Momentum distributions for $^2$H$(e,e'p)$

Abstract

Background: A primary goal of deuteron electrodisintegration is the possibility of extracting the deuteron momentum distribution. This extraction is inherently fraught with difficulty, as the momentum distribution is not an observable and the extraction relies on theoretical models dependent on other models as input. Purpose: We present a new method for extracting the momentum distribution which takes into account a wide variety of model inputs thus providing a theoretical uncertainty due to the various model constituents. Method: The calculations presented here are using a Bethe-Salpeter like formalism with a wide variety of bound state wave functions, form factors, and final state interactions. We present a method to extract the momentum distributions from experimental cross sections, which takes into account the theoretical uncertainty from the various model constituents entering the calculation. Results: In order to test the extraction pseudo-data was generated, and the extracted "experimental" distribution, which has theoretical uncertainty from the various model inputs, was compared with the theoretical distribution used to generate the pseudo-data. Conclusions: In the examples we compared, the original distribution was typically within the error band of the extracted distribution. The input wave functions do contain some outliers which are discussed in the text, but at least this procedure can provide an upper bound on the deuteron momentum distribution. Due to the reliance on the theoretical calculation to obtain this quantity any extraction method should account for the theoretical error inherent in these calculations due to model inputs.