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140

6.3

subatomic

Structure of Subatomic Particles

Form Factors

How is the cross section modied if the colliding particles possess extended structures? We shall treat leptons in Section 6.5 and nd that they behave like point
particles. This fact renders them ideal as probes, and the modication of Eq. (6.11)
must take only the spatial distribution of the target particle into account. For
simplicity, we shall assume here that the target particle possesses a spherically
symmetric density distribution. It will then be shown below that the cross section
for scattering of electrons from such a target is of the form
d
=
d

d
d


|F (q 2 )|2 .

(6.12)

Mott

The multiplicative factor F (q 2 ) is called the form factor, and

q 2 = (p p
)2

(6.13)

is the square of the momentum transfer.

Form factors play an important role in subatomic physics because they are the
most convenient link between experimental observation and theoretical analysis.
Equation (6.12) expresses the fact that the form factor is the direct result of a
measurement. To discuss the theoretical side, consider a system that can be described by a wave function (r), which in turn can be found as the solution of a
Schr
odinger equation. For an object of charge Q, the charge
 density can be written
as Q(r), where (r) is a normalized probability density, d3 r(r) = 1. It will be
shown below that the form factor can be written as the Fourier transform of the
probability density

F (q 2 ) =

d3 r(r) exp(iq r/
).

(6.14)

The form factor at zero momentum transfer, F (0), is usually normalized to be 1

for a charged particle; however for a neutral one, F (0) = 0. The chain linking the
experimentally observed cross section to the theoretical point of departure can thus
be sketched as follows:
Experiment

Comparison

Theory

d
|F (q 2 )| F (q 2 ) (r) (r) Schr
odinger equation
d
In reality, individual steps can be more complicated than shown here, but the
essential aspects of the chain remain.
We verify these introductory remarks by computing the scattering of a spinless
electron from a nite spherically symmetric nucleus in the rst Born approximation
(Fig. 6.2).

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6.3. Form Factors

subatomic

141

The scattering potential V (x) in

Eq. (6.5) at the position of the electron consists of contributions from the
entire nucleus. Each volume element
d3 r contains a charge Ze(r)d3 r and
gives a contribution (Eq. 6.7)
dV (x) =

 z
Ze2
exp
(r) d3 r,
z
a

so that

V (x) = Ze

d3 r

 z
(r)
exp
z
a
(6.15)

Figure 6.2: Scattering of a spinless electron by

a spinless nucleus with extended charge distribution.

where z = |z| and the vector z is shown in Fig. 6.2. Introducing V (x) into Eq. (6.5)
and using x = r + z yields








iq z
mZe2
iq r
3
3 exp(z/a)
(r)
d
exp
.
f (q 2 ) =
d
r
exp
x
2
2


z


For xed r, d3 x can be replaced by d3 z. The integral over d3 z is then the same as
encountered in the evaluation of Eq. (6.8), and it gives


exp(z/a)
exp
d z
z
3

iq z


=

4
2
4
2

.
q 2 + (
/a)2
q2

(6.16)

The integral over d3 r is the form factor, dened in Eq. (6.14), and the cross section
d/d = |f |2 becomes


d
d
=
|F (q 2 )|2 .
(6.17)
d
d R
The computation for electrons with spin follows the same lines; Eq. (6.12) is the
correct generalization of Eq. (6.17). One remark is in order concerning the density
(r). By Eq. (6.14), the density (r) has been dened in such a way that

(r)d3 r = 1.
(6.18)
Equation (6.12) indicates how the form factor |F (q 2 )| can be determined experimentally: The dierential cross section is measured at a number of angles, the
Mott cross section is computed, and the ratio gives |F (q 2 )|. The step from F (q 2 )
to (r) is less easy. In principle, Eq. (6.14) can be inverted and then reads




iq r
1
3
2
.
(6.19)
d q F (q ) exp
(r) =
(2)3

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subatomic

Structure of Subatomic Particles

Equations (6.14) and (6.19) are the three-dimensional generalization of Eqs. (5.40)
and (5.41). The expression for (r) shows that the probability distribution is determined completely if F (q 2 ) is known for all values of q 2 . Experimentally, however,
the maximum momentum transfer is limited by the available particle momentum.
Moreover, as we shall see soon, the cross section becomes very small at large values
of q 2 , and it is then extremely dicult to determine F (q 2 ). The practical approach
is therefore dierent: Forms for (r) with a number of free parameters are assumed.
The parameters are determined by computing F (q 2 ) with Eq. (6.14) and tting the
expression to the measured form factors.(7)
To provide some insight into the meaning of form factors and probability distributions, we shall connect F (q 2 ) to the nuclear radius and give examples of the
relation between form factor and probability distribution. For qR
, where R is
approximately the nuclear radius, the exponential in Eq. (6.14) can be expanded,
and F (q 2 ) becomes
F (q 2 ) = 1

1 2 2
q r  +
6
2

(6.20)

where r2  is dened by


r2  =

d3 r r2 (r)

