Elastic and inelastic scattering of 178 MeV protons from 58Ni and 60Ni

The elastic and inelastic scattering of 178 MeV protons from ⁵⁸Ni and ⁶⁰Ni has been studied. Angular distributions were measured for the differential cross sections for elastic scattering as well as inelastic scattering from excited states below about 5 MeV, all with natural parity. For the elastic and for the inelastic scattering from the first excited state (2⁺ in both nuclei, the angular distributions for the polarization were also measured. The measurements extend out to c.m. angles of about 60°, corresponding to a momentum transfer of about 600 MeV/c.The elastic and inelastic scattering data were compared to the results of coupled-channel calculations in the vibrational model using a deformed spin-orbit interaction of the full Thomas form. Good agreement was found in general showing that the main features of the experimental results are well described in this model.