Large-angle elastic scattering of charged pions on protons at 20 and 30 GeV/c incident momenta

Abstract Elastic cross-section measurements are presented for π ± −p at 20 GeV/ c and π − −p at 30 GeV/ c incident momenta in the large angle region (50° to 90° in the c.m. system). The data are compared with published lower energy elastic cross sections. A test is made of the dimensional counting rules for π ± −p elastic scattering and some indication of a deviation from this rule is observed in the π − −p case. A comparison is also made with the predictions of the constituent interchange model. Although the broad features of the predictions are confirmed, there are some important discrepancies. Finally, the predictions of the model due to Preparata and Soffer are also compared with the new data.