π−−pElastic Scattering at 1.44 Bev

An investigation of ${\pi }^{-}+p$ elastic scattering, made in a liquid propane bubble chamber, is reported. Identification of events is made on the basis of kinematics. The problem of contamination by pion scattering from protons bound in carbon is considered in some detail; it is shown that the latter requires a correction of only 4±2.5% of the total number of events. The angular distribution is presented. It shows a large diffraction peak at small angles and an approximately isotropic plateau over the backward hemisphere. The forward peak is fitted to a black-sphere diffraction pattern with a radius of (1.08±0.06)×${10}^{-13\mathrm{}}$ cm. The total elastic cross section is found to be ${\sigma }_e=10.1\mathrm{}\pm 0.80$ mb.