Intermediate State Coupling and the Interpretation of High-Energy Nucleon-Nucleon Scattering

The effect on the scattering of protons by protons of the ³P₂-³F₂ coupling due to an intermediate state of the two-nucleon system is investigated. The problem is treated in a scattering matrix formalism, with total angular momentum $j=2$, orbital angular momentum L=j±1, and partial half-width ΓL. Only the ¹S₀, ¹D₂, ³P₀, ³P₁, ³P₂-³F₂ scattering anomalies are considered. Fits to the experimental data at 240 Mev are studied as typical. For ¹K₀≈31^∘, ¹K₂>0 it is found that the data may be reasonably well represented provided (Γ₁+Γ₃)(ER-E)0.3. It has been found possible to fit data on n-p and p-p scattering employing phase shifts agreeing with the hypothesis of charge independence of nuclear forces. Reasonable agreement with experiment is obtained employing either the regular or the inverted order of ³P0,1,2 levels.