Measurement of nuclear transparency for the A(e,e'pi+) reaction

Phys Rev Lett. 2007 Dec 14;99(24):242502. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.99.242502. Epub 2007 Dec 14.

Abstract

We have measured the nuclear transparency of the A(e,e'pi+) process in 2H, 12C, 27Al, 63Cu, and 197Au targets. These measurements were performed at the Jefferson Laboratory over a four momentum transfer squared range Q2=1.1 to 4.7 (GeV/c)2. The nuclear transparency was extracted as the super-ratio of (sigmaA/sigmaH) from data to a model of pion-electroproduction from nuclei without pi-N final-state interactions. The Q2 and atomic number dependence of the nuclear transparency both show deviations from traditional nuclear physics expectations and are consistent with calculations that include the quantum chromodynamical phenomenon of color transparency.