Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Short-range correlated (SRC) nucleon pairs, caused by brief, high-momentum interactions between two nucleons, are dominated by neutron-proton pairs with large relative and smaller center-of-mass momenta. However, which nucleons form pairs is not fully understood. Measurements of 40,48Ca and 54Fe showed that intra-shell pairing was much stronger than inter-shell pairing. We measured high- missing-momentum protons knocked out in electron scattering from selected nuclei with a range of shell configurations, A, and N/Z, including 9Be, 10,11B, 12C, 40,48Ca, 54Fe, and 197Au, focusing on the four light nuclei. Unexpectedly, we found that adding one proton to 9Be (to make 10B) increased the number of correlated protons far more than adding one neutron to 10B or adding one proton to 11B, perhaps due to the large spin (J = 3) of 10B or the unusual structure of 9Be. In addition, the increase in pairing probability from 9Be to 12C and from 40Ca to 54Fe was much steeper than the increase from 9Be to 197Au. This shows the importance of low-momentum nuclear structure on the probability of high-momentum nucleon pairing.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Authors: Nguyen, D., Yero, C., Szumila-Vance, H., Hauenstein, F., Swan, N., Weinstein, L. B., Kahlbow, J., Schmidt, A., Piasetzky, E., Hen, O., Gayoso, C. Ayerbe, Cohen, E., Datta, P., Denniston, A., Devkota, B. R., Diefenthaler, M., Fogler, C., Gamage, B. R., Higinbotham, D., Korover, I., Morean, C., Nycz, M., Satnik, M., Seeds, S., Sharp, P., Shlush, I., Suresh, M., Tadepalli, A. S., Wagner, R., Wertz, E. W.
Institutions: Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Old Dominion University, Catholic University of America, Florida International University, George Washington University, Tel Aviv University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, William & Mary, Shimon Peres Negev Nuclear Research Center, University of Connecticut, Mississippi State University, University of Virginia
Language: English
Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Awards: G1129870690, THE STUDY OF HIGH-MOMENTUM NUCLEONS AND QUARK DISTRIBUTIONS, FROM QUARKS TO NUCLEI, G222768804, UNDERGRADUATE INTERNSHIPS IN NUCLEAR PHYSICS AT FIU, SHORT-RANGE CORRELATIONS IN NUCLEI AND THE EMC EFFECT, G4716966060, EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATIONS OF HADRON SPECTROSCOPY AT ACCELERATOR FACILITIES, EXPERIMENTAL NUCLEAR PHYSICS, Study of the Strong Nuclear Interaction at Short Distances
OpenAlex ID: W7163993088