Electroexcitation of the nuclear continuum

The power of coincidence electron scattering to probe the nuclear response functions in the continuum region is demonstrated by the example of the 28Si(e,e’c) reaction in which the charged particle decay products c=p,α are measured in coincidence with the electron which has caused the inelastic excitation. A model‐independent analysis of the 28Si(e,e’c) coincidence data, taken at three momentum transfers, yields E1 and E2/E0 form factors and the respective strength distributions in the giant resonance region of 28Si (EX=14–22 MeV). The analysis of the (e,e’α0) angular correlation functions separates E0, E1 and E2 excitations. Evidence for the presence of large isovector E2/E0 contributions and sizeable E0 excitations is presented.