Novel soft-photon analysis of $pp\gamma$ below pion-production threshold

Abstract

A novel soft-photon amplitude is proposed to replace the conventional Low soft-photon amplitude for nucleon-nucleon bremsstrahlung. Its derivation is guided by the standard meson-exchange model of the nucleon-nucleon interaction. This new amplitude provides a superior description of $pp\gamma$ data. The predictions of this new amplitude are in close agreement with potential-model calculations, which implies that, contrary to conclusions drawn by others, off-shell effects are essentially insignificant below pion-production threshold.

10 pages of REVTeX; 3 appended postscript files; Los Alamos preprint LA-UR-94-231