Nuclear Dispersion Contribution to High-Energy Electron Scattering

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Abstract
An expression for the contribution of virtual intermediate states of the nucleus (nuclear dispersion) to the elastic and inelastic scattering of high-energy electrons is obtained. The closure relation for the nuclear states is used to put this in a form which depends only on the properties of the initial and final states. An estimate of this contribution in comparison with the first-order scattering shows that it is expected to be small but not negligible for the light elements and somewhat larger for the heavy elements, when the electrons have several hundred Mev energy. The estimate is only valid for large scattering angles. More detailed knowledge of the one- and two-proton transition charge densities would be required in order to extend the range of validity. It seems likely that the bulk of the dispersion correction would be taken into account if the correct electron wave functions in the static Coulomb field were to be used in place of plane waves.

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