Inelastic Collision of Deuteron and Deuteron

Certain symmetry properties of the two deuteron-deuteron reactions are developed in a rigorous manner, and are shown to require a distribution of the reaction products for moderate incident deuteron energies of the form $A(1+B{cos}^2\theta )$ in the coordinate system in which the center of mass is at rest. This is shown to be in qualitative agreement with recent experimental data. The quantities $A$ and $B$ are evaluated approximately using a modification of Born's method and neglecting polarization of the deuterons; the quantitative discrepancies between theory and experiment are discussed. The theoretical relative yield from a "thick" deuterium target agrees well with the results of several experimenters; this quantity is influenced mainly by the Gamow factor, and is relatively independent of the details of the theory. The theoretical absolute yield is too large to agree with experiment.