R. Salmeron

The production of j/

Abstract The study of oxygen-uranium reactions at 200 GeV/nucleon shows a significant transverse energy dependence of the yield of J Ψ s relative to muon pairs produced in the mass continuum. This feature, observed for the first time, is in agreement with predictions from quark-gluon plasma formation, although alternative explanations by hadronic effects cannot be ruled out at this stage.

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We present the angular distributions of muon pairs obtained in a high-statistics experiment using a 194-GeV/c π- impinging on a tungsten target. Our results are based on the analysis of 145,000 events with positive Feynmanx and mass above 4.07 GeV/c2, excluding the ϒ region. Simple first-order QCD relations allow us to determine the ratio of annihilation with hard-gluon emission to the sum of annihilation with hard-gluon emission and hard-gluon Compton scattering, which is found to be about 58% to 75%. We determine the parton square intrinsic transverse momenta to be of the order of 0.6 (GeV/c)2, and about 30% larger in the pion than in the nucleon. At largex1, our data agree with the higher-twist hypothesis, and support the interpretation of the relevant scale parameter as the dimuon square transverse momentum.

in 200 GeV/nucleon oxygen-uranium interactions

We present the angular distributions of high-mass muon pairs produced in a high-statistics experiment by 140 and 194 GeV/c π− beams impinging on a tungsten target, and by 286 GeV/c π− beam on deuterium and tungsten targets. We find no evidence for a center-of-mass energy dependence or a nuclear dependence of the angular distribution parameters. The two parameters λ and μ are found to be essentially independent of any kinematical variable. In contrast, the parameterv increase with the dimuon transverse momentumPT, at variance with recent perturbative QCD predictions. Our statistics at largex1 are insufficient to substantiate the highertwist prediction.

Angular Distributions of Muon Pairs Produced by 194-{GeV}/

We compare the differential cross sections of high-mass muon pair production on deuterium and tungsten by incident negative pions of 140 and 286 GeV. We find an indication of a nuclear effect on the nucleon quark distributions comparable in magnitude to what is observed in muon-iron deep inelastic scattering, whereas the pion-quark distribution is unaffected, compatibly with QCD factorization.

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Abstract We present the first clear evidence for a nuclear dependence of the transverse momentum distribution of massive muon pairs produced in hadronic interactions. Comparing the cross sections for high-mass dimuon production by incident negative pions (140 and 286 GeV) off tungsten and deuterium, we find that their ratio increases with the dimuon transverse momentum. The resulting difference in the mean transverse momentum squared amounts to 0.15±0.03 (syst.) GeV 2 / c 2 and is shown to be independent of the dimuon mass and longitudinal momentum.

Negative Pions

Abstract In a search for quark-gluon plasma formation, the production of J/ψ and muon pairs in the mass continuum region is studied in oxygen-uranium and sulphur-uranium interactions. The yield of J/ψ relative to the continuum is measured to be a decreasing function of the neutral transverse energy produced in the collision, i.e. of the energy density. A comparison is made with proton-uranium reactions.

Angular Distributions of Muon Pairs Produced by Negative Pions on Deuterium and Tungsten

Abstract Measurements have been made of relative production cross sections of the J ψ by π±, K±, p and p at 39.5 GeV/c incident on copper. J ψ production rates from π−, K− and p are similar. The J ψ relative particle/anti-particle production cross sections for x>0 are σ(π + ) σ(π − )=(0.87±0.14) , σ(K+)/σ(K−)=(0.85±0.5) and σ( p ) σ( p )=(0.15 ±0.08) . The small p/p cross section ratio disagrees with models of J/ψ production by gluon amalgamation.

Nuclear effects on the nucleon structure functions in hadronic high-mass dimuon production

Abstract The transverse energy ET distributions of nucleus-nucleus collisions are studied in the framework of a simple geometrical model. The distributions for inclusive production of J ψ and muon pairs in the mass continuum are analyzed. The shape of the ET distribution of the continuum agreed with the model. The previously oberved decrease of the ratio ( J ψ )/continuum with increasing ET is due to the behavior of the J ψ .

Observation of a Nuclear Dependence of the Transverse Momentum Distribution of Massive Muon Pairs Produced in Hadronic Collisions

Abstract Muon-pair production has been measured in pCu, pU, OCu, OU and SU collisions at 200 GeV per nucleon. The cross sections are compatible with the atomic number dependence ( A proj. A targ. ) α where α =0.91±0.04 for the J/ψ resonance and α =1.01±0.04 for muon pairs produced in the mass continuum between 1.7 and 2.7 GeV/ c 2 .

Study of J/ψ production in p-U, O-U and S-U interactions at 200 GeV per nucleon

The study of the Jψ transverse momentum distribution in oxygen-uranium reactions at 200 GeV/nucleon shows that 〈PT〉 and 〈PT2〉 increase with the transverse energy of the reaction. Muon pairs in the mass continuum do not exhibit the same behaviour. The comparison of the Jψproduction rates in central and peripheral collisions shows a significant diminution for low PT central events.