Relativistic description of 3He(e,e'p)2H

The relativistic distorted-wave impulse approximation is used to describe the 3He(e, e′ p)2H process. We describe the 3He nucleus within the adiabatic hyperspherical expansion method with realistic nucleon-nucleon interactions. The overlap between the 3He and the deuteron wave functions can be accurately computed from a three-body calculation. The nucleons are described by solutions of the Dirac equation with scalar and vector (S–V) potentials. The wave function of the outgoing proton is obtained by solving the Dirac equation with a S–V optical potential fitted to elastic proton scattering data on the residual nucleus. Within this theoretical framework, we compute the cross section of the reaction and other observables like the transverse-longitudinal asymmetry, and compare them with the available experimental data measured at JLab.