Constraints in modeling the quasielastic response in inclusive lepton-nucleus scattering

Abstract

We show that the quasielastic (QE) response calculated with the superscaling approach (SuSAv2) model, that relies on the scaling phenomenon observed in the analysis of (e,e′) data and on the relativistic mean-field theory, is very similar to that from a relativistic distorted-wave impulse approximation model when only the real part of the optical potentials is employed. The coincidence between the results from these two completely independent approaches, which satisfactorily agree with the inclusive data, reinforces the reliability of the quasielastic predictions stemming from both models and sets constraints for the QE response. We also study the low-energy and momentum-transfer region of the inclusive response by confronting the results of the relativistic mean-field model with those of the Hartree-Fock continuum random-phase approximation model, which accounts for nuclear long-range correlations. Finally, we present a comparison of our results with the recent Jefferson Laboratory (JLab) (e,e′) data for argon, titanium, and carbon, finding good agreement with the three data sets.