Evidence of the Coulomb-force effects in the cross-sections of the deuteron–proton breakup at 130 MeV

High precision cross-section data of the deuteron–proton breakup reaction at 130 MeV deuteron energy are compared with the theoretical predictions obtained with a coupled-channel extension of the CD Bonn potential with virtual Δ-isobar excitation, without and with inclusion of the long-range Coulomb force. The Coulomb effect is studied on the basis of the cross-section data set, extended in this work to about 1500 data points by including breakup geometries characterized by small polar angles of the two protons. The experimental data clearly prefer predictions obtained with the Coulomb interaction included. The strongest effects are observed in regions in which the relative energy of the two protons is the smallest. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. PACS: 21.30.-x; 21.45.+v; 25.10.+s; 24.70.+s