Signatures for Short-Range Correlations inO16Observed in the ReactionO16(e,e′pp)C14

The reaction ${}^{16}\mathrm{O}({e,e}^{\prime }\mathrm{pp}{)}^{14}\mathrm{C}$ has been studied at a transferred four-momentum $(\omega ,|\mathbf{q}|)=(210\mathrm{MeV},300\mathrm{}\mathrm{MeV}/c)$. The differential cross sections for the transitions to the ground state and the lowest excited states in ${}^{14}\mathrm{C}$ were determined as a function of the momentum of the recoiling ${}^{14}\mathrm{C}$ nucleus and the angle between the momentum of the proton emitted in the forward direction and the momentum transfer $\mathbf{q}$. A comparison of the data to the results of calculations, performed with a microscopic model, shows clear signatures for short-range correlations in the ${}^{16}\mathrm{O}$ ground state.