Proton elastic scattering from<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:mrow><mml:msup><mml:mrow/><mml:mrow><mml:mn>7</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msup></mml:mrow><mml:mi mathvariant="normal">Be</mml:mi></mml:math>at low energies

The elastic scattering of protons on ${}^{7}\mathrm{Be}$ has been measured in the energy region from 1--3.3 MeV via the thick-target technique. The data conclusively demonstrate the existence of a ${2}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ state at an excitation energy of approximately 3.5 MeV in ${}^{8}\mathrm{B},$ and rule out a predicted ${1}^{+}$ state near 1.4 MeV. The relevance of these results for the ${}^{7}\mathrm{Be}$ $(p,\ensuremath{\gamma})$ reaction, of interest in solar neutrino physics, is discussed.