Speaker
Description
Nuclear Short Range Correlations (SRCs) are pairs of nucleons that exist at short relative distances and high relative momenta within the nucleus. These SRC pairs significantly impact nuclear structure and have been extensively studied using hard quasi-elastic electron-scattering data. Interpretation of these data rely on our understanding of the reaction mechanisms in electron scattering as well as assumptions of factorization between the reaction and the nuclear ground state. In Fall 2021, our collaboration conducted an experiment in Hall D at Jefferson Lab using a real photon beam on nuclear targets to independently probe the properties of SRCs. Here we present the measurement of SRC breakup events using quasi-elastic ρ- meson photoproduction from correlated neutrons in deuterium, helium, and carbon nuclei and compare with phenomenological predictions using ab-initio nuclear calculations. We use this common theoretical framework to demonstrate consistency across electron-, proton-, and photon-scattering measurements, providing strong evidence for the universality of SRC ground-state properties across different hard reactions.
