"Anomalous" Scattering ofμMesons

Abstract

A $\mu$-meson scattering experiment in which the mesons are required to traverse a thick block of iron and stop and decay in a thin layer of carbon, is reported. Any uncertainty in the identity of the scattered particle has thus been eliminated, and further, the momentum of the particles is well defined. The observed angular distribution of the scattered $\mu$ mesons in the momentum range ($1_{-0.2\mathrm{}}^{+0.15\mathrm{}}$) Bev/c has been found to be in good agreement with the distribution predicted from the Coulomb scattering theory for extended nuclei obtained by Cooper and Rainwater. There is thus no indication from the present experiment for any anomalous scattering of $\mu$ mesons near 1 Bev/c momentum.