Deep Inelastic Scattering is the name given to a process used to probe the insides of
hadrons (particularly the
baryons, such as
protons and
neutrons), using
electrons,
muons and
neutrinos. It provided the first convincing evidence of the reality of
quarks, which up until that point had been considered by many to be a purely mathematical phenomenon. It is a relatively new process, first attempted in the 1960s and 1970s. It is conceptually similar to
Rutherford Scattering, but with important differences. The reason why this type of scattering is described as "deep" and "inelastic" is discussed at
[1].
See more at Wikipedia.org...