Precision measurement of vector and tensor analyzing powers in elastic deuteron-proton scattering

Abstract

High-precision vector and tensor analyzing powers of elastic deuteron-proton (d + p) scattering have been measured at intermediate energies to investigate effects of three-nucleon forces. Angular distributions in the range of 70°-120° in the center-of mass frame for incident-deuteron energies Edlab = 130 and 180 MeV were obtained using the RIKEN facility. The beam polarization was unambiguously determined by measuring the 12C(d, α)10B(2+) reaction at 0°. Results of the measurements are compared with state-of-the-art three-nucleon calculations. The present modeling of nucleon-nucleon forces and its extension to the three-nucleon system is not sufficient to describe the high-precision data consistently and requires, therefore, further investigation. © 2007 Società Italiana di Fisica and Springer-Verlag.