Fast deuteron and deuteron-like pairs produced in proton interactions with emulsion nuclei at 8.4 GeV/c

The probability of deuteron formation resulting from the interaction of high energy protons with nucleons, light nuclei (CNO) and heavy nuclei (Ag, Br) is discussed. The proportionality of the identified deuterons and protons (produced at the same angle due to the same interaction) agrees with that of the Butler and Pearson model which owes the deuteron formation to the average nuclear interaction seen by the cascade nucleons within the nucleus and then the normal n-p interaction. The data are based on the momentum and angular distributions of the outgoing particles.