A 14-in. liquid-hydrogen-filled bubble chamber in a 17.5-kG magnetic field was exposed to a beam of negative pions produced by the Cosmotron at Brookhaven National Laboratory. About 26 000 pictures were taken and examined for the following final states: (1) elastic scattering (π−p); (2) π+ production (π−π+n); (3) π0 production (π−π0p); (4) neutrals. Values for the cross sections for these processes are σ(elastic)=17.56±0.43 mb, σ(π+)=7.14±0.23 mb, σ(π0)=4.65±0.17 mb. The elastic-scattering angular dependence in the c.m. system is fitted by a power-series expansion in cosθ and gives the following coefficients: a0=0.27±0.02, a1=1.48±0.11, a2=3.86±0.22, a3=−0.29±0.53, a4=−0.65±0.28, a5=1.69±0.52 (units: mb/sr). Cross sections for multiple-pion production were also measured: σ(π−π+π0n)=0.33±0.04 mb, σ(π−π+π−p)=0.08±0.02 mb. The total neutral cross section was σ(neutrals)=11.78±0.43 mb; the total charged events cross section was σ(charged)=29.76±0.69 mb; and the total cross section was σ(total)=41.54±0.82 mb. For single-pion production events, two-body mass distributions and angular distributions were compared with the predictions of the Olsson-Yodh isobar model.

The polarized target asymmetry AN for π−p→→γn has been measured by coincident detection of the γ and the neutron at several angles across the Δ resonace energy region. A high-resolution NaI γ spectrometer together with good time-of-flight information for the neutron resulted in excellent separation of this radiative capture reaction from the much higher cross-section charge exchange reaction π−p→→π0n. Statistical uncertainties are ΔAN=0.02-0.04, representing a significant improvement over previous results. The new data are discussed in the context of recent theoretical models.

Measurements of polarization in π+p elastic scattering have been made at 1.60, 1.80, 2.11, and 2.31 GeVc. The data cover the entire angular range, with emphasis on the backward region. Comparisons have been made with both u-channel and t-channel models, as well as with predictions of phase-shift analyses. While the agreement is generally poor in all cases, the best agreement is with some t-channel predictions.

Integral cross sections for π + p interaction have been measured between 125.9 and 201.7 MeV using the transmission method. Over this energy range the results are in very good agreement with predictions made with currently accepted phase shifts. These results are also consistent with similar measurements at lower energies when the dispersion relation constrained Karlsruhe phase shifts are used.

Differential cross sections for pi- p and pi+ p elastic scattering were measured at five energies between 19.9 and 43.3 MeV. The use of the CHAOS magnetic spectrometer at TRIUMF, supplemented by a range telescope for muon background suppression, provided simultaneous coverage of a large part of the full angular range, thus allowing very precise relative cross section measurements. The absolute normalisation was determined with a typical accuracy of 5 %. This was verified in a simultaneous measurement of muon proton elastic scattering. The measured cross sections show some deviations from phase shift analysis predictions, in particular at large angles and low energies. From the new data we determine the real part of the isospin forward scattering amplitude.

The first kinematically complete, good-statistics data for the (π,2π) reaction on the proton are presented. They involve double- and triple-differential cross sections as well as π+π− angular correlations. At energies around the Δ resonance, they exhibit a marked difference from phase space. The data are qualitatively described within the framework of an extension of Weinberg’s effective chiral Lagrangian.

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Differential cross sections for the elastic scattering of positive pi mesons by protons were measured at the Berkeley Bevatron at pion laboratory kinetic energies between 500 and 1600 MeV. Fifty scintillation counters and a matrix coincidence system were used to identify incoming pions and detect the recoil proton and pion companions. Results were fitted with a power series in the cosine of the center-of-mass scattering angle, and total elastic cross sections were obtained by integrating under the fitted curves. The coefficients of the cosine series are displayed, plotted versus the laboratory kinetic energy of the pion. The most striking features of these curves are the large positive value of the coefficient of cos6θ*, and the large negative value of the coefficient of cos4θ*, both of which maximize in the vicinity of the 1350-MeV peak in the total cross section. These results indicate that the most predominant state contributing to the scattering at the 1350-MeV peak has total angular momentum J=72, since the coefficients for terms above cos6θ* are negligible at this energy. One possible explanation is that the 1350-MeV peak is the result of an F72 resonance lying on the same Regge-pole trajectory as the (32, 32) resonance near 195 MeV.

Differential cross sections for the elastic scattering of negative pi mesons on protons (π−−p→π−−p) were measured at the Berkeley Bevatron at five laboratory kinetic energies of the pion between 500 and 1000 MeV. The results were least-squares fitted with a power series in the cosine of the center-of-mass scattering angle, and total elastic cross sections for π−−p→π−−p were obtained by integrating under the fitted curves. The coefficients of the cosine series are shown plotted versus the incident pion laboratory kinetic energy. These curves display as a striking feature a large value of the coefficient of cos5θ* peaking in the vicinity of the 900-MeV resonance. This implies that a superposition of F52 and D52 partial waves is prominent in the scattering at this energy, since the coefficients for terms above cos5θ* are negligible. One possible explanation is that the F52 enhancement comes from an elastic resonance in the isotopic spin T=12 state, consistent with Regge-pole formalism, and the D52 partial-wave state may be enhanced by inelastic processes. At 600 MeV the values of the coefficients do not seem to demand the prominence of any single partial-wave state, although the results are compatible with an enhancement in the J=32 amplitude. A table listing quantum numbers plausibly associated with the various peaks and "shoulders" seen in the π±−p total cross-section curves is presented.

Angular distributions of recoil-proton polarization in elastic π±p scattering were measured at 523-, 572-, and 689-MeV incident pion kinetic energy. Polarization measurements were made by observing the azimuthal asymmetry in the subsequent scattering of recoil protons in large carbon-plate spark chambers. Typical strong variation of the polarization with pion scattering angle near the πp diffraction minima was observed. Since existing opinion favors a D13 resonance at 600 MeV, a phase-shift analysis was attempted in order to confirm the existence and parity of this resonance. Available πp total and differential cross sections, these polarization data, and some possible restrictive assumptions related to the 600-MeV resonance were used in the analysis. Though the polarization results aided significantly in restricting the number of acceptable phase-shift sets, still, many plausible and qualitatively different sets were found.