I. Massa

p̄p annihilation cross section at very low energy

Abstract The pp total annihilation cross section has been measured, with the Obelix apparatus at LEAR, at ten values of the antiproton incident momentum between 43 and 175 MeV/c. The values of the cross section show that the well known 1 p behaviour of the annihilation cross section is drastically modified at very low momenta, which demonstrates the important role of the Coulomb force in low energy pp interaction. Moreover, they do not present any explicit resonant behaviour. Finally, when compared to potential model calculations, the data suggest that the percentage of P-wave in pp interaction around 50 MeV/c antiproton incident momentum is less than 5%.

New measurements of the p̄p annihilation cross section at very low energy

Abstract The p p total annihilation cross section has been measured at four values of the p incident momentum, between 70 MeV/c and 38 MeV/c, with the Obelix apparatus at LEAR. The new measurements are in agreement with the trend of previous measurements of the p p total annihilation cross section at low energy, performed by the Obelix experiment [A. Bertin et al., Phys. Lett. B 369 (1996) 77; A. Benedettini et al., Nucl. Phys. B (Proc. Suppl.) 56A (1997) 58], as well as with a fit of the latter data based on a low energy expansion of the scattering amplitude [J. Carbonell, K.V. Protasov, A. Zenoni, Phys. Lett. B 397 (1997) 345]. The departure of the annihilation cross section from a smooth behaviour, suggested by a previous measurement of the cross section around 44 MeV/c [A. Bertin et al., Phys. Lett. B 369 (1996) 77], is not confirmed by the new data.

Meson spectroscopy with antineutrons

Abstract First results on meson spectroscopy using antineutrons as projectiles are reported. Three-body (π + π + π − ) and five-body (π + π + π + π − π − ) final states following the annihilation of 100 to 290 MeV/ c antineutrons on hydrogen were analyzed. The (π + π − ) invariant mass spectrum in the three-body reaction is accounted for by the ϱ 0 anf f 2 (1270) resonances, together with an enhancement around 1540 MeV, in the region of the AX (1565) and the f 2 (1515) resonances, whereas the best fit for the (π + π + π − π − ) invariant mass in five-body events shows the already reported structure ζ(1480) and suggests the presence of a second structure around 1650 MeV.

p̄D and p̄ 4He annihilation cross sections at very low energy

Abstract The p D and p 4 He total annihilation cross sections have been measured with the Obelix apparatus at LEAR at, respectively, three and two values of the p incident momentum between 70 MeV/c and 36 MeV/c. The values of the p D annihilation cross section, at such low energies, are in agreement with a surprising result obtained in a recent low statistics measurement of the antiprotonic deuterium K α X-rays [M. Augsburger et al., Phys. Lett. B 461 (1999) 417] (see following article), concerning the unexpected narrow width of the antiprotonic deuterium 1s level.

Antineutron-proton total cross section from 50 to 400 MeV/c

The antineutron-proton total doss section has been measured in the low momentum range 50-400 MeV/c (below 100 MeV/c for the first time). The measurement was performed at LEAR (CERN) by the OBELIX experiment, thanks to its unique antineutron beam facility. A thick target transmission technique has been used. The measured total cross section shows an anomalous behaviour below 100 MeV/c. A dominance of the isospin I = 0 channel over the I = 1 one at low energy is clearly deduced

Spin-parity analysis of the final state π+π−π0 from pp annihilation at rest in hydrogen targets at three densities

Abstract The partial wave analysis of the reaction p p → π + π − π 0 at rest has been performed for the first time by using high-statistics data sets collected in hydrogen targets at three different densities. The different mixtures of partial waves corresponding to our samples allow a reliable determination of each contribution. This technique is crucial in the identification of the exotic candidate f2(1565) which can be produced by 1S0, 3P1 and 3P2 initial states. The amplitude analysis was performed in the frame of the K-Matrix and P-Vector approach. It requires presence of the exotic candidates f0(1500) and f2(1565) with the following masses and total widths: (1449 ± 20)MeV, (114 ± 30)MeV and (1507 ± 15)MeV, (130 ± 20)MeV respectively. In addition to f0(980), f0(1300) f2(1270) and ϱ(770), a clear evidence of I = 1, JP = 1− signal, which we identify with ϱ(1450), is obtained.

P̄P partial cross sections at low energy

New measurements of the pp total annihilation cross-section at very low momenta (around 50 MeV/c) confirm the previous results obtained by the OBELIX collaboration. The measured values are in general agreement with a scattering length approximation of the annihilation cross-section where the pp scattering lengths are obtained from measurement of the protonium shifts and widths and which accounts for the Coulomb interaction. Partial annihilation cross-sections and annihilation frequencies for some channels have been measured too. The values of the total and partial cross sections at the lowest p momentum show an unexpected behaviour

A measurement of the ratio from annihilation in deuterium and hydrogen gas

Abstract We have measured the K + K - /π + π - ratio R from p annihilations in gaseous D 2 and H 2 at atmospheric pressure. The measurement was performed with the OBELIX spectrometer. From the measured value in gaseous D 2 (0.27±0.02) we infer a P wave contribution to p −p annihilation in D 2 of (18±7)%.

Protonium annihilation in P-wave using low-density (ϱ/ϱ∼10−3) hydrogen targets. Measurements of cascade times and widths

Abstract The use of low-density hydrogen targets is demonstrated experimentally to be a new way of selecting protonium ( p p atom) annihilations with initial angular momentum L = 1. The mean value and the width of the time distributions which occur between protonium formation and annihilation have been measured at room temperature at 8.2, 4.1, 2.1 mbar. They are (110±10; 45±5), (145±15; 82±9) and (210±25;125±9) ns, respectively.

Evidence for two pseudoscalar states in the 1.4–1.5 GeV mass region

Abstract A confirming evidence for two pseudoscalar states with masses M 1 =1405±5, Γ 1 =50±4 MeV/ c 2 and M 2 =1500±10, Γ 2 =100±20 MeV/ c 2 is reported. The second pseudoscalar fills the nonet and leaves the first as an outsider supporting the hypothesis for its exotic nature.