Fragmentation of 9 GeV/c deuterons in the region of proton transverse-momenta of 0.5-1 GeV/c and the deuteron wave-function at small distances

Abstract Momentum spectra of protons emitted at angles of 0.103, 0.139 and 0.157 rad in fragmentation of 9 GeV/ c deuterons on 1 H, 2 H and 12 C nuclei have been measured at the JINR synchrophasotron by using a magnetic spectrometer. It is found that the shape of the high-momentum parts of the spectra is defined only by the deuteron structure and the mechanism of deuteron-nucleon interaction and does not depend on a target. The contributions to the differential cross section of the 1 H(d, p)X reaction have been determined, which are conditioned by elastic and inelastic scatterings of deuteron nucleons on a proton, stripping, their interference, and also the excitation of the pion degrees of freedom. In the framework of the light front dynamics, calculations of the proton spectra with the deuteron structure functions for the Paris, Reid soft core, and Bonn potentials have been performed; a better agreement with the experiment is achieved with the deuteron wave function for the Paris potential. A conclusion is made that the nucleons in a deuteron keep their individuality up to relative motion momenta of ∼ 1 GeV/ c .