Quasi-free (p,2p) and (p,pn) reactions with unstable nuclei

Abstract: We study (p,2p) and (p,pn) reactions at proton energies in the range of 100 MeV -- 1 GeV. Our purpose is to explore the most sensitive observables in unpolarized reactions with inverse kinematics involving radioactive nuclei. We formulate a model based on the eikonal theory to describe total cross sections and momentum distributions of the recoiled residual nucleus. The model is similar to the one adopted for knockout reactions with heavy ions. We show that momentum distributions are sensitive to the angular momentum of the ejected nucleon which can be used as an spectroscopic tool. The total cross sections are sensitive to the nucleon separation energies and to multiple scattering effects. Our calculations also indicate that a beam energy around 500 MeV/nucleon has a smaller dependence on the anisotropy of the nucleon-nucleon elastic scattering.