Proton-proton collisions at 3.5 GeV

Abstract

Ilford G-5 emulsions were exposed to an external, 3.5 GeY proton beam of the Berkeley Bevatron. A total of 1200 nuclear interactions of beam protons was located, of which 128 were identified as protonproton collisions. Multiple scattering, blob density, range and angle measurements were employed to determine the cross-sections for elastic and inelastic interactions as well as the identities and center-of-mass system momenta and scattering angles of secondaries from inelastic proton-proton interactions. This analysis indicates a cross-section of (8.0±2.4) mb for elastic events, (24.1±2.9) mb for two-prong inelasitc events, (7.9±1.4)mb for four-prong events and (0.6±0.3) mb for sixprong events. The mean charged pion multiplicity in inelastic interactions is 1.5±0.2 and corresponds to an average degree of inelasticity of 0.45 ±0.06. Center-of-mass system angular distributions of charged secondaries from inelastic events display a peaking for small scattering angles which is most pronounced for protons and pions from events with low secondary multiplicity. Momentum and transverse momentum distributions of secondary protons and pions from inelastic events are presented and compared with the results at other energies. The angular distribution of elastically scattered protons is found to be in fair agreement with that predicted by a uniform optical model of radius 1.25-10-13 cm and opacity 0.66.