Cross sections and reaction mechanisms of (p, pxn) reactions on 208Pb in the 24–52 MeV range

The cross sections for the reactions 208 Pb(p, pn) 207m Pb, 208 Pb(p, p2n) 206m Pb have been measured for 24, 28, 36, 44 and 52 MeV incident protons. The experimental results are shown to be consistent with the clean knockout mechanism for the (p, pn) reaction and with knockout of one neutron followed by evaporation of another for the (p, p2n) reaction. We deduce a theoretical formula for the cross section for these reactions.