Total Binding Energies of Nuclei, and Particle-Removal Experiments

Under the assumptions of the impulse approximation, there is a relation between the cross section for removing a particle from a system and the total binding energy of the system, if it is bound by two-body forces. This relation is established and applied to the ($p,2p$) reaction on nuclear targets. Data from recent experiments are used to obtain values for the total binding energy of the protons in various nuclei, which are then compared with the measured values.