Observation of a narrow minimum and of inelastic shadow effects in deuteron-deuteron elastic scattering at √s=53 GeV

Experimental results on deuteron-deuteron elastic scattering at a centre-of-mass energy of √s=53 GeV are reported. The data were obtained using the Split Field Magnet detector at the CERN intersecting Storage Rings. The t-dependence of the elastic cross section is measured up to -t=1.5 GeV2. A narrow interference minimum is observed in the differential cross section at -t=0.18 GeV2. The inclusion of inelastic intermediate states in the multiple scattering Glauber theory is essential in the description of the data over the entire t-range where discrepancies of up to 25% are observed with the basic theory. (Auth.)