A “4π-type” study of the reaction p(d,pp)n at Ed = 26.5 MeV

Experimental data on the three-nucleon reaction p(d, pp)n at E_d = 26.5 MeV obtained with the multidetector system BOL, covering most of the phase space, are presented. The data are compared with Faddeev calculations using a local S-wave potential for the nucleon-nucleon interaction. The calculated cross sections, which are in general not sensitive to the precise choice of the nucleon-nucleon potential, agree well with the data over the major part of phase space. We have, though, discovered a region in phase space with a strong discrepancy. In the same region, around a neutron c.m. angle of 140°, the calculations are sensitive to the N-N potential. Theoretical and experimental angular distributions in the p-n recoil c.m. subsystem for proton- neutron energies below 0.5 MeV agree in absolute magnitude, both being isotropic. For larger relative energies, a discrepancy develops, part of which might be related to missing higher par- tial wave components in the N-N interaction, rather than to Coulomb or S-wave scattering effects. The total breakup cross section has been deduced from the data as 169 ± 36 mb.