The (e',e'p) reaction mechanism in the quasi-elastic region

Coincidence e,e'p yield for the quasi-elastic scattering of electrons from hydrogen, carbon, iron and gold nuclei were measured at squared four momentum transfer of 0.64, 1.28, 1.79 and 3.25 (GeV2). The experimental yield divided by the yield from a Plane Wave Impulse Approximation simulation of the experiment was used to calculate the transparency of the nuclear medium to the recoiling proton. Transparency is studied as a function of momentum transfer and nuclear size. The experimental yield was also used to extract deradiated spectral function for carbon, iron and gold. These spectral functions were used to separate the longitudinal and transverse components of the spectral function for carbon, iron and gold at squared four momentum transfer of 0.64 (GeV2) and carbon and iron at squared four momentum transfer of 1.79 (GeV2).;The goal of this experiment was to study the reaction mechanism of the quasi-elastic scattering process and the propagation of protons through atomic nuclei. The results of this experiment identify important aspects of the final state interactions between the recoiling proton and the residual nucleus. The results also provide insight into the single-nucleon knockout picture of the quasi-elastic reaction mechanism and verify the validity of approximations such as the Impulse Approximation and other reaction mechanisms used to describe e,e'p scattering.