Nucleon momentum distribution in deuteron and other nuclei within the light-front dynamics method

The relativistic light-front dynamics (LFD) method has been shown to give a correct description of the most recent data for the deuteron monopole and quadrupole charge form factors obtained at the Jefferson Laboratory for elastic electron-deuteron scattering for six values of the squared momentum transfer between 0.66 and 1.7 (GeV/c)(2). The good agreement with the data is in contrast with the results of the existing nonrelativistic approaches. In this work we first make a complementary test of the LFD applying it to calculate another important characteristic, the nucleon momentum distribution n(q) of the deuteron, using six invariant functions f(i) (i = 1,...,6) instead of two (S and D waves) in the nonrelativistic case. The comparison with the y-scaling data shows the decisive role of the function f(5) which at q greater than or equal to 500 MeV/c exceeds all other f functions (as well as the S and D waves) for the correct description of n(q) of the deuteron in the high-momentum region. Comparison with other calculations using S and D waves corresponding to various nucleon-nucleon potentials is made. Second, using clear indications that the high-momentum components of n(q) in heavier nuclei are related to those in the deuteron, we develop an approach within the natural orbital representation to calculate n(q) in (A,Z) nuclei on the basis of the deuteron momentum distribution. As examples, n(q) in He-4, C-12, and Fe-56 are calculated and good agreement with the y-scaling data is obtained.