Analysis of Meson Exchange and Isobar Currents in (e,e'p) Reactions from O-16

An analysis of the effects of meson exchange and isobar currents in exclusive (e,e'p) processes from O-16 under quasi-free kinematics is presented. A model that has probed its feasibility for inclusive quasi-elastic (e,e') processes is considered. Sensitivity to final state interactions between the outgoing proton and the residual nucleus is discussed by comparing the results obtained with phenomenological optical potentials and a continuum nuclear shell-model calculation. The contribution of the meson-exchange and isobar currents to the response functions is evaluated and compared to previous calculations, which differ notably from our results. These two-body contributions cannot solve the puzzle of the simultaneous description of the different responses experimentally separated. Copyright 1999 by The American Physical Society