# Resources for pi-N scattering?

1. Feb 2, 2010

### maverick280857

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for books or resources where I can read about things like measurement of cross section, cross-section asymmetry and polarization in the context of pion-neutron scattering, but also more generally in particle physics.

By measurement, I don't mean experiments alone, but rather how the theoretical tools of density matrix and scattering matrix are employed here. I am able to find scattered references of some of these things in some books on quantum field theory, but in books such as Griffiths, Halzen and Martin, and Perkins, there is no mention of these methods.

Specifically, if the 2 x 2 scattering matrix has the form,

$$T = f + i g \boldsymbol{\sigma}\cdot\boldsymbol{n}$$

then what is the cross-section, polarization, and cross-section asymmetry? How does one define these quantities in terms of T (I know how the cross-section is defined), and what is the physical significance of polarization here? I've been reading Landau and Lifgarbagez vol 4 for this, but I don't think I have a good understanding of these ideas.

I would appreciate if someone could point me in the right direction. I do understand that the problem is to reconstruct f and g, because the quantities go as |f|^2 + |g|^2, |f|^2 - |g|^2, Re(fg*) and Im(f*g). I just want to read about all this in some detail. Are there books which talk about this?

2. Feb 2, 2010

### clem

There is an old book by Sam Lindenbaum that should be what you need.
Look for elementary particle books written between 1960 and 1980.

3. Feb 2, 2010

### maverick280857

Last edited by a moderator: May 4, 2017
4. Feb 2, 2010

### ansgar

Krane nuclear physics perhaps

Källen?

5. Feb 2, 2010

### maverick280857

Which is the book by Källen? I couldn't find any on Amazon.

I went through the Nuclear Physics book by Krane...good book, but not very useful for what I'm trying to figure out.

Any ideas? This must be mentioned somewhere...right?

6. Feb 2, 2010

7. Feb 2, 2010

8. Feb 2, 2010

### Staff: Mentor

That's what interlibrary loan is for.

9. Feb 2, 2010

### maverick280857

I don't know what that is, and it certainly won't help me, given my geographical location.

If you are aware of more recent (and hence more easily accessible) books where such things would be discussed, please do let me know.

10. Feb 2, 2010

### Staff: Mentor

It means your library can get the book for you from some other library that does have it. The other library ships the book to your library, you pick it up there, return it there, and they ship it back.

Ask your library's staff about it. They might even have an interlibrary loan request form on their web site.

[Added] I just realized that you might not be in the USA. Nevertheless, your library may have access to a similar facility for sharing books among libraries in your country.

Last edited: Feb 2, 2010
11. Feb 2, 2010

### Meir Achuz

Last edited by a moderator: May 4, 2017
12. Feb 2, 2010

### Bob S

There were literally hundreds of Ph.D theses done on pion-nucleon scattering. Many can be fornd in APS journals like Physical Review. Do a search in http://publish.aps.org/search/query for title and abstracts. I found 213 articles for pion, nucleon, scattering in the title, and pion, proton, scattering in the title. You can find Physical Review in many research libraries.

Bob S

13. Feb 3, 2010

### maverick280857

Thanks Bob S. There are indeed many articles on the Physical Review on pion-nucleon scattering. But right now, all I want to understand is

(a) what is cross-section asymmetry
(b) how are f and g used to recover the polarization and the cross-section asymmetry

This is not for a research project, but rather for an introductory undergraduate course on particle physics I'm taking right now. I tried finding review articles which might explain these things, but I couldn't find anything.

14. Feb 4, 2010

### maverick280857

I managed to find the book by Kallen. I'm going through it now.