(6.21)

and is called the mean-square radius. For small values of the momentum transfer,
only the zeroth and second moments of the charge distribution are measured, and
further details cannot be obtained.
If the probability density is Gaussian,

 
r 2
(6.22)
(r) = 0 exp
b
then the form can be computed easily, and it becomes

2 2
q b
3
r2  = b2 .
F (q 2 ) = exp 2 ,
4

2

(6.23)

If b becomes very small, the distribution approaches a point charge and the form
factor tends toward unity. This limiting case is the point from which we started. A
few probability densities and form factors are given in Table 6.1.
A nal word concerns the dependence of the form factor on experimental quantities. Equation (6.14) shows that F (q 2 ) depends only on the square of the momentum transferred to the target particle and not on the energy of the incident
7 One

famous problem is apparent from the chain shown after Eq. (6.14). Experimentally, the
absolute square of the form factor is obtained and not the form factor. The same problem appears
in X-ray structure determinations. To get more information on the form factor, interference eects
must be studied. In X-ray investigations of large molecules, interference is produced by substituting
a heavy atom, for instance, gold, into the large molecule, and the resultant change of the X-ray
pattern is observed. What can be used in subatomic physics?

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6.4. The Charge Distribution of Spherical Nuclei

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143

Table 6.1: Probability Densities and Form Factors

for Some One-Parameter Charge Distributions. [After
R. Herman and R. Hofstadter, High-Energy Electron Scattering Tables, Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA, 1960.]
Probability Density, (r)

Form Factor, F (q2 )

(r)

0 exp(r/a)

(1 + q2 a2 /
2 )2

0 exp[(r/b)2 ]

0 , r R

exp(q2 b2 /4
2 )

0, r R

3[sin(|q|R/
)(|q|R/
) cos(|q|R/
)]
(|q|R/
)3

particle. F (q 2 ), for a specic value of q 2 , can therefore be determined with projectiles of dierent energies. Equation (6.4) indicates that it is only necessary to
change the scattering angle correspondingly, and the same value of F (q 2 ) should
result. Incidentally, the fact that F (q 2 ) depends only on q 2 is true only in the rst
Born approximation; it is not valid in higher order. It can therefore be used to test
the validity of the rst Born approximation.
6.4

The Charge Distribution of Spherical Nuclei

The investigation of nuclear structure by electron scattering has been pioneered by

Hofstadter and his collaborators.(8) The basic arrangement is similar to the one
shown in Fig. 5.32: An electron accelerator produces an intense beam of electrons
with energies between 250 MeV and a few GeV. The electrons are transported to
a scattering chamber where they strike the target. The intensity of the elastically
scattered electrons is determined as a function of the scattering angle. Many improvements have occurred since the early experiments by Hofstadter. In addition to
higher energies and higher intensity electron beams, which allow higher momentum
transfers to be studied, much higher resolution ( 100 keV or
103 of the beam
energy) has been achieved. The high resolution allows one to separate elastic from
inelastic scattering and to study inelastic scattering to individual levels in addition
to elastic scattering. The dierential cross section for the scattering of 500 MeV
electrons from 40 Ca is shown in Fig. 6.3. The data can be seen to extend over 12
orders of magnitude; they yield values of |F (q 2 )| and from these values information
about the charge distribution is obtained.(9)
The crudest approximation to the nuclear charge distribution is a one-parameter
8 R. Hofstadter, H.R. Fechter, and J.A. McIntyre, Phys. Rev. 92, 978 (1953); for a review, see
C.J. Batty, E. Friedman, H.J. Gils, and H. Rebel, Adv. Nucl., Phys., ed. J.W. Negele and E.
Vogt, Plenum Press, New York, 19, 1 (1989).
9 A nice review with data tables can be found at H. De Vries, C.W. De Jager and C. De Vries,
Atom. Data Nucl. Data Tabl. 36, 495 (1987).

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subatomic

Structure of Subatomic Particles

function, for instance, a uniform or a Gaussian distribution. Such distributions

give poor ts, and the simplest useful approximation is the two-parameter Fermi
distribution
(r) =

N
.
1 + exp[(r c)/a]

(6.24)

N is a normalization constant and c and a are the parameters describing the nucleus.
The Fermi distribution is shown in Fig. 6.4; c is called the half-density radius and
t the surface thickness. The parameter a in Eq. (6.24) and t are related by
t = (4 ln 3)a.

(6.25)

The results of many experiments can be summarized in terms of the parameters

dened in Eqs. (6.21) and (6.24):
1. For medium- and heavyweight nuclei the root-mean-square charge radius can
be approximated by the relation
r2 1/2 = r0 A1/3 ,

r0 = 0.94 fm,

(6.26)

where A is the mass number (number of nucleons). The nuclear volume consequently is proportional to the number of nucleons. The nuclear density is
approximately constant; nuclei behave more like solids or liquids than atoms.
2. The half-density radius and the skin thickness satisfy approximately
c(in fm) = 1.18 A1/3 0.48,

t 2.4 fm.

