Neutron-deuteron elastic scattering and three-nucleon force

Abstract

The differential cross section for neutron-deuteron elastic scattering was measured at six angles over the center-of-mass angular range 65⁰ - 1300⁰ and incident neutron energies 140 - 240 MeV at the LANSCE/WNR facility of the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Witala et al. (H. Witala et al. ), Phys. Rev. Lett. 81, 1183 (1998) have suggested that the differential cross section for nucleon-deuteron scattering at large angles may be sensitive to the presence of a three-nucleon force. In the present experiment, a liquid deuterium target was exposed to the pulsed neutron beam, with incident neutron energy determined by time of flight. Scattered neutrons, detected by a horizontal array of plastic scintillator bars, and recoil deuterons, detected by [delta] E-E (plastic scintillator - CsI) telescopes, were observed in coincidence. The resulting angular distributions for several incident neutron energies are compared with theoretical predictions and previous measurements in both nd and pd systems.