Probing the High Momentum Component of the Deuteron at High Q[superscript 2]

Abstract

The [superscript 2]H(e,e′p)n cross section at a momentum transfer of 3.5 (GeV/c)[superscript 2] was measured over a kinematical range that made it possible to study this reaction for a set of fixed missing momenta as a function of the neutron recoil angle θ[subscript nq] and to extract missing momentum distributions for fixed values of θ[subscript nq] up to 0.55 GeV/c. In the region of 35°≤θ[subscript nq]≤45° recent calculations, which predict that final-state interactions are small, agree reasonably well with the experimental data. Therefore, these experimental reduced cross sections provide direct access to the high momentum component of the deuteron momentum distribution in exclusive deuteron electrodisintegration.