P. Cerello

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.

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

Study of φ and f′2(1525) meson production in anti-p p annihilation at rest

Abstract The reaction p p→K + K − π 0 was analysed for antiproton annihilations at rest at three hydrogen target densities. A strong dependence of the p p→φπ 0 yield on the quantum numbers of the initial state is observed. The branching ratio of the φπ0 channel from the 3S1 initial state is more than 15 times larger than the one from the 1P1 state. A large apparent violation of the OZI rule for tensor meson production from p p -annihilations from the P-waves (1+++2++) is observed: Rexp(f′2π0/f2π0)=(149±20)·10−3, significantly exceeding the OZI-rule prediction R=16·10−3.

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.

Study of the isovector scalar mesons in the channel p̄p→K±K0Sπ∓ at rest with initial angular momentum state selection

Abstract The study of the I =1, J PC =0 ++ states with the OBELIX detector in the channel p p→K ± K 0 S π ∓ at three different target densities is reported. The data show the evidence for an extra scalar state with mass 1.29±0.01 GeV/ c 2 and width 0.080±0.005 GeV/ c 2 .

Single and multinucleon antiproton–4He annihilation at rest

Abstract The p annihilation at rest in a NTP 4He-gas target has been studied by means of the Obelix spectrometer installed at the LEAR accelerator of CERN. Reactions with production of 2π−2π+, 2π−3π+, 2π−2π+p, 2π−π+2p, 2π−3p (with pπ>80xa0MeV/c and pp>300xa0MeV/c) have been selected and single- and multinucleon annihilations identified. For the first time some known mesonic and baryonic resonances have been observed in p 4He annihilations and branching ratios are evaluated for a number of reaction channels.

Eι decay to KKπ in pp annihilation at rest

The results of the analysis of 3940 (KKπ)ππ events from a sample of 18 millions pp annihilations in the liquid hydrogen target of the OBELIX spectrometer at LEAR (CERN) are presented. The presence of two pseudoscalar states at 1.416 ± 0.002 GeV/c 2, with width 0.050 ± 0.004 GeV/c 2, and at 1.46 ± 0.01 GeV/c 2, with width 0.105 ± 0.015 GeV/c 2, is established. The lighter mass resonance decays mainly to KKπ, possibly with final state interactions and a small contribution coming from a 0π. The higher mass 0 -+ state, which is seen for the first time in pp annihilation at rest, decays only to K*K. Masses, widths and decay modes are in agreement with the analysis of J/ψ radiative decay performed by the Mark III Collaboration. From the fit the G-parity was determined to be +1. The dominant three-body decay mode of the lighter pseudoscalar is observed for the first time in this measurement.

Measurements of the pd annihilation at rest

The measurement of different reactions of d annihilation at rest in a gaseous target has been performed using the OBELIX spectrometer at LEAR (CERN). A strong deviation from the OZI-rule prediction was found from the measurement of the ratio in two regions of proton momenta, P 400 MeV/c: and (113 ± 30) × 10−3, respectively. These values are about 30 times greater than the theoretical prediction. For the first time the excitation of the †-resonance was observed among the final-state products of d annihilation. The existence of a broad enhancement in the 4π invariant mass at m ≈ 1480 MeV, seen in previous experiments, was confirmed. A ≈ 100 MeV downward shift of the bump position, when the proton momentum increased up to P > 400 MeV/c, was also observed, while the positions of ω, ϱ and f2(1270) did not change with the proton momentum. The following branching ratios were measured: ..

A new measurement of the Pontecorvo reaction anti-p+d --> pi- +p with the OBELIX spectrometer at LEAR

Abstract Antinucleon-nucleus annihilations into two-body final states containing only one or no meson are unusual annihilations (Pontecorvo reactions), practically unexplored experimentally, with the exception of the channel p d → π − p , for which only two low-statistics measurements exist. Their physical interest lies in the possibility of exploring small-distance nuclear dynamics, in which an important role can be played by non-nucleonic degrees of freedom. A new measurement of the p d → π − p reaction rate at rest, performed with the OBELIX spectrometer at LEAR, with the best statistics up to now and a careful evaluation of systematic effects is reported, together with a critical analysis of the existing theoretical models. The measured branching ratio, which confirms the previous results, can represent a reference point for the studies in the field.