Effects of Vacuum Polarization Scattering in the Treatment of Proton-Proton Scattering Data

The effects of including vacuum polarization scattering in angular momentum states with $L>0$ and of employing the relativistic value of the Coulomb scattering parameter ηᵣ rather than its nonrelativistic value η have been considered in the analysis of low-energy p-p scattering data. It has been found that about half of the apparent mean P-wave phase shift present in published data, in the energy range 1.8-4.2 Mev, should be attributed to this vacuum polarization scattering. A further decrease in magnitude of the P wave is obtained when ηᵣ is employed, rather than η. Both the vacuum polarization scattering in states with $L>0$ and the employment of ηᵣ rather than η result in a contribution to the f function which does not vary linearly with energy. The effects of these contributions on the coefficients of a polynomial expansion of f in powers of E are ascertained with reference to p-p scattering data in the energy range 0.2 to 7.5 Mev. The object of the work is more that of investigating the possible magnitude of effects on conclusions drawn from data due to applying the various corrections than that of deriving final phase-shift values.