Systematic investigation of the elastic proton-deuteron differential cross section at intermediate energies

Abstract

To investigate the importance of three-nucleon forces (3NF) systematically over a broad range of intermediate energies, the differential cross sections of elastic proton-deuteron scattering have been measured at proton bombarding energies of 108, 120, 135, 150, 170, and $190\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\text{MeV}$ at c.m. angles between $30\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}$ and $170\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}$. Comparisons with Faddeev calculations show unambiguously the shortcomings of calculations employing only two-body forces and the necessity of including 3NF. They also show the limitations of the latest few-nucleon calculations at backward angles, especially at higher beam energies. Some of these discrepancies could be partially due to relativistic effects. Data at lowest energy are also compared with a recent calculation based on $\ensuremath{\chi}\text{PT}$.