Dispersion effects in elastic electron scattering from 12C

The results of an experiment, especially designed to investigate to what extent dispersion effects contribute to the reaction mechanism of elastic electron scattering from 12C, are presented and discussed. Particular attention is given to the discussion of corrections to parameters used in the calculation of the cross section. Tables of the resulting cross sections are given for the ground state and for the 2+ and 0+ states at, respectively, 4.439 and 7.655 MeV. The one-photon exchange approximation for elastic electron scattering from 12C is investigated by testing the energy dependence of the form factor in the region of the first diffraction minimum. The energy dependence observed is interpreted in terms of dispersion effects. 109 refs.; 33 figs.; 14 tabs