In a 48 000-picture exposure of the Fermilab 30-inch hydrogen bubble chamber to a 205 GeV/ c π − beam, we have measured 169 events of the reaction, π − p → π − π + π − p, with a cross section of 635 ± 61 μ b. This reaction proceeds almost entirely via low mass π − → 3 π and p → p ππ dissociation. Factorization is satisfied for p → pππ dissociation in πp and pp interactions.
The results of a study of the reaction π-p→π-π-π+p at2 147 GeV/c carried out at the Fermilab Proportional Wire 30″ Bubble Chamber Hybrid Spectrometer are reported. More than 92% of the cross-section ((670±41) μb) for this reaction is contained in those for proton and pion diffraction dissociation. The cross-sections for pion diffraction events with three-pion invariant mass in given regions are in agreement with values obtained by extrapolation of fits to data at lower incidentpion momenta. ρ0π- events make an important contribution in the A1 and A2 mass regions, and the data are consistent with contributions from f0π- in the A3 mass region. The cross-section for proton diffraction events is in agreement with a smooth extrapolation of the data at lower momentum.