Deuteron Electrodisintegration at High Missing Momenta

The reaction H(e, e p) has been studied at an invariant mass of 1050 MeV, i.e. well below the (1232) resonance. Cross sections have been obtained at values of , the four-momentum transfer squared, of 0.10, 0.20, and 0.28 (GeV/c), covering a missing-momentum range from 150 to 700 MeV/c. The data are compared to the results of covariant calculations of Tjon, and the results of calculations based on a Schr?dinger formalism due to Laget and the Mainz group, respectively. The data are well described by the calculations of the Mainz group, whereas they are underestimated by Tjon's calculations at high missing momenta. The calculations of Laget, on the other hand, overestimate the data at low missing momenta, but give a good account of the data at high missing momenta. More detailed considerations reveal that the (1232) contributions are dominant at high missing momenta. However, the lacking (1232) contribution in Tjon's calculations is not enough to explain the large discrepancy between his calculation and the present H(e, ) data at high missing momentum. Probably the deuteron wave function employed in the covariant calculations has a -state contribution that is too small. Received August 19, 1997; revised January 28, 1998; accepted for publication February 17, 1998