PHASE SHIFT DETERMINATION FOR ELASTIC POTENTIAL SCATTERING, USING THE IBM 36C-50 COMPUTER APPROVED:

The primary objective of this paper is to present a computerized method for the extraction of phase shifts from an angular distribution. This was accomplished using a least squares curve fitting routine. Since several least squares methods were tested in the development of the final S curve fit program, this paper serves as a general reference for curve fitting programs. In particular there are least squares computer programs for any polynomial of degree less than or equal to ten, any Legendre polynomial of order less than or * equal to ten, and also specialized summations of each of these. The more important methods used are the method of Differential Correction, the method of Polynomial Regression, and the method for Nonlinear Equations. After a selection of the methods was made, the program was subjected to a testin