Polarization-transfer measurement to a large-virtuality bound proton in the deuteron

Abstract We report the measurement of the ratio of polarization-transfer components, P x / P z , in the H 2 ( e → , e ′ p → ) n reaction at low and high missing momenta, in search of differences between free and bound protons. The observed deviation of P x / P z from that of a free proton, which is similar to that observed in 4 He, indicates that the effect in nuclei is a function of the virtuality of the knock-out proton and the missing momentum direction, but not the average nuclear density. There is a general agreement between the data and calculations, which assume free proton form factors, however, the measurements are consistently about 10% higher.