Observation of Meson-Exchange Effects in Deuteron Electrodisintegration

Abstract

Electrodisintegration of the deuteron has been measured for an incident energy of 300 MeV at 30\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{} and 90\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{} scattering angles. The maximum energy transfer was 116 MeV. Very good agreement with theory was achieved when the pionic-exchange currents were included. Near the threshold and for momentum transfer $\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{\mathrm{q}}_{\mathrm{c}.\mathrm{m}.}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}=3.9$ ${\mathrm{fm}}^{\ensuremath{-}2}$, the meson-exchange currents contribute about 40% to the total cross section.