Nuclear Transparency to Large-AngleppElastic Scattering

Large-angle $\mathrm{pp}$ elastic and quasielastic ($p,2p$) scattering have been simultaneously observed in hydrogen and each of several nuclear targets (Li, C, Al, Cu, Pb) at incident proton momenta of 6, 10, and 12 GeV/c. The nuclear transparency is the ratio of such a cross section in a nucleus to the free $\mathrm{pp}$ cross section. The transparency of aluminum increases with incident momentum by more than a factor of 2 from 6 to 9.5 GeV/c and falls significantly between 9.5 and 12 GeV/c. This occurs in a region where the free-proton nucleon-absorption cross section exhibits little energy dependence. QCD predicts an increase in transparency with energy.