Deep-inelastic and quasielastic electron scattering from A=3 nuclei

We perform a combined analysis of inclusive electron scattering data from A=3 nuclei in the deep-inelastic and quasielastic scattering regions, using Monte Carlo analysis methods and the nuclear weak binding approximation to establish the range over which the data can be described within the same theoretical framework. Comparison with quasielastic He3 cross sections from SLAC and Jefferson Lab suggests that most features of the x-1 data can be reasonably well described in the impulse approximation with finite-Q2 nuclear smearing functions for momentum transfers Q21GeV2. For the DIS region, we analyze the recent He3 to deuterium cross-section ratio from the Jefferson Lab E03-103 experiment to explore the possible isospin dependence of the nuclear effects. We discuss the implications of this for the MARATHON experiment at Jefferson Lab and outline how a Bayesian analysis of He3, H3, and deuterium data can robustly determine the free neutron structure function.