Gauge ambiguities in ((e)over-right-arrow,e'(N)over-right-arrow) reactions

We examine the sensitivity of the distorted-wave impulse approximation for single-nucleon electromagnetic knockout from valence orbitals to ambiguities in the one-body current operator. Violations of current conservation are classified as gauge ambiguities, whereas the elements of a particular class of structural differences off shell are labeled Gordon ambiguities. Gauge ambiguities in differential cross sections and longitudinal response functions are found to increase with missing momentum and to become particularly severe for low-Q(2) kinematical conditions that are far from quasifree but are sometimes used to investigate correlations. The azimuthal asymmetry may provide a useful experimental means for selecting a gauge. Gordon ambiguities increase with Q(2) and are larger for relativistic than for nonrelativistic approaches. Because ambiguities in the one-body current are at least as large as effects due to correlations and there are additional uncertainties due to two-body currents, final-state interactions, and relativistic distortion, we conclude that is unlikely that information about correlations can be extracted from single-nucleon knockout from valence orbitals at large missing momentum. On the other hand, gauge and Gordon ambiguities and uncertainties in final-state interactions have very little effect upon the helicity-dependent recoil polarization, which can be used to investigate the roles of two-body currents and/or possible medium modifications of the one-body current.