Propagation of the Single-Scattering Distribution in Multiple Scattering: Muon Scattering in Iron

Abstract

The moments of the projected angular distribution of the single-scattering process are shown to be derivable from the emergent angular distribution of a beam that has traversed a thick absorber. Since very small deflections do not contribute to the observed moments, ambiguity is avoided by adopting a formulation of the electronic screening that leads to a definite total scattering cross section. The theory is applied to an experiment in which 2-BeV muons are incident on an iron scatterer 18 in. thick. The observed angular distribution is analyzed. It is shown that the nuclear electromagnetic form factor derived from the muon data is consistent with that found from electron scattering, and is completely incompatible with a point-nucleus model.