ratio $n_A(k)/n_D(k)$ is analyzed in detail stressing that in the SRC region it always increases with the momentum and the origin of such an increase is discussed and elucidated. The relationships between the one- and two-body momentum distributions, considered in a previous paper, are discussed and clarified, pointing out the relevant role played by the center-of-mass motion of a correlated pair in the (10) state. The relationship of the present approach with the many-body methods based upon low-momentum effective interactions is briefly discussed.
Using realistic wave functions, the proton-neutron and proton-proton momentum distributions in $^3He$ and $^4He$ are calculated as a function of the relative, $k_{rel}$, and center of mass, $K_{CM}$, momenta, and the angle between them. For large val
ues of ${k}_{rel}gtrsim 2,,fm^{-1}$ and small values of ${K}_{CM} lesssim 1.0,,fm^{-1}$, both distributions are angle independent and decrease with increasing $K_{CM}$, with the $pn$ distribution factorizing into the deuteron momentum distribution times a rapidly decreasing function of $K_{CM}$, in agreement with the two-nucleon (2N) short range correlation (SRC) picture. When $K_{CM}$ and $k_{rel}$ are both large, the distributions exhibit a strong angle dependence, which is evidence of three-nucleon (3N) SRC. The predicted center-of-mass and angular dependence of 2N and 3N SRC should be observable in two-nucleon knock-out processes $A(e,epN)X$.
The so called number of hadron-nucleus collisions n_coll(b) at impact parameter b, and its integral value N_coll, which are used to normalize the measured fractional cross section of a hard process, are calculated within the Glauber-Gribov theory inc
luding the effects of nucleon short-range correlations. The Gribov inelastic shadowing corrections are summed to all orders by employing the dipole representation. Numerical calculations are performed at the energies of the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) and CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC). We found that whereas the Gribov corrections generally increase the value of N_coll, the inclusion of nucleon correlations, acting in the opposite directions, decreases it by a comparable amount. The interplay of the two effects varies with the value of the impact parameter.
The semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering of electrons off the deuteron ($^2H equiv D$) and $^3He$ with detection of slow protons and deuterons, respectively, i.e. the processes $D(e,ep)X$ and $^3He(e,eD)X$, are calculated within the spectator mec
hanism, taking into account the final state interaction of the hadronizing quark with the detected protons and deuterons, respectively. It is shown that by a proper choice of the kinematics the origin of the EMC effect and the details of the interaction between the hadronizing quark and the nuclear medium can be investigated at a level which cannot be reached by inclusive deep inelastic scattering. A comparison of our calculations with recently available experimental data on the process $D(e,ep)X$ shows a good agreement in the backward hemisphere of the emitted nucleons. Theoretical predictions at the energies thyat will be available at the upgraded Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facilty are presented, and the possibility to investigate the proposed semi-inclusive processes at electron-ion colliders is briefly discussed.
Recent BNL and Jlab data provided new evidence on two nucleon correlations (2NC) in nuclei. The data confirm the validity of the convolution model, describing the spectral function (SF) of a correlated pair moving in the mean field with high and low
relative and center-of-mass (cm) momenta, respectively. The model is built assuming that the wave function (WF) of a nucleus A, describing a configuration where the cm momentum of a correlated pair is low and its relative momentum is high, factorizes into the product of the two-body WF and that of the A-2 system. Such a factorization has been shown to occur in nuclear matter (NM). Here it is shown that few-body systems exhibit factorization, which seems to be therefore a general property, to be reproduced also in studies of the WF of finite nuclei.
The effects of the final state interaction in slow proton production in semi inclusive deep inelastic scattering processes off nuclei, A(e,ep)X, are investigated in details within the spectator and target fragmentation mechanisms; in the former mecha
nism, the hard interaction on a nucleon of a correlated pair leads, by recoil, to the emission of the partner nucleon, whereas in the latter mechanism proton is produced when the diquark, which is formed right after the visrtual photon-quark interaction, captures a quark from the vacuum. Unlike previous papers on the subject, particular attention is paid on the effects of the final state interaction of the hadronizing quark with the nuclear medium within an approach based upon an effective time-dependent cross section which combines the soft and hard parts of hadronization dynamics in terms of the string model and perturbative QCD, respectively. It is shown that the final state interaction of the hadronizing quark with the medium plays a relevant role both in deuteron and complex nuclei; nonetheless, kinematical regions where final state interaction effects are minimized can experimentally be selected, which would allow one to investigate the structure functions of nucleons embedded in the nuclear medium; likewise, regions where the interaction of the struck hadronizing quark with the nuclear medium is maximized can be found, which would make it possible to study non perturbative hadronization mechanisms.
With the aim at quantitatively investigating the longstanding problem concerning the effect of short range nucleon-nucleon correlations on scattering processes at high energies, the total neutron-nucleus cross section is calculated within a parameter
-free approach which, for the first time, takes into account, simultaneously, central, spin, isospin and tensor nucleon-nucleon (NN) correlations, and Glauber elastic and Gribov inelastic shadowing corrections. Nuclei ranging from 4He to 208Pb and incident neutron momenta in the range 3 GeV/c - 300 GeV/c are considered; the commonly used approach which approximates the square of the nuclear wave function by a product of one-body densities is carefully analyzed, showing that NN correlations can play a non-negligible role in high energy scattering off nuclei.
The effects of short range correlations in lepton and hadron scattering off nuclei at medium and high energies are discussed.
The interpretation of recent Jlab experimental data on the exclusive process A(e,ep)B off few-nucleon systems are analyzed in terms of realistic nuclear wave functions and Glauber multiple scattering theory, both in its original form and within a gen
eralized eikonal approximation. The relevance of the exclusive process 4He(e,ep)^3H for possible investigations of QCD effects is illustrated.
A detailed analysis of the effect of tensor correlations on one- and two-body densities and momentum distributions of complex nuclei is presented within a linked cluster expansion providing reliable results for the ground state properties of nuclei calculated with realistic interactions.
