Muon-proton Scattering

Abstract

A recent proposal to measure the proton form factor by means of muon-proton scattering will use muons which are not ultrarelativistic (and also not nonrelativistic). The usual equations describing the scattering cross section use the approximation that the scattered lepton (usually an electron) is ultrarelativistic, with v/c approximately equal to 1. Here the cross section is calculated for all values of the energy. It agrees with the standard result in the appropriate limit.