Momentum distributions of nucleons in nuclei

We present a microscopic evaluation of nuclear momentum distributions for the ground states of ⁴He and ¹⁶O. The momentum distribution is the sum of a single particle part and a correlation part. Beyond a momentum of 2 fm^?1 the correlation part becomes dominating and exceeds the single particle part by arbitrary orders of magnitude for sufficiently high momenta. Even a quite crude experimental determination of momentum distributions would yield extremely useful information on nuclear correlations.