The Brookhaven National Laboratory twenty-inch liquid hydrogen bubble chamber was exposed to a monoenergetic beam of 2.85-Bev protons, elastically scattered from a carbon target in the internal beam of the Cosmotron. All two-prong events, excluding strange particle events, have been studied by the Yale High-Energy Group. The remaining interactions have been studied by the Brookhaven Bubble Chamber Group. Elastic scattering was found to be mostly pure diffraction scattering at center-of-mass angles up to about thirty-five degrees. Some phase shift and/or tapering of the proton edge was required to fit the data at larger angles. No polarization effects in the proton-carbon scattering were observed using hydrogen as an analyzer of polarized protons. Nucleonic isobar formation in the T=32, J=32 state was found to account for a large part of single pion production. High-orbital angular-momentum states were found to be greatly favored in single pion production. The isobar model of Lindenbaum and Sternheimer gave good agreement with the observed nucleon and pion energy spectra. No polarization or alignment effects were observed for the isobar assumed in this model.

Twenty-nine proton-proton differential elastic cross sections for lab momenta p0 from 11 to 31.8 BeV/c, at four-momentum transfers squared, −t, from 2.3 to 24.4 (BeV/c)2, have been measured at the Brookhaven alternating gradient synchrotron. The circulating proton beam impinged upon a thin CH2 internal target. Both scattered protons from p−p elastic events were detected by scintillation-counter telescopes which were placed downstream from deflection magnets set at the appropriate angles to the incident beam. The angular correlation of the protons, their momenta, and the coplanarity of the events were determined by the detection system. The results show that at high momentum transfers the differential cross section, dσdt, depends strongly upon the energy; for −t=10 (BeV/c)2, the value of dσdt at p0=30 BeV/c is smaller by a factor∼1000 than at p0=10 BeV/c. At all energies, dσdt falls rapidly with increasing |t| for scattering angles up to about 65° (c.m.), while in the range from 65 to 90° the cross section falls only by a factor of about 2. The smallest cross section measured was 9×10−37 cm2 sr−1 (c.m.), at p0=31.8 BeV/c and −t=20.4 (BeV/c)2; this is about 3×10−12 of the zero-degree cross section at the same energy.

The polarization parameter in proton-proton scattering has been measured at incident proton kinetic energies of 1.7, 2.85, 3.5, 4.0, 5.05, and 6.15 BeV and for four-momentum transfer squared between 0.1 and 1.0 (BeV/c)2. The experiment was done with an unpolarized proton beam from the Bevatron striking a polarized proton target. Both final-state protons were detected in coincidence and the asymmetry in counting rate for target protons polarized parallel and antiparallel to the scattering normal was measured. The maximum polarization was observed to decrease from 0.4 at 1.7 BeV to 0.2 at 6.1 BeV. The maximum of the polarization at all energies studied occurs at a four-momentum transfer squared of 0.3 to 0.4 (BeV/c)2.

Differential cross sections for elastic π±−p scattering have been measured at lab momenta of 8 and 12 GeV/c in a momentum-transfer region corresponding to 1.2≤−t≤6 (GeV/c)2. Also, differential cross sections near 180° were measured for 4 and 8 GeV/c pions. At momentum transfers greater than −t=2 (GeV/c)2, the π−p cross sections drop much faster with increasing angle than the corresponding p−p cross sections. Also, in the region −t≃1.3 (GeV/c)2, there is structure in the π−p angular distribution but not in the p−p angular distribution. At −t≃3 (GeV/c)2, the drop in cross section appears to stop and from then on the angular distribution is consistent with isotropy. But in the angular region 170° to 180°, the cross sections have become much larger, and sharp backward peaks are observed. Information is given on the energy and charge dependences and widths of these backward peaks.

