Measurements of the total π-He and p-He cross sections and the slopes of the forward diffraction peak at energies from 50 to 300 GeV

Differential cross sections for elastic scattering of pions and protons on helium have been measured at incident momenta ranging from 50 to 300 GeV/c in the t-range 0.008 < vertical stroke t vertical stroke < 0.05 (GeV/c)2. Both recoil α-particles and forward particles were detected in this experiment. The experimental method provided an absolute normalization of the cross sections with an estimated precision of 1%. From the analysis of the data, the diffraction slope parameters and total cross sections have been obtained. The results are compared with Glauber model calculations. (orig.)