Quasifree (e, e′ p) reactions on nuclei with neutron excess

We study the evolution of the (e, e' p) cross section on nuclei with increasing asymmetry between the number of neutrons and protons. The calculations are done within the framework of the distorted-wave impulse approximation, by adopting nonrelativistic and relativistic models. We compare the results obtained with three different approaches based on the mean-field description for the proton bound-state wave function. In the nonrelativistic model phenomenological Woods-Saxon and Hartree-Fock wave functions are used; in the relativistic model the wave functions are solutions of Dirac-Hartree equations. The models are first tested against experimental data on O-16, Ca-40, and Ca-48 nuclei, and then they are applied to calculate (e, e' p) cross sections for a set of spherical calcium and oxygen isotopes. From the comparison of the results obtained for the various isotopes we can infer information about the dependence of the various ingredients of the models on the neutron to proton asymmetry.