The scattering of α-particles in helium

Abstract

The problem of the collision of two particles which act upon each other with forces varying as the inverse square of the distance between them has been solved exactly on the basis of the new quantum mechanics, and the solution is the same as that given by classical mechanics. In a recent paper, however, Mott has pointed out that this agreement between the predictions of classical mechanics and wave mechanics depends upon the dissimilarity of the colliding particles; if the particles are identical the scattering laws given by the wave mechanics will be very different from those of classical theory. Mott has considered the two types of collision between similar particles, (1) in which the particles possess spin, such as the collisions of electrons with electrons or protons with hydrogen nuclei, and (2) in which the particles have no spin, such as the collisions of α -particles with helium nuclei.