Seventeen differential cross sections of the pion-nucleon charge-exchange reaction have been measured at total center-of-mass energies of 1245, 1337, and 1363 MeV. Most measurements are based on the neutron-photon coincidence method, using carefully calibrated neutron counters and an efficient, large-area photon detector. The results are used to test the predictions of charge independence, with which they agree. The results also confirm the Ayed-Bareyre-Sonderegger phase-degeneracy hypothesis at θ̃π0=180°.

The π − p→n γ and π − p→n π ° differential cross sections have been measured for −0.9< cos θ ∗ <−0.45 (θ ∗ c.m. scattering angle) at 475 MeV/ c and 550 MeV/ c incident momenta. The π − p→n γ measurement is a good check of the detailed balance principle in the electromagnetic interactions of hadrons at these energies and is in good agreement with Walker's analysis. On the other hand the π − p→ π °n extrapolated values of 180° allows one to verify that the phases of the A 1 2 and A 3 2 amplitudes are equal.

Differential cross sections for π + p and π − p elastic scattering have been measured with an accuracy of typically ±2% at 10 and 9 energies respectively in the range 88 to 292 MeV of lab kinetic energy.

The differential cross section has been measured for the reaction γ +p→p+ π o at the Bonn 2.5 GeV electron synchrotron in the energy range from 0.4 to 2.2 GeV for a c.m. angle of 150 degrees. The protons were detected in a magnetic spectrometer system. The excitation curve shows a distinct resonance structure. The total corrections to the counting rate are about 3%. The contribution of the process γ +p→p+2 π was separated. The uncertainty of this separation leads to an error of about 4% in the cross section.

The differential cross section for the reaction γ+p→π++n was measured using the Caltech 1.5-GeV electron synchrotron. The positive pions were detected and momentum analyzed in a multichannel magnetic spectrometer and the data were recorded in the memory of a pulse-height analyzer. The energy resolution was improved over previous experiments and an attempt was made to minimize systematic errors. The data are presented in the form of energy distributions at 12 lab angles from 34° to 155°, and the range of lab proton energies extended from 500 to 1350 MeV. Data were not taken at all energies for each angle, since the maximum useful momentum of the spectrometer, 600 MeVc, restricted the maximum energy for lab angles less than or equal to 74°.

Measurements of the differential cross section for the process γ+p→π0+p have been made at eight pion center-of-mass angles in the range 51-135° and for incident photon energies from approximately 600-1200 MeV. The bremsstrahlung photon beam used was obtained from the California Institute of Technology electron synchrotron. Both the recoil proton and one γ ray from the decay of the π0 were detected. The incident photon energy was determined by measuring the laboratory angle and time of flight of the recoil proton. The angular distributions obtained indicate that the third pion-nucleon resonance is predominantly a D(52) resonance excited by a magnetic quadrupole transition. It can also be concluded that any contribution to the π0 photoproduction cross section from a virtual vector-meson exchange process is probably negligible in the region of the second and third pion-nucleon resonances.

The structure and size of the proton have been studied by means of high-energy electron scattering. The elastic scattering of electrons from protons in polyethylene has been investigated at the following energies in the laboratory system: 200, 300, 400, 500, and 550 Mev. The range of laboratory angles examined has been 30° to 135°. At the largest angles and the highest energy, the cross section for scattering shows a deviation below that expected from a point proton by a factor of about nine. The magnitude and variation with angle of the deviations determine a structure factor for the proton, and thereby determine the size and shape of the charge and magnetic-moment distributions within the proton. An interpretation, consistent at all energies and angles and agreeing with earlier results from this laboratory, fixes the rms radius at (0.77±0.10) ×10−13 cm for each of the charge and moment distributions. The shape of the density function is not far from a Gaussian with rms radius 0.70×10−13 cm or an exponential with rms radius 0.80×10−13 cm. An equivalent interpretation of the experiments would ascribe the apparent size to a breakdown of the Coulomb law and the conventional theory of electromagnetism.

The ratio of π - to π + electroproduction cross sections from deuterium has been measured in the resonance region, at a four-momentum transfer squared close to −1.0 (GeV/ c ) 2 . Results in the forward direction are presented and a comparison is made with predictions based on SU(6) W and the Melosh transformation.

The rates for forward electroproduction of single charged pions from deutrium have been measured in the resonance region, at a virtual photon mass squared ≈−0.5( GeV/ c 2 ) 2 . Results are presented in the form of a π − to π + cross-section ratio.

