Proton Reaction Cross Sections Measured in the BNL/AGS E943 Experiment

Abstract

We have measured proton reaction cross sections over a wide mass and energy range at the Brookhaven AGS accelerator. The samples were elemental Be, C, Al, Cu, W, and Pb; the measurements were carried out at ten incident proton kinetic energies in the range 0.54 to 7.8 GeV. The experiment was similar to an earlier experiment in the 200- 550 MeV range by Renberg et al.¹⁾ The new results are in good agreement with those of Renberg et al. at the overlap point near 550 MeV. The combined results of the two experiments show an energy dependence expected from the behavior of the nucleon-nucleon cross sections. The results are reproduced by calculations based on variants of the impulse approximation and Glauber theory.

Keywords:

• proton reaction cross section
• impulse approximation
• Glauber theory