Deuteron Disintegration by Electrons

Abstract

The cross section for the disintegration of deuterons by electrons has been calculated. Near the threshold the "magnetic" cross section is larger, increasing with the square while the "electric" cross section increases with the cube of the energy. They become equal at about 600 kev above the threshold when each has a value of 3.5×${10}^{-31\mathrm{}}$ ${\mathrm{cm}}^2$. The disintegration neutrons should be observable from 50 kev up. An experiment of this kind might therefore be used to check the theoretically predicted magnetic disintegration. This seems desirable since a parallel effect for photo-disintegration has so far not been observed.