(6.27)

From these values, the density of nucleons at the center follows as

3

n 0.17 nucleon/fm .

(6.28)

This value approaches the density of nuclear matter, namely the density that
an innitely large nucleus, without surface eects, is presumed to have.
3. In the older literature, written at a time when the shape of nuclei was not
yet well known, it was customary to describe the nuclear radius dierently.
A nucleus of uniform density and radius R was assumed. From Eq. (6.21) it
follows that R2 and r2  are connected by

r  = 4

3r4 dr
3
= R2 .
4R3
5

(6.29)

R approximately satises the relation

R = R0 A1/3 ,

R0 = 1.2 fm.

(6.30)

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6.4. The Charge Distribution of Spherical Nuclei

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145

Figure 6.3: Elastic scattering cross section of electrons from 40 Ca from experiments performed at
Stanford and Saclay, France. [Courtesy I. Sick, Phys. Lett. 88B, 245 (1979).]

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146

Structure of Subatomic Particles

Figure 6.4: Fermi distribution for the nuclear charge density. c is the approximate half-density
radius and t the surface thickness.

4. The actual charge distribution is more complex than the two-parameter Fermi
distribution. In particular the density in the interior of nuclei is not constant
as assumed in Eq. (6.24); it can decrease or increase toward the center, as
shown in Fig. 6.5 for 40 Ca and 208 Pb.(9) These variations arise, primarily,
from shell structure eects; see Chapter 17. It is possible to extract the
charge distribution from the measured electron scattering cross section in an
almost model-independent manner(10) by writing the charge distribution as a
superposition of Gaussians,

(r Ri )2
.
Ai exp

2
i=1
N


The charge distributions shown in Fig. 6.5 were obtained in this manner.(9)
5. Nuclei that have nonzero spins also possess magnetic moments; the distribution of the magnetization can also be described by a form factor. Experimental information about the magnetization density is obtained from large angle
(backward)(11,12) electron scattering.
The information given so far in this section provides a glimpse into the structure
of nuclei. Considerably more is knownner details have been investigated,(9,13)
still higher momentum transfers have been studied with 4 and 1020 GeV electrons,
particularly in the lightest nuclei, 2 H,3 He,3 H.(12) In addition, inelastic scattering
10 I.

Sick, Nucl. Phys. A218, 509 (1974).

Platchkov et al., Phys. Rev. C25, 2318 (1982); S. Auret, Phys. Rev. Lett. 54, 649
(1985); T.W. Donnelly and I. Sick, Rev. Mod. Phys. 56, 461 (1984).
12 R.G. Arnold et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 35, 776 (1975); B.T. Chertok, Prog. Part. Nucl. Phys.,
(D.H. Wilkinson, ed.), 8, 367 (1982); P.S. Justen, Phys. Rev. Lett. 55, 2261 (1985); R.G. Arnold
et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 58, 1723 (1987).
13 J.M. Cavedon et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 58, 1723 (1987).
11 S.K.

subatomic

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6.5. Leptons Are Point Particles

subatomic

147

Figure 6.5: Probability distribution for 40 Ca and

[From I. Sick. Phys. Lett. 88B, 245 (1979).]

208 Pb,

as obtained from electron scattering.

to many excited nuclear states have been examined.(14) We must, however, remember that the information provided by charged lepton scattering concerns the
nuclear charge and current distributions and that corresponding data on hadronic
structure (matter distribution) require a dierent probe, such as hadrons(15) or the
weak interaction of electrons.(16)
6.5

Leptons Are Point Particles

We return now to the g factor of the electron. By 1926, the idea of the spinning
electron and its magnetic moment was generally accepted,(17) but the value of the
g factor (Eq. (5.16)),
g(1926) = 2,
had to be taken from experiment. (The minus sign indicates that the magnetic
moment points in the direction opposite to the spin for a negative electron.) It was
exactly twice as large as the g factor for orbital motion, Eq. (5.14). In other words,
even though the electron has spin 12 , it carries one Bohr magneton. In 1928, Dirac
14 J.

Heisenberg and H. P. Blok, Annu. Rev. Nucl. Part. Sci. 33, 569 (1983).
Thomas, Nucl. Phys. A354, 51c (1981); R. Campi, Nucl. Phys. A374, 435c (1982).
16 C.J. Horowitz, S.J. Pollock, P.A. Souder, and R. Michael, Phys. Rev. C 63, 025501 (2001).
17 A fascinating description of the history of the spin is presented by B.L. Van der Waerden,
in Theoretical Physics of the Twentieth Century (M. Fierz and V.F. Weisskopf, eds.), WileyInterscience, New York, 1960. See also S.A. Goudsmit, Phys. Today 14, 18 (June 1961) and P.
Kusch, Phys. Today 19, 23 (February 1966).
15 A.W.