Do final-state interactions obscure short-range correlation effects in quasielastic A(e,e'p) scattering?

Are short-range correlations in the ground state of the target nucleus (initial-state correlations ISC) observable in experiments on quasielastic A(e, e'p) scattering at large missing momentum p(m)? Will the missing momentum spectrum observed at CEBAF be overwhelmed by final-state interactions of the struck proton? Taking the He-4 nucleus with a realistic model wave function for a testing ground, we present a full calculation of the missing momentum distribution in inclusive 4He(e, e'p) scattering. We find a complex interplay and strong quantum-mechanical interference of FSI and ISC contributions to scattering at large pm, with a drastic change of the interference pattern from (anti)parallel to transverse kinematics. We show that in all the kinematical conditions, for missing momenta p(m) greater than or similar to 1 fm(-1), quasielastic scattering is dominated by FSI effects and the sensitivity to details of the nuclear ground state is lost. The origin of the FSI dominance is well understood and can be traced back to the anisotropic behaviour of FSI which is long ranged in the longitudinal direction and short ranged in the transverse direction in contrast to the short-ranged ground-state correlations.