Dispersion relations and low-energy elastic scattering of charged particles from nuclei: (II). Application to N-4He scattering

A “Coulomb-modified” dispersion relation is applied to low-energy p-⁴He forward elastic scattering. To check the validity of the modification, the results are compared with those deduced from n-⁴He elastic scattering. Completely analogous information is obtained for the two processes. The exchange of three bound nucleons is found to contribute strongly to N-⁴He forward scattering. The corresponding ⁴He-³H-p and ⁴He-³He-n coupling constants are evaluated as R_p = 3.8±0.3 and R_n = 3.0±0.3, respectively. These constants are related to the strength of the asymptotic wave function of nucleons in ⁴He and thus to the tail of the nucleon distribution. A comparison of R_p with the empirical proton distribution in ⁴He as deduced from e-⁴He elastic scattering shows excellent agreement. From R_p and R_n the effective ranges of the singlet ³H-p and ³He-n interactions in the ground state of ⁴He are determined to be equal, in accordance with charge symmetry, and to have a value of r_eff = 1.072±0.006 fm.