Investigation of proton-proton short-range correlations via the 12C(e,e'pp) reaction

We investigated simultaneously the C-12(e,e'p) and C-12(e,e'pp) reactions at Q(2)=2 (GeV/c)(2), x(B)=1.2, and in an (e, e'p) missing-momentum range from 300 to 600 MeV/c. At these kinematics, with a missing momentum greater than the Fermi momentum of nucleons in a nucleus and far from the delta excitation, short-range nucleon-nucleon correlations are predicted to dominate the reaction. For (9.5 +/- 2)% of the C-12(e,e'p) events, a recoiling partner proton was observed back-to-back to the C-12(e,e'p) missing-momentum vector, an experimental signature of correlations.