Charge form factor and sum rules of electromagnetic response functions in Carbon-12

Understand

An "ab initio" calculation of the Carbon-12 elastic form factor, and sum rules of longitudinal and transverse response functions measured in inclusive (e,e') scattering, is reported, based on realistic nuclear potentials and electromagnetic currents.

• The longitudinal elastic form factor and sum rule are found to be in satisfactory agreement with available experimental data.
• A direct comparison between theory and experiment is difficult for the transverse sum rule.
• However, it is shown that the calculated one has large contributions from two-body currents, indicating that these mechanisms lead to a significant enhancement of the quasi-elastic transverse response.