M. Siemaszko

S-wave η′-proton FSI; phenomenological analysis of near-threshold production of π0, η, and η′ mesons in proton-proton collisions

Abstract We describe a novel technique for comparing total cross sections for the reactions pp→ppπ0, pp→ppη, and pp→ppη′ close to threshold. The initial and final state proton-proton interactions are factored out of the total cross section, and the dependence of this reduced cross section on the volume of phase space is discussed. Different models of the proton-proton interaction are compared. We argue that the scattering length of the S-wave η′-proton interaction is of the order of 0.1 fm.

Experimental study of pp eta dynamics in the pp ---> pp eta reaction

A high statistics measurement of the pp --> ppeta reaction at an excess energy of Q = 15.5 MeV has been performed at the internal beam facility COSY-11. The stochastically cooled proton beam and the used detection system allowed to determine the momenta of the outgoing protons with a precision of 4 MeV/c (sigma) in the center-of-mass frame. The determination of the four-momentum vectors of both outgoing protons allowed to derive the complete kinematical information of the ppeta-system. An unexpectedly large enhancement of the occupation density in the kinematical regions of low proton-eta relative momenta is observed. A description taking the proton-proton and the eta-proton interaction into account and assuming an on-shell incoherent pairwise interaction among the produced particles fails to explain this strong effect. Its understanding will require a rigorous three-body approach to the ppeta system and the precise determination of contributions from higher partial waves. We also present an invariant mass spectrum of the proton-proton system determined at Q = 4.5 MeV. Interestingly, the enhancement at large relative momenta between protons is visible also at such a small excess energy. In contrast to all other determined angular distributions, the orientation of the emission plane with respect to the beam direction is extracted to be anisotropic.

Kaon pair production close to threshold

Abstract The total cross section of the reaction p p → p p K + K − has been measured at excess energies Q = 10 MeV and 28 MeV with the magnetic spectrometer COSY-11. The new data show a significant enhancement of the total cross section compared to pure phase space expectations or calculations within a one boson exchange model. In addition, we present invariant mass spectra of two particle subsystems. While the K + K − system is rather constant for different invariant masses, there is an enhancement in the p K − system towards lower masses which could at least be partially connected to the influence of the Λ ( 1405 ) resonance.

Energy dependence of the Λ/Σproduction cross-section ratio in p-p interactions

Abstract.The production of the Λ- and Σ0-hyperons has been measured via the pp → pK+Λ/Σ0 reaction at the internal COSY-11 facility in the excess energy range between 14 and 60 MeV. The transition of the Λ/Σ0 cross-section ratio from about 28 at Q≤13 MeV to the high-energy level of about 2.5 is covered by the data showing a strong decrease of the ratio between 10 and 20 MeV excess energy. Effects from the final-state interactions in the p-Σ0 channel seem to be much smaller than in the p-Λ channel. Estimates of the effective range parameters are given for the NΛ and the NΣ systems.

Threshold hyperon production in proton-proton collisions at COSY-11

Abstract The Σ + hyperon production was measured at the COSY-11 spectrometer via the p p → n K + Σ + reaction at excess energies of Q = 13 MeV and Q = 60 MeV . These measurements continue systematic hyperon production studies via the p p → p K + Λ / Σ 0 reactions where a strong decrease of the cross section ratio close-to-threshold was observed. In order to verify models developed for the description of the Λ and Σ 0 production we have performed the measurement on the Σ + hyperon and found unexpectedly that the total cross section is by more than one order of magnitude larger than predicted by all anticipated models. After the reconstruction of the kaon and neutron four momenta, the Σ + is identified via the missing mass technique. Details of the method and the measurement will be given and discussed in view of theoretical models.

Near-threshold production of the eta meson via the quasifree pn -g pn eta reaction

Total cross sections for the quasifree pn -> pn eta reaction in the range from the kinematical threshold up to 20 MeV excess energy have been determined. At threshold they exceed corresponding cross sections for the pn -> pn eta reaction by a factor of about 3 in contrast to the factor of 6 established for higher excess energies. To large extent, the observed decrease of the ratio s(pn -> pn eta)/s=sigma(pn -> pn eta) toward threshold may be assigned to the different energy dependence of the proton-proton and proton-neutron final-state interactions. The experiment was conducted using a proton beam of the cooler synchrotron COSY and a cluster jet deuteron target. The proton- neutron reactions were tagged by the spectator proton whose momentum was measured for each event. Protons and neutron outgoing from the pn -> pn eta reaction have been registered by means of the COSY-11 facility, an apparatus dedicated for threshold meson production.

Monitoring of the accelerator beam distributions for internal target facilities

Abstract We describe a direct method for monitoring the geometrical dimensions of a synchrotron beam at the target position for internal target installations. The method allows for the observation of the proton beam size as well as the position of the beam relative to the target. As a first demonstration of the technique, we present results obtained by means of the COSY-11 detection system installed at the cooler synchrotron COSY. The influence of the stochastic cooling on the COSY proton beam dimensions is also investigated.

Mechanism of Near-Threshold Production of the {eta} Meson

Measurements of the analyzing power for the pp-->pp eta reaction have been performed at excess energies of Q=10 and 36 MeV. The determined analyzing power is essentially consistent with zero, implying dominance of the s wave at both excess energies. The angular dependence of the analyzing power, combined with the isospin dependence of the total cross section for the eta meson production in nucleon-nucleon collisions, reveal that the excitation of the nucleon to the S11(1535) resonance is predominantly due to the exchange of the pi meson between the colliding nucleons.

A method to disentangle single- and multi-meson production in missing mass spectra from quasi-free pn → pnX reactions

A method to Disentangle Single- and Multi-Meson Production in Missing Mass Spectra from Quasi-Free pn->pn X reactions

Hadronic interaction of η and η′ mesons with nucleons

Abstract Due to their short life-time, flavour-neutral mesons cannot be utilized as free secondary beams or targets, and therefore a study of their interaction with nucleons is not possible via direct scattering experiments. It is, however, accessible via its influence on the energy dependence — and on the phase space distributions of the cross sections for reactions in which these mesons are produced. In case of the pp → ppη reaction the experimentally determined distributions of the differential cross sections close to the production threshold cannot be described by taking into account the S-wave proton-proton and proton-η interaction only. Here we show that the angular distributions determined at the COSY-11 facility reveal some evidence for P-wave admixture in the proton-proton subsystem already at an excess energy as low as Q = 15.5 MeV. We also present that one can estimate the relative strength of the η-nucleon and η′-nucleon interactions by comparison of the η and η′ production yield.