The measurement of antiproton-proton total cross sections and small-angle elastic scattering at low momentum

In this thesis two low-momentum antiproton-proton (anti pp) experiments are described. The first one is a set of 24 high statistics anti pp total cross section measurements as a function of the incoming antiproton momentum between p=388 MeV/c and p=599 MeV/c. These measurements simultaneously yield the charge exchange cross section (anti pp → anti nn). The second one comprises two high statistics anti pp small-angle elastic scattering measurements at p=233 MeV/c and p=272 MeV/c. The measurements were carried out using the high quality antiproton beam extracted from the Low Energy Antiproton Ring (LEAR) at CERN. The physics motivation for these experiments is a search for anti pp resonances or bound states on one hand, and a detailed study of the anti pp interaction on the other hand. (orig.)