Proton-deuteron elastic scattering has been measured in the four-momentum transfer squared region 0.013<|t|<0.14 (GeV/c)2 and for incident proton beam momenta from 50 to 400 GeV/c. The data can be fitted with the Bethe interference formula. We observe shrinkage of the diffraction cone with increasing energy equal to (0.94±0.04)ln(s1 GeV2) (GeV/c)−2. This shrinkage is greater than that observed in pp elastic scattering. The ratio of the elastic to the total cross section is approximately 0.1 and independent of energy above ∼ 150 GeV. In order to extract information on pn scattering we fit our data using the Glauber approach and a form factor which is the sum of exponentials. The values we obtain for the slope parameter in pn scattering are sensitive to the details of the inelastic double-scattering term.
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