Measurements of the deuteron elastic magnetic structure function B(Q2) are reported at squared four-momentum transfer values 1.20≤Q2≤2.77 (GeV/c)2. Also reported are values for the proton magnetic form factor GMp(Q2) at 11 Q2 values between 0.49 and 1.75 (GeV/c)2. The data were obtained using an electron beam of 0.5 to 1.3 GeV. Electrons backscattered near 180° were detected in coincidence with deuterons or protons recoiling near 0° in a large solid-angle double-arm spectrometer system. The data for B(Q2) are found to decrease rapidly from Q2=1.2 to 2 (GeV/c)2, and then rise to a secondary maximum around Q2=2.5 (GeV/c)2. Reasonable agreement is found with several different models, including those in the relativistic impulse approximation, nonrelativistic calculations that include meson-exchange currents, isobar configurations, and six-quark configurations, and one calculation based on the Skyrme model. All calculations are very sensitive to the choice of deuteron wave function and nucleon form factor parametrization. The data for GMp(Q2) are in good agreement with the empirical dipole fit.

The differential cross section has been measured for the reaction γ +p→ π o + p at the Bonn 2.5 GeV electron synchrotron in the energy range from 0.55 to 2.2 GeV at a c.m.angle of 120 degrees.

The preliminary results of measurements of differential cross-sections for the photo-production of neutral pions from protons are given. The data fall in the range 60–125 degrees in pion c.m. angle and 350 to 850 MeV in photon energy.

Differential cross sections for π−p→γn have been determined from 427 to 625 MeV/c, mainly at 90° and 110° c.m. The data were obtained by combining measurements of the Panofsky ratio in flight with known charge-exchange cross sections. The results are compared with γn→π−p data derived from γd experiments; the difference is typically 30%. The radiative decay amplitudes of neutral πN resonances are therefore uncertain by at least 30%.

Positive pions produced in a cold, high-pressure hydrogen gas target by the 500-Mev bremsstrahlung of the CalTech synchrotron, have been analyzed by a large magnetic spectrometer. The photoproduction cross section has been measured as a function of photon energy at laboratory angles of 12.5°, 30°, 51°, 73°, 104°, 140°, and 180°. The energy region covered depends somewhat on the angle, but is typically from 200 to 470 Mev. From these excitation curves the angular distribution of the photopions in the center of momentum system is obtained for various photon energies, and these angular distributions are analyzed in the form A+Bcosθ+Ccos2θ. The angular distribution has a backward maximum at low energies and a forward maximum at high energies, the coefficient B changing sign at about 340 Mev. The total cross section shows a striking maximum near 290 Mev, of magnitude 205×10−30 cm2, and falls off above the maximum faster than λ2.

The photoproduction of neutral pions from hydrogen has been studied by counting the recoil protons with a magnetic spectrometer and scintillation counters. The process has been studied between photon energies of 260 and 450 Mev and between center-of-momentum pion angles of 70° and 153°. The excitation functions show a resonance type shape with maxima at about 320 Mev. Angular distributions are analyzed in the form A+Bcosθ+Ccos2θ in the center-of-momentum system. The coefficient B, which gives the front-back asymmetry, is small at all energies; and the ratio −AC is 1.22±0.10 at all energies between 295 and 450 Mev. The maximum cross section at 90° in the c.m. system is 26×10−30 cm2/steradian for 320-Mev photons. The total cross section divided by the square of the c.m. photon wavelength has a maximum near 340 Mev, and drops by nearly a factor of two at 450 Mev. These results are consistent with magnetic dipole and electric quadrupole absorption leading to a resonant state of the pion-nucleon system of angular momentum 32 and isotopic spin 32.

This paper reports measurements of the differential cross section for photoproduction of neutral pions in hydrogen at energies 300, 400, and 450 Mev, at center-of-momentum angles of 70° to 150°. One decay photon from the neutral pion is observed in coincidence with the recoil proton, whose energy and angle are measured to define the photon energy. The results obtained by this method are in good agreement with more accurate measurements obtained recently by the method of observing only the recoil proton.

The elastic differential cross section for the scattering of negative pions by hydrogen was measured at laboratory-system pion kinetic energies of 230, 290, 370, and 427 Mev. The elastically scattered pions were detected by a counter telescope which discriminated against recoil protons and inelastic pions on the basis of range. Differential cross sections were obtained at nine angles for each energy and were fitted by a least-squares program to a series of Legendre polynomials. At the three higher energies, D waves are required to give satisfactory fits to the data. The real parts of the forward-scattering amplitudes calculated from this experiment are in agreement with the predictions of dispersion theory. The results of this experiment, in conjunction with data from other pion-nucleon scattering experiments, support the hypothesis of charge independence at these higher energies.

