Date of Award
5-1-2012
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Department
Physics
First Advisor
Malik, F.
Second Advisor
Byrd, Mark
Abstract
A computer code was written to calculate elastic scattering cross sections using the Klein-Gordon equation. The reason for writing this code is because existing codes do not include relativistic kinematics and therefore are only valid for lower energies. This code was used to analyze alpha particle and pion scattering at relativistic energies upon different target nuclei and to find a relativistic potential for a system at a given energy. The target particles in the alpha study were 12C, 40,42,44,48Ca and other alphas. The pions were incident upon 12C and 40Ca. Optical potentials of different forms were used to compare with previous analyses and the experimental data. The potentials found in this study could be useful to understand the physics underlying other processes such as inelastic and particle transfer reactions. The computer code can be used to extend elastic scattering calculations to angles where data does not exist which can then be compared to future experiments. The code could also be used to create a database of potentials for several systems to study the effects of changing charge, mass or energy of the system.
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