RESCATTERING IN KNOCKOUT REACTIONS AS MANIFESTED IN CA-40(P,P'P'') ATAN INCIDENT ENERGY OF 392 MEV

The reaction Ca-40(p,p'p '') was investigated at an incident energy of 392 MeV. The energy and angular distributions are found to be consist ent in shape as well as in absolute magnitude with the prediction of a reaction mechanism based on rescattering from a seminal knockout proc ess. In this mechanism the struck nucleon behaves like an intranuclear projectile and initiates further rescatterings with the remainder of the target nucleus that is reminiscent of the interaction of a free pr ojectile of similar kinetic energy. These results provide strong evide nce for the validity of conclusions derived from earlier investigation s at lower incident energies. The considerable uncertainty exhibited i n previous work in the quantitative relationship between the yields of the initial knockout events and the secondary rescattering processes has been resolved in this study. Also, the participation of knockout f rom deeply bound shell-model orbitals has been clarified.