High-Energy Nucleon-Nucleon Collisions

The single virtual boson exchange interaction model is applied to high-energy inelastic nucleon-nucleon collisions over an energy range of several orders of magnitude. The phase space is discussed simply in terms of three "natural" phase-space variables, and a simple, exact formula is given for the "upper" boundary of these variables. The probability for a particular final-state configuration is then discussed in terms of the available phase space, the magnitude of the phase-space factor, and the magnitude of the average total "cross-section" factors that occur in this model. Qualitative features of experimental data for incident nucleon laboratory energies of 10, 10², and 10³ Bev can be understood on the basis of this model.