We explore the possibility of observing color transparency effects in incoherent diffractive electroproduction of $s\overline{s}$ mesons off nuclear targets in the energy range expected to be available at the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility. The $Q^2$, energy, and target mass dependences of the $\phi$ and ${\phi }^{\prime }$ transparency ratios have been studied within a theoretical approach in which the propagation of the $s\overline{s}$ pair through the nuclear medium is described in terms of the quantum mechanical evolution operator. In spite of the subasymptotic values of $Q^2$ and $\nu$, we find a complex pattern of color transparency induced effects.

• Received 1 September 1994

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.74.3565