A sign of 3-body clustering in nuclei from an analysis of nuclear mass and short-range correlation probability

Abstract

Three-nucleon short-range correlation (3N SRC) represents a rare and intriguing part of the nuclear dynamics at short distance, beyond the two-nucleon short-range correlation (2N SRC). To search its existence is a hot topic in the ongoing and future high-energy nuclear experiments and the developments of nuclear theory. In this study, we found a positive sign of 3N SRC in nuclei, by analyzing the correlation between the per-nucleon nuclear mass and the probability of a nucleon in 2N SRC state, with the current experimental measurements of ²H, ³He, ⁴He, ⁹Be, ¹²C, ²⁷Al, ⁵⁶Fe, Cu, ¹⁹⁷Au and ²⁰⁸Pb from SLAC, CLAS, and JLab Hall C collaborations. The effective masses of the nucleons in 2N SRC and 3N SRC are also extracted from the analysis, which provide some references for the nuclear medium effect study. The probability of 3N SRC is much smaller than that of 2N SRC, thus requiring high-luminosity experiments to confirm its existence.