An Investigation into the Nuclear Scattering of High Energy Protons

Abstract

The angular distributions of high energy protons, elastically scattered from various nuclei, have been considered theoretically. For this purpose, the optical model of the nucleus, hitherto developed on the basis of the nuclear scattering of high energy neutrons, has been suitably modified to account for the proton scattering. Appropriate proton wave equations have been established and solved exactly. However, these solutions have been found unsuitable for numerical computations. Next, the WKB and the Born approximations have been used, within their respective regions of validity, to yield appropriate expressions for the differential scattering cross section. Finally, the theoretical and the experimental diffraction patterns for the nuclear scattering of 340-Mev protons have been compared. It has been found that the above nuclear model gives only an approximate account of such a scattering. It is further indicated that the effective nuclear radii, appropriate for this energy, are about 10 percent smaller than those calculated on the basis of the nuclear scattering of 90-Mev neutrons.