On the Phase-Shift Analysis of the Nucleon-Nucleon Scattering above 1 GeV

Abstract

A method for analyzing nucleon-nucleon scattering experiments in the GeV-energy region is proposed. The new scheme is based on an explicit inclusion, in the intermediate-angular-momentum states, of contributions from one-boson-exchange processes and on an assumption that the absorption coefficients can be represented by a smooth function of the orbital angular momentum l, taken as a continuous variable. The phase shifts with higher l are assumed as usual to be represented by OPEC, and those with lower l are determined from the experimental data by the least-squares method. The reliability of the new approach is checked by applying it to an analysis of the p-p scattering data at 970 MeV. The previously found solutions of peripheral- and central-sbsorption types are obtained again: this fact suggests that our method works well. A discussion on the range of validity of the one-boson-exchange model is given, by which the previously obtained conclusion that its use must be restricted to the region where the impact parameter is larger than some critical value bcrit∼0.5h/µπc is confirmed.