Model-Independent Analysis of Inelastic Electron Scattering from Nuclei. I. Monopole and Quadrupole Excitations at Low Momentum Transfer

Abstract

A new method is presented for improving the first-Born-approximation treatment of inelastic electron scattering from nuclei. The main objective of this method is the determination of the Coulomb corrections in a model-independent way. It is shown that this can be achieved by reformulating the results of a modified second-order Born approximation in terms of moments of a radial transition charge density. Results are given for monopole and quadrupole excitations and for low momentum transfer. This method can also be used to calculate the Coulomb corrections for a given nuclear model without a digital computer. Results for various nuclei have been compared with the results of partial-wave calculations and a good agreement has been found. The analytic behavior of the corrections as a function of the atomic number, the electron energy, and the momentum transfer has been investigated, and it has been found that the corrections are generally much larger for monopole than for quadrupole excitations.