H. Kanda

Experimental signature of medium modifications for rho and omega mesons in the 12 GeV p+A reactions.

The invariant mass spectra of e+e- pairs produced in 12 GeV proton-induced nuclear reactions are measured at the KEK Proton Synchrotron. On the low-mass side of the meson peak, a significant enhancement over the known hadronic sources has been observed. The mass spectra, including the excess, are well reproduced by a model that takes into account the density dependence of the vector meson mass modification, as theoretically predicted.

Evidence for in-medium modification of the phi meson at normal nuclear density.

Invariant mass spectra of e(+) e(-) pairs have been measured in 12 GeV p + A reactions to detect possible in-medium modification of vector mesons. Copper and carbon targets are used to study the nuclear-size dependence of e(+) e(-) invariant mass distributions. A significant excess on the low-mass side of the phi meson peak is observed in the low betagamma(= beta/square root(1-beta(2))) region of phi mesons (betagamma < 1.25) with copper targets. However, in the high betagamma region (betagamma > 1.25), spectral shapes of phi mesons are well described by the Breit-Wigner shape when experimental effects are considered. Thus, in addition to our earlier publications on rho/omega modification, this study has experimentally verified vector meson mass modification at normal nuclear density.

Observation of H Λ 4 Hyperhydrogen by Decay-Pion Spectroscopy in Electron Scattering

At the Mainz Microtron MAMI, the first high-resolution pion spectroscopy from decays of strange systems was performed by electron scattering off a (9)Be target in order to study the Λ binding energy of light hypernuclei. Positively charged kaons were detected by a short-orbit spectrometer with a broad momentum acceptance at 0° forward angles with respect to the beam, efficiently tagging the production of strangeness in the target nucleus. Coincidentally, negatively charged decay pions were detected by two independent high-resolution spectrometers. About 10(3) pionic weak decays of hyperfragments and hyperons were observed. The pion momentum distribution shows a monochromatic peak at pπ≈133  MeV/c, corresponding to the unique signature for the two-body decay of hyperhydrogen Λ(4)H→(4)He+π(-), stopped inside the target. Its Λ binding energy was determined to be BΛ=2.12±0.01  (stat)±0.09  (syst)MeV with respect to the (3)H+Λ mass.

Narrow Resonance at Eγ = 1020 MeV in the D(γ,η)pn Reaction

Differential and total cross sections of the D(γ, η)pn reaction have been measured for photon energies between 600 and 1150 MeV. The data provide the information of the γn → ηn reaction above Eγ ≥ 800 MeV. The total cross section shows a narrow resonance structure peaked at Eγ = 1020 MeV. The angular distribution coefficients together with the total cross section are compared with the calculation of the isobar model by using the impulse approximation. Although the spin and parity of the resonance cannot be determined unambiguously, a negative parity assignment gives better fit to the data.

Photoproduction of neutral kaons on a liquid deuterium target in the threshold region

The photoproduction process of neutral kaons on a liquid deuterium target is investigated near the threshold region, E{sub {gamma}}=0.8-1.1 GeV. K{sup 0} events are reconstructed from positive and negative pions, and differential cross sections are derived. Experimental momentum spectra are compared with those calculated in the spectator model using a realistic deuteron wave function. Elementary amplitudes as given by recent isobar models and a simple phenomenological model are used to study the effect of the new data on the angular behavior of the elementary cross section. The data favor a backward-peaked angular distribution of the elementary n({gamma},K{sup 0}){lambda} process, which provides additional constraints on current models of kaon photoproduction. The present study demonstrates that the n({gamma},K{sup 0}){lambda} reaction can provide key information on the mechanism of the photoproduction of strangeness.

Nuclear-matter modification of decay widths in the phi-->e+e- and phi-->K+K- channels.

The invariant mass spectra of phi-->K+K- are measured in 12 GeV p+A reactions in order to search for the in-medium modification of phi mesons. The observed K+K- spectra are well reproduced by the relativistic Breit-Wigner function with a combinatorial background shape in three betagamma regions between 1.0 and 3.5. The nuclear mass number dependence of the yields of the K+K- decay channel is compared to the simultaneously measured e+e- decay channel for carbon and copper targets. We parameterize the production yields as sigma(A)=sigma0Aalpha and obtain alphaphi-->K+K- -alphaphi-->e+e- to be 0.14+/-0.12. Limits are obtained for the partial decay widths of the phi mesons in nuclear matter.

Photoproduction of η-mesons off C and Cu nuclei for photon energies below 1.1 GeV

Abstract The η-meson photoproduction cross sections have been measured on C and Cu targets for the photon energies between 600 and 1100 MeV to investigate the behavior of the S 11 ( 1535 ) resonance in a nucleus. The excitation functions of the cross section as well as the angular and momentum distributions of η-mesons are in quantitative agreement with the Quantum Molecular Dynamics (QMD) model calculations in which the η-meson emission processes other than the S 11 ( 1535 ) resonance are also incorporated. It is shown that the η production in the γ N → π η N reaction and the D 15 ( 1675 ) resonance formation in the γ n → η n reaction play an important role for E γ > 900 MeV .

Photo-production of neutral kaons on 12C in the threshold region

Abstract The kaon photo-production process on 12C has been studied by measuring neutral kaons in the photon energy range of 0.8–1.1 GeV. Neutral kaons were identified by the invariant mass constructed from two charged pions emitted in the K S 0 → π + π − decay channel. The differential and integrated cross sections in the threshold photon energy region were obtained. The obtained momentum spectra were compared with a Spectator model calculation using elementary amplitudes of kaon photo-production given by recent isobar models. The present results provide the first information on the n ( γ , K 0 ) Λ reaction, which is expected to play an important role in constructing models of strangeness production by electromagnetic interactions. The experimental results show that the cross section of C 12 ( γ , K 0 ) is of the same order as that of C 12 ( γ , K + ) and suggest that a slightly backward K 0 angular distribution is favored in the γ n → K 0 Λ process.

Experimental signature of in-medium mass modification of vector mesons at normal nuclear density

We measured invariant mass spectra of e+e− pairs produced in 12 GeV p + A interaction to investigate in-medium mass modification of vector mesons. We observed an enhancement over the known hadronic sources on the low-mass side of the ω meson mass peak. The obtained ρ/ω ratio indicates that this enhancement mainly results from ρ mesons whose mass was modified in nuclear matter. We performed a toy model calculation based on the prediction using the QCD sum rule. It reproduced well the tendency of our data.

Nuclear mass number dependence of inclusive production of {omega} and {phi} mesons in 12 GeV p+A collisions

The inclusive production of {omega} and {phi} mesons is studied in the backward region of the interaction of 12 GeV protons with polyethylene, carbon, and copper targets. The mesons are measured in e{sup +}e{sup -} decay channels. The production cross sections of the mesons are presented as functions of rapidity y and transverse momentum p{sub T}. The nuclear mass number dependences (A dependences) are found to be A{sup 0.710{+-}}{sup 0.021(stat){+-}}{sup 0.037(syst)} for {omega} mesons and A{sup 0.937{+-}}{sup 0.049(stat){+-}}{sup 0.018(syst)} for {phi} mesons in the region of 0.9