Measurement of antineutron-proton total and annihilation cross sections from 100 to 500 MeV/c

Abstract

Total and annihilation n¯p cross sections from 100 to 500 MeV/c are reported, the first such measurements with good statistics in this momentum range. These cross sections are well represented by A+B/p, where p is the incident antineutron momentum, and are in agreement with previous n¯p and p¯n measurements. A comparison of these cross sections with phenomenological potential model calculations is good overall. However, the microscopic quark model gives unsatisfactory predictions. The agreement between previous p¯p annihilation cross sections and n¯p cross sections above 300 MeV/c is excellent. The total n¯p cross section is lower than the total p¯p cross section in this momentum range. Both of these types of behavior are predicted by potential models. The anticipated availability of future p¯p data below 300 MeV/c should indicate whether these trends continue at lower momenta.