Measurement of proton-proton elastic scattering into the Coulomb region at Pbeam = 2.5, 2.8 and 3.2 GeV/c

Abstract The proton–proton elastic differential cross section at very small four momentum transfer squared has been measured at three different incident proton momenta in the range of 2.5 to 3.2 GeV/c by detecting the recoil proton at polar angles close to 90 ∘ . The measurement was performed at COSY with the KOALA detector covering the Coulomb–nuclear interference region. The total cross section σ tot , which has been determined precisely, is consistent with previous measurements. The values of the slope parameter B and the relative real amplitude ratio ρ determined in this experiment alleviate the lack of data in the relevant energy region. These precise data on ρ might be an important check for a new dispersion analysis.