Giant resonance spectroscopy of 40Ca with the (e,e′x) reaction (I): Experiments and overview of results Original Research Article

The 40Ca(e,e′x; x=p,α) reaction has been measured in the giant resonance excitation region for Ex≃8–26 MeV. The present article is the first out of three describing the experiments and giving an overview of the results. Data were taken at four momentum transfers in the range q=0.26–0.66 fm−1. Angular correlations for decay to the ground state and low-lying states of 39K and 36Ar could be extracted as a function of excitation energy in 40Ca. Excitation energy spectra integrated over the particle emission angle were generated for the various resolved decay channels. Comparisons of the giant resonance cross-section distributions with results using other electromagnetic or hadronic probes have been made and good agreement is found in most cases.