Constraints on medium modifications of nucleon form factors from quasielastic electron scattering

The quasielastic electron scattering contributions to the (e,e^′) and (e,e^′p) reactions for medium and heavy nuclei depend on the nucleon electric and magnetic form factors in the nucleus. We investigate experimental data for the (e,e^′) reaction taken at SLAC on ¹²C, ⁵⁶Fe, and ¹⁹⁷Au at four-momentum transfers up to 0.28(GeV/c)² and for the (e,e^′p) reaction at Jefferson Lab on ¹⁶O at four-momentum transfer of 0.8(GeV/c)². Using a relativistic mean field “single-particle” theoretical model that successfully describes experimental data at lower energies and momentum transfers, we find no evidence for a modification of the nucleon form factors from their free space values for the inclusive (e,e^′) reactions and suggest that the exclusive reaction (e,e^′p) with high precision data may provide an even tighter constraint on possible medium modifications of the proton form factors.