Inclusive versus Exclusive EM Processes in Relativistic Nuclear Systems

Abstract

Connections are explored between exclusive and inclusive electron scattering within the framework of the relativistic plane-wave impulse approximation, beginning with an analysis of the model-independent kinematical constraints to be found in the missing energy--missing momentum plane. From the interplay between these constraints and the spectral function basic features of the exclusive and inclusive nuclear responses are seen to arise. In particular, the responses of the relativistic Fermi gas and of a specific hybrid model with confined nucleons in the initial state are compared in this work. As expected, the exclusive responses are significantly different in the two models, whereas the inclusive ones are rather similar. By extending previous work on the relativistic Fermi gas, a reduced response is introduced for the hybrid model such that it fulfills the Coulomb and the higher-power energy-weighted sum rules. While incorporating specific classes of off-shellness for the struck nucleons, it is found that the reducing factor required is largely model-independent and, as such, yields a reduced response that is useful for extracting the Coulomb sum rule from experimental data. Finally, guided by the difference between the energy-weighted sum rules of the two models, a version of the relativistic Fermi gas is devised which has the 0$^{\rm th}$, 1$^{\rm st}$ and 2$^{\rm nd}$ moments of the charge response which agree rather well with those of the hybrid model: this version thus incorporates {\em a priori} the binding and confinement effects of the stuck nucleons while retaining the simplicity of the original Fermi gas.