Quasi-free scattering of polarized protons

Abstract

Cross section and analyzing power, energy-sharing spectra have been measured for the 16O( p , 2p) reaction at an incident energy of 200 MeV for twenty-four different pairs of angles of the detected final-state protons. This general survey is intended to test the validity of the distorted wave impulse approximation (DWIA), particularly with respect to the predicted j-dependent analyzing power caused by the distorting optical potentials and nuclear spin-orbit coupling. Although the data in general confirm this j-dependence, agreement in detail between DWIA calculations and the analyzing power data becomes worse as the momentum of the recoiling nucleus increases. Predictably, the cross-section calculations show more sensitivity to the optical-model parameters than do the analyzing powers. Within the present limits imposed by scanty elastic scattering data, there seems to remain a choice between predicted ( p , 2p) cross sections which either are unreasonably large or which have the incorrect energy-sharing shapes. More comprehensive elastic scattering and total reaction cross section data are clearly needed.