Study of Total, Absorption, and ³He and ³H Production Cross Sections in ⁴He-proton Collisions

Light ion breakup cross sections are important for studies of cosmic ray interactions in the inter-stellar medium or radiation protection considerations of energy deposition in shielding and tissues. Abrasion cross sections for heavy ion reactions have been modeled using the Glauber model in the large mass limit or Eikonal form of the optical potential model. Here we formulate an abrasion model for ⁴He fragmentation on protons using the Glauber model avoiding the large mass limit and include a model for final state interactions. Calculations of energy dependent total, absorption, elastic and breakup cross sections for ⁴He into ³He or ³H with proton targets are shown to be in good agreement with experiments for energies from 100 to 100,000 MeV/u. The Glauber model for light nuclei with and without a large mass limit approximation is shown to be in fair agreement above 300 MeV/u, however important differences occur at lower energies.