A first systematic attempt to extract the transverse sum rule from experimental data on sup40Ca, sup48Ca, and sup56Fe is made. The comparison with the theoretical predictions in a correlated model for the ground states, considering tensor correlations explicitly, turns out to be satisfactory. The necessity of invoking modifications of the nucleon properties when immersed in the nuclear medium is discussed.

• Received 29 October 1984

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.32.320