Importance of the deuteron breakup in the deuteron knockout reaction

Abstract

An isoscalar $pn$ pair is expected to emerge in nuclei that have similar proton and neutron numbers and it may be a candidate for a deuteron ``cluster.'' There is, however, no experimental evidence for it. The purpose of this paper is to construct a new reaction model for the ($p,pd$) reaction including the deuteron breakup in the elementary process and the deuteron reformation by the final-state interactions (FSIs). How these processes contribute to the observables of the reaction is investigated. The distorted wave impulse approximation is extended in twofold. The elementary processes of the ($p,pd$), i.e., the $p$-$d$ elastic scattering and $d(p,p)pn$ reaction, are described with an impulse picture employing a nucleon-nucleon effective interaction. The three-body scattering waves in the final state of the ($p,pd$) reaction are calculated with the continuum-discretized coupled-channels method. The triple differential cross section (TDX) of the ($p,pd$) reaction is calculated with the new model. The elementary processes are described reasonably well with the present model. As for the ($p,pd$) reaction, the deuteron reformation can either increase or decrease the TDX height depending on the interference between the elastic and breakup channel of deuteron, while the \textit{back-coupling} effect always decreases it. It is shown that the deuteron reformation significantly changes the TDX of the ($p,pd$) reaction through the interference. It is important to include this process to quantitatively discuss the ($p,pd$) cross sections in view of the deuteron formation in nuclei. For more quantitative discussion regarding the experimental data, further improvement will be necessary.