Precise measurements of proton-antiproton and proton-proton total cross sections at the CERN intersecting storage rings

Abstract

A detailed account is given of high-precision measurements of the total hadronic cross sections of proton-antiproton and proton-proton interactions at centre-of-mass energies of 30.6, 52.8 and 62.7 GeV. The experiment was performed at the CERN Intersecting Storage Rings (ISR) using the total interaction-rate method, in which additive correction terms for trigger losses were held to less than 6% of the final result. An experimental determination of the vertical beam-displacement scale permitted luminosity-monitor calibrations to be made with high intrinsic accuracy. The overall precision (systematic and statistical errors combined) achieved in the total cross sections was ± 1.1% for proton-antiproton reactions and 0.7% for proton-proton reactions. In the proton-proton case the measurement was the most precise such measurement made at the ISR.