Short-Range Correlations Studies using Nucleon-knockout Reactions

During the last decade, nucleon knockout reactions have been a very powerful tool to investigate short range correlated (SRC) nucleon-nucleon pairs. SRC pairs account for almost all the high-momentum nucleons in nuclei. Studying SRCs can help us understand the nucleon-nucleon (NN) interaction at high momenta and short distances, the structure of nucleons and nuclei, neutrino-nucleus interactions needed to interpret oscillation measurements, and the structure of neutron stars.

Nucleon knockout measurements of SRCs were performed using different high momentum probes: using proton-nucleus and electron-nucleus scattering at Brookhaven and Jefferson Lab, and most recently, using nucleus-proton inverse scattering at Dubna (JINR). These experiments unveiled many important properties, such as neutron-proton pair dominance due to the tensor part of the NN interaction, SRC universality, study of asymmetric systems, and a possible explanation of the origin of the EMC effect.

This talk will present an overview of nucleon knockout measurements, recent results, and future prospects.