Determination of the cross section for. pi. /sup 0/N interaction from charge exchange of 2. 9-GeV/c. pi. /sup +/ mesons on carbon and xenon nuclei. [Estimate of eta/sup 0/N cross section]

The purpose of the present work is to determine the cross section for the ..pi../sup 0/N interaction. The 120-liter bubble chamber filled with a propane--xenon mixture has been used to study the reaction ..pi../sup +/+A..-->..p+..pi../sup 0/+A'. In 120 000 photographs there are six cases of this reaction. A method is proposed for selection of events for determination of the desired cross section on the basis of this reaction by means of the technique developed by Glauber. After the selection 364 events remain. The cross section for the ..pi../sup 0/N interaction was found to be sigma/sub ..pi../sup 0/N/ = 28/sup +9/-8 mb. An estimate of the cross section for the eta/sup 0/N interaction is given.