Polarization-transfer measurement to a large-virtuality bound proton in the deuteron

We report the measurement of the ratio of polarization-transfer components, Px/Pz, in the H2(e→,e′p→)n reaction at low and high missing momenta, in search of differences between free and bound protons. The observed deviation of Px/Pz from that of a free proton, which is similar to that observed in 4He, indicates that the effect in nuclei is a function of the virtuality of the knock-out proton and the missing momentum direction, but not the average nuclear density. There is a general agreement between the data and calculations, which assume free proton form factors, however, the measurements are consistently about 10% higher.