Scattering ofπ−Mesons in the Momentum Range 0.643-2.14 GeV/cfrom a Polarized Proton Target

The asymmetry in the scattering of ${\pi }^{-}$ mesons by polarized protons has been measured at 50 different momenta from 0.643 to 2.14 GeV/c. Results were obtained at values of $cos\theta$ ranging from approximately +0.9 to -0.95 in the c.m. system at each incident pion momentum. The pion beam was incident on a 7.6-cm-long crystal assembly of lanthanum magnesium nitrate, in which the hydrogen in the water of crystallization was polarized by the "solid effect." The total momentum spread of the beam was 10% (full width at half-height) and data were collected simultaneously in 4 momentum channels, each with 2½% full width at half-height. A gas Čherenkov counter was used to reject incoming electrons. Scattered particles were detected in scintillation counter arrays placed within the 10-cm gap of the polarized target magnet. Encoded information from each array was stored in the memory of a PDP-5 computer connected on-line to a fast electronic logic network. The computer was programmed to classify the events according to momentum and scattering angle and subdivide them into coplanar and noncoplanar categories. The latter provided a measure of the background. The results have been expressed in the form of an expansion in terms of first associated Legendre polynomial series and compared with the predictions of recent phase-shift solutions. It is concluded that although these analyses give satisfactory predictions of the general features of the results, no one solution gives complete agreement with the data above about 1.0 GeV/c.