Recoil protons from the process γ+p→p+π0 have been detected by nuclear emulsions placed within a hydrogen-gas target and used to measure the differential cross section for production of neutral pions. In this manner protons of energies as low as 5 Mev can be detected at laboratory angles corresponding to emission of a pion at center-of-momentum (c.m.) angles as low as 26°. This experiment thus supplements that of Oakley and Walker which is in the same range of photon energies (240-480 Mev), but is restricted to pion c.m. angles greater than about 70° owing to higher minimum detectable proton energy. Common experimental points provide intercomparison of absolute values. Angular distributions are analyzed in the form dσdΩ=A+Bcosθ+Ccos2θ in the c.m. system. The combined Oakley-Walker and present data give the average value of the ratio AC as -1.60±0.10 in the energy range from 260 to 450 Mev. The coefficient B, which gives the front-back asymmetry, passes through zero below the resonance energy of 320 Mev and is positive at higher energies. These results are consistent with magnetic dipole absorption leading to a state of the pion-nucleon system of angular momentum 32, together with a finite amount of S-wave interference.

The ratio of the yields of negative and positive pions photoproduced in deuterium has been measured at six photon energies between 500 and 1000 Mev and at seven angles between 20° and 160° in the center-of-momentum system of the photon and target nucleon. Pions were selected with a magnetic spectrometer and identified using momentum and specific ionization in a scintillation counter telescope. The spectator model of the deuteron was used to identify the photon energy. Statistical errors assigned to the π−π+ ratio range between five and fifteen percent. The results of the present experiment join smoothly with the low-energy π−π+ ratios obtained by Sands et al. At high energies the π−π+ ratio varies from 0.5 at forward angles and energies near 900 Mev to 2.5 at 160° c.m. and energies 600 to 800 Mev. The cross sections for π− photo-production from neutrons have been derived from the π−π+ ratio and the CalTech π+ photoproduction data. The angular distributions for π− production are considerably different from those for π+; there is, for example, a systematic increase at the most backward angles. The energy dependence of the total cross section for π− is similar to that for π+, although the second resonance peak occurs at a slightly lower energy, and at 900 and 1000 Mev the π− cross section is smaller by a factor 1.6. A comparison is made of the cross sections for π+ photoproduction from hydrogen and deuterium, although the accuracy of this comparison is not high.

The process γ+p→π0+p has been studied by detecting recoil protons from a liquid hydrogen target which was bombarded by the bremsstrahlung beam of the California Institute of Technology electron synchrotron. The angle and momentum of the recoil protons were measured by a magnetic spectrometer-three scintillation counter coincidence system. The process has been studied between photon laboratory energies of 490 and 940 Mev and between pion center-of-mass angles of 31.5° and 147°. Protons which arose from meson pair production were significant at forward laboratory angles. A correction for this contamination is discussed. The results of these measurements show two interesting features. One is that the total cross section, which falls very rapidly above the 32−32 resonance energy near 320 Mev, reaches a minimum at about 600 Mev, and then increases to a broad maximum near 800 or 900 Mev. The other striking feature of the data is that the shape of the angular distribution seems to change rather suddenly near 900 Mev.

The bremsstrahlung beam of the Cornell Bev electron synchrotron has been used to study the reaction γ+p→π0+p over the photon energy range 250 Mev to 1 Bev, and for center-of-mass pion angles between 20° and 70°. The recoil protons, of energies between 10 and 60 Mev, were identified and their energies determined using a range telescope of eight thin plastic scintillators enclosed in a vacuum chamber with the thin liquid hydrogen target. Correlated pulse-height information was obtained by photographing an oscilloscope display and was used to sort out the protons from mesons and electrons. Corrections were made for the background of photoprotons from the Mylar target cup, the energy loss of the protons in the liquid hydrogen, absorption and scattering in the counter telescope, and the variation of beam intensity profile with energy. Compared with previous experiments and extrapolations the results show a somewhat smaller forward differential cross section above 400 Mev. The angular distributions obtained from a least-squares fit to all existing data indicate a d32 assignment for the 760-Mev resonance level. Other implications of the data are also discussed.