Measurement of π?p → π0n at large momentum transfer

New results on a high statistics measurement of pion-nucleon charge exchange scattering at 40 GeV/c, extending in momentum transfer up to ?t = 1.8 (GeV/c)², are reported and compared with an optical impact parameter model, together with previous data for the reaction π^?p → ηn at the same energy. The imaginary part of the pole trajectory b₀(s) is determined from the slope of the tangent to the maxima of $\text{(?t)}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{d}\text{σ}\text{d}\text{t}$. The linear increase of Im b₀(s) with log s, which has been observed at low energies, continues up to 40 GeV/c.