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REVIEW article

Front. Phys.
Sec. Nuclear Physics​
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fphy.2024.1505982
This article is part of the Research Topic Modern Advances in Direct Reactions for Nuclear Structure View all 3 articles

Learning from knockout reactions using a dispersive optical model

Provisionally accepted
Mack Atkinson Mack Atkinson 1*Willem H Dickhoff Willem H Dickhoff 2
  • 1 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (DOE), Livermore, United States
  • 2 Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    We present the empirical dispersive optical model (DOM) as applied to direct nuclear reactions. The DOM links both scattering and bound-state experimental data through a dispersion relation which allows for fully-consistent, data-informed predictions for nuclei where such data exists. In particular, we review investigations of the electron-induced proton knockout reaction from both 40 Ca and 48 Ca in a distorted-wave impulse approximation (DWIA) utilizing the DOM for a fully-consistent description. Viewing these reactions through the lens of the DOM allows us to connect the documented quenching of spectroscopic factors with increased high-momentum proton content in neutron-rich nuclei. A similar DOM-DWIA description of the proton-induced knockout from 40 Ca, however, does not currently fit in the consistent story of its electron-induced counterpart. With the main difference in the proton-induced case being the use of an effective proton-proton interaction, we suggest that a more sophisticated in-medium interaction would lead to consistent results.

    Keywords: nuclear structure, Knockout reactions, Optical potential, Green's function, Distorted-wave impulse approximation

    Received: 04 Oct 2024; Accepted: 04 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Atkinson and Dickhoff. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Mack Atkinson, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (DOE), Livermore, United States

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