  A theory of short-range correlations in two-nucleon removal due to elastic
breakup (diffraction dissociation) on a light target is developed. Fingerprints
of these correlations will appear in momentum distributions of back-to-back
emission of the nucleon pair. Expressions for the momentum distributions are
derived and calculations for reactions involving stable and unstable nuclear
species are performed. The signature of short-range correlations in other
reaction processes is also studied.
