This study focuses on the application of the Relativistic Plane Wave Impulse Approximation (RPWIA) model for the predictions of (⃗p, 2⃗p ) polarization transfer observables and the unpo- larized triple differential cross sections on stable spherical nuclei: 208Pb, 40Ca and 12C. The predictions are for knockout from different single-particle states, namely: 3s1/2, 2d3/2, 1h11/2, 2d5/2 and 1g7/2 in 208Pb, 1d3/2 and 2s1/2 in 40Ca, and 1p3/2 state in 12C. The predictions are compared to experimental data from the Research Center for Nuclear Physics (RCNP) at inci- dent proton energies of 392 MeV and coplanar scattering angles: 32.5◦ and -50.0◦. Within the context of the RPWIA model, the relativistic transition amplitude is employed with the incident and outgoing proton wave functions treated as relativistic free Dirac plane waves (ignores the distortion effects). The Relativistic Impulse Approximation (RIA) is adopted for the nucleon-nucleon (N N ) interaction between the incident and the bound proton, the bound- state proton wave functions are extracted through the application of Quantum Hadrodynamics (QHD) and different Relativistic Mean Field (RMF) models: QHDII, NL3, FSUGold and FSUGold2. A computer code was developed and implemented in FORTRAN, to calculate the unpolar- ized triple differential cross sections and the complete set of polarization transfer observables for proton knockout from single-particle states in 208Pb, 40Ca and 12C. The predictions of the unpolarized triple differential cross sections and the analyzing powers were compared to the ex- perimental data from RCNP measured as functions of the kinetic energy of the outgoing proton [Ta′ (MeV)]. Some of the key points that this study seeks to address are to: test the predictive power of the RPWIA model for the predictions of unpolarized triple differential cross sections and the analyzing powers for (⃗p, 2⃗p ) knockout reactions compared to data, identify kinematic regions where the RPWIA predictions are closer to data and compare these predictions with the Relativistic Distorted Wave Impulse Approximation (RDWIA) predictions, investigate the possibilities of applying a model that does not rely on optical potentials, and to study the sen- sitivity of the polarization transfer observables to different RMF models applied in this study. It shows that the RPWIA predictions quantitatively describe the data for the unpolarized triple differential cross sections and the analyzing powers for knockout from most single-particle states. The RPWIA model describe the data within a range of ± 10 MeV [Ta′ (MeV)] from the peak of the unpolarized triple differential cross section for the analyzing power data. Within those regions, the RPWIA and the RDWIA predictions share intersection points for various po- larization transfer observables and nuclear states, showing that the RPWIA model is sufficient to predict the observables for those energies. The variations between the predictions of the complete set of polarization transfer observables using different RMF models are small which implies that the choice of the RMF model has a limited impact on the overall predictions of these observables, i.e., the observables are insensitive to the different RMF models.

Thesis (MSc in Physics) ---Botswana International University of Science and Technology, 2025