Measurement of the Neutron-Proton Final-State Interaction in the Electrodisintegration of Deuterium

Abstract

Measurements have been made of the inelastic differential cross sections for electrodisintegration of deuterium for $\epsilon$ in the range from 0 to 12 Mev, where $\epsilon$ is the energy in the $n-p$ center-of-mass system in the final state. Primary electron energies were in the range from 204 to 500 Mev. The process was studied for momentum transfers from 1.8 to 2.8 ${\mathrm{f}}^{-1\mathrm{}}$. The $n-p$ interaction in the unbound state gives rise to a peak in the differential cross sections for $\epsilon$ near zero for transitions to the ${}_{}{}^1{}_{}{}^{}S$ and ${}_{}{}^3{}_{}{}^{}S$ states of the $n-p$ system. The high momentum transfers available make the results sensitive to the short range structure of the unbound $n-p$ wave functions. The results fail to agree with the predictions of Jankus even at the lowest momentum transfers, when a central attractive force is assumed for the $n-p$ force. At the highest momentum transfers the predicted cross sections are approximately 50% greater than the measured ones. The experimental results agree with theory if a repulsive core of the radius required to fit the elastic scattering data is used both in the bound and unbound $n-p$ states. The extent to which relativistic corrections alter this conclusion is not known at present.