EMPIRICAL CONTINUATION OF THE DIFFERENTIAL CROSS-SECTION

The theoretical basis as well as the practical methods of empirical continuation of the differential cross section into the nonphysical region of the cos theta variable are discussed. The equivalence of the different methods is proved. A physical applicability condition is given and the published applications are reviewed. In many cases the correctly applied procedure turns out to provide nonsignificant or even incorrect structure information which points to the necessity for careful and statistically complete analysis of the experimental data with a physical understanding of the process analysed.