(He3,pp) Reaction

The (${\mathrm{He}}^3$, $\mathrm{pp}$) stripping reaction is studied in the distorted-wave Born approximation, with simplifying assumptions which allow a two-body formulation of the problem. Two limiting cases are investigated. (1) The emerging protons are closely correlated; their final-state interaction with each other is treated appropriately, but those with the nucleus are approximated by one with the center of mass of the pair. (2) The protons interact individually with the residual nucleus but their mutual interaction is neglected. It is found that for a given relative momentum q of the two protons the angular distribution for the recoiling residual nucleus is essentially the same for the two cases. However, the differential cross section depends only on the magnitude of q in case (1), whereas it depends on both the magnitude and direction of q for case (2). Thus, an experimental distinction between the limiting cases should be possible.