DVCS on nuclei: observability and consequences

In this paper, we discuss the feasibility of measuring deeply virtual Compton scattering (DVCS) on nuclei in a collider setting, as for example, the planned high-luminosity Electron-Ion Collider (EIC). We demonstrate that employing our recent model for nuclear generalized parton distributions (nGPDs), the one-photon unpolarized DVCS cross section as well as the azimuthal and spin asymmetry are of the same size as in the proton case. This will allow for an experimental extraction of nuclear GPDs with high precision, shedding new light not only on nuclear shadowing at small x_Bj but also on the interplay of shadowing and nuclear enhancement at .Received: 8 September 2003, Revised: 24 November 2003, Published online: 15 January 2004