Search for three-nucleon short-range correlations in light nuclei

Abstract

We present new data probing short-range correlations (SRCs) in nuclei through the measurement of electron scattering off high-momentum nucleons in nuclei. The inclusive $^{4}\mathrm{He}/^{3}\mathrm{He}$ cross section ratio is observed to be both $x$ and ${Q}^{2}$ independent for $1.5<x<2$, confirming the dominance of two-nucleon short-range correlations. For $x>2$, our data support the hypothesis that a previous claim of three-nucleon correlation dominance was an artifact caused by the limited resolution of the measurement. While 3N-SRCs appear to have an important contribution, our data show that isolating 3N-SRCs is significantly more complicated than for 2N-SRCs.