Diffraction Systematics of Nuclear and Particle Scattering

Abstract

It is shown that, contrary to popular belief, diffraction scattering in nuclear and particle physics is not always of Fraunhofer type. By establishing a simple physical connection between scattering in a Coulomb field and Fresnel diffraction we show that diffractive collisions of heavy charged particles are predominantly of Fresnel type. We derive quantitative criteria for Fraunhofer and Fresnel scattering which lead to a new classification of all scattering processes.