The polarization parameter in elastic proton-proton scattering has been measured at 0.75, 1.03, 1.32, 1.63, 2.24, and 2.84 GeV by employing a double-scattering technique. An external proton beam from the Brookhaven Cosmotron was focused on a 3 in.-long liquid-hydrogen target and the elastic recoil and scattered protons were detected in coincidence by scintillation counters. The polarization of the recoil beam was determined from the azimuthal asymmetry exhibited in its scattering from a carbon target. This asymmetry was measured by a pair of scintillation-counter telescopes which symmetrically viewed the carbon target. The analyzing power of this system was previously determined in an independent calibration experiment employing a 40%-polarized proton beam at the Carnegie Institute of Technology synchrocyclotron. False asymmetries were cancelled to a high order by periodically rotating the analyzer 180° about the recoil beam line. Spark chambers were utilized to obtain the spatial distribution of the beam as it entered the analyzer; this information allowed an accurate determination of the corrections necessary to compensate for any misalignment of the axis of the analyzer relative to the incident-beam centroid. Values of the polarization parameter as a function of the center-of-mass scattering angle are given for each incident beam energy. The predictions of the Regge theory for polarization in elastic proton-proton scattering and recently published phase-shift solutions are compared with the experimental results. Surprisingly good agreement with the Regge predictions is found despite the low energies involved.

Measurements of the polarization in pp elastic scattering have been made at 5.15 GeV/c over the range −t=0.2 to 1.8 (GeV/c)2. The data are compared with a Regge-pole model, and with the diffraction model of Durand and Lipes in which the absorptive part of the pp interaction is derived from the electromagnetic form factor of the proton. The latter model reproduces the t dependence of the experimental data in a qualitative way.

Elastic scattering and single-pion production in pp collisions at 6.92 BeVc were studied in the BNL 80-in. hydrogen bubble chamber. Partial cross sections for the different final states are given. The reaction pp→nN1238*(pπ+) with σ=1.9±0.3 mb is analyzed and is in agreement with the modified one-pion-exchange model. Single-pion production can be explained as due mainly to two channels: (a) pp→N1238*(pπ+)n, and (b) pp→p(nπ+) or pp→p(pπ0), where the (nπ+) and (pπ0) pairs are in an I=12 state.

About 3700 two-prong and 5600 four-prong events of 10-GeV/c pp interactions in the Saclay 81-cm hydrogen bubble chamber have been measured and analyzed. The reliability of the identification of the different final states has been checked using Monte Carlo-generated events. For the channels accessible to analysis, cross sections and invariant-mass distributions are given. The c.m. angular distributions and the mean values of the transverse momentum for all final-state particles are shown and discussed. Production of Δ++(1236) accounts for about 30% of the cross section σ(pp→pnπ+)=4.1±0.4 mb. About 50% of the cross section σ(pp→ppπ+π−)=2.4±0.2 mb can be accounted for by Δ++ production. Production of nucleon isobars at 1450, 1520, and 1730 MeV and their subsequent decay into pπ+π− are investigated. Their cross sections, t dependences, and branching ratios are determined, using a one-pion-exchange model (OPEM) for calculating the background distributions. The production of resonances decaying into pπ− at 1236, 1500, and 1690 MeV is seen, and cross sections are given. Resonance production in the ppπ+π−π0 and pnπ+π+π− reactions is studied using background curves calculated with a model based on simple parametrizations of the c.m. momentum distributions. The production of nucleon isobars accounts for nearly 100% of these reactions. For the reactions pp→ppω, ppη, and ppf0, the cross sections found are 0.16±0.03, 0.16±0.07, and 0.10±0.04 mb, respectively, corrected for unobserved decay modes. It is shown that most of the gross features of the pion-production reactions can be explained by the OPEM with the form factors of Ferrari and Selleri.

About 10 000 two-prong events of 8.1 GeV/ c proton-proton interactions in the CERN 2 m. bubble chamber have been analyzed. We study elastic scattering and single-pion production reactions. We give cross sections for isobar production. We attempt to interpret the general features of the pp→pn π + reaction by the Deck mechanism. We compare the production and the decay of δ ++ (1236) with absorption or π Regge trajectory exchange models.

This work extends our previous investigations at the CERN Intersecting Storage Rings, with improved statistics at three different energies, wider angular range and a better control over systematic errors. Values for the (diffraction) shape parameter b are given.