π−−DScattering at 142 MeV

The interactions of 142-MeV ${\pi }^{-}$ mesons with deuterium has been studied using a 15-cm bubble chamber in a 12.7-kG field. The angular distributions for elastic and inelastic scattering were measured. The elastic differential cross section for scattering angles greater than 90° is not in agreement with theoretical calculations based on the impulse approximation. The total cross section for neutral products ($2n, 2n+\gamma , 2n+{\pi }^0$) was measured to be 37.2±2.8 mb. The sum of the separate cross sections gave the ${\pi }^{-}+d$ total cross section to be 183±7 mb.