Eta and eta-prime meson production in the reaction pn -> dM near threshold

The two-step model with pi-, rho- and omega- exchanges taken into account is applied to investigate the reactions pn -> d eta and pn -> d eta-prime. The existing experimental data on the reaction pn -> d eta are analysed and predictions for the cross section of the reaction pn -> d eta-prime are presented. It is found that pi- as well as rho exchange yield significant contributions in both reactions. The effect of the final state interaction is also studied.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figure

Theoretical Description of the pd -> pd eta Reaction Near Threshold

The contributions of three different types of driving terms are included in the estimation of the pd -> pd eta reaction at low energies. Near threshold, it is predicted that a two-step model involving an intermediate pion should be the most important but, as the energy approaches the threshold for eta production in the free nucleon--nucleon reaction, a pick-up mechanism with a spectator proton should become dominant. The total cross sections are underestimated by about a factor of two compared to experimental data but the discrepancies in the angular distributions are more serious, with no sign in the data for the peaks corresponding to the pick--up diagram

On the close to threshold meson production in neutron-neutron collisions

A method of measuring the close to threshold meson production in neutron-neutron collisions is described where the momenta of the colliding neutrons can be determined with the accuracy obtainable for the proton-proton reaction. The technique is based on the double quasi-free nn --> nn X^0 reaction, where deuterons are used as a source of neutronsComment: 6 pages, 2 figures, to be published in Phys. Lett.

A Covariant OBE Model for η\eta Production in NN Collisions

A relativistic covariant one boson exchange model, previously applied to describe elastic nucleon-nucleon scattering, is extended to study $\eta$ production in NN collisions. The transition amplitude for the elementary BN->$\eta$N process with B being the meson exchanged (B=$\pi$, $|sigma$,$\eta$, $\rho$, $\omega$ and $\delta$) are taken to be the sum of four terms corresponding to s and u-channels with a nucleon or a nucleon isobar N*(1535MeV) in the intermediate states. Taking the relative phases of the various exchange amplitudes to be +1, the model reproduces the cross sections for the $NN\to X\eta$ reactions in a consistent manner. In the limit where all $\eta$'s are produced via N^* excitations, interference terms between the overall contributions from the exchange of pseudoscalart and scalar mesons with that of vector mesons cancel out. Consequently, much of the ambiguities in the model predictions due to unknown relative phases of different vector pseudoscalar exchanges are strongly reduced.Comment: 40 pages, 15 figure

A pellet tracking system for hadron physics experiments

Frozen microspheres of hydrogen (pellets) are used as targets in the hadron physics experiment WASA (Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany) [1] and will also be used in the future PANDA experiment at FAIR (GSI, Darmstadt, Germany) [2]. The interaction region is defined by the overlap of the pellet stream and the accelerator beam and has a size of a few millimeters. One would like to know the interaction point more precisely, to have better possibility to reconstruct particle tracks and events. One would also like to suppress background events that do not originate in a pellet, but e.g. may occur in residual gas in the beam pipe. A solution is provided by the presented pellet tracking system, for which a prototype [3] has been developed in Uppsala. The goal is to track individual pellets in order to know their position at the time of an interaction. The design of such a system, simulation techniques and results are presented

e^+e^- production from pp reactions at BEVALAC energies

We have performed a detailed study of dilepton production from pp collisions including the subthreshold $\rho$ production via baryonic resonances (N(1520), N(1700)) in addition to the conventional dilepton sources as $\pi^0, \eta, \omega$ and $\Delta$ Dalitz decays and direct decays of vector mesons ($\rho, \omega$). The role of baryonic resonances in $\rho$ production from nucleon-nucleon collisions is studied in comparison to the DLS data which are well described.Comment: 19 pages, revtex, including 7 postscript figures, to be published in Nucl. Phys.

Dilepton production and mTm_T-scaling at BEVALAC/SIS energies

We present a dynamical study of $e^+e^-$ production in C + C and Ca + Ca collisions at BEVALAC/SIS energies on the basis of the covariant transport approach HSD employing momentum-dependent $\rho$-meson spectral functions that include the pion modifications in the nuclear medium as well as the polarization of the $\rho$-meson due to resonant $\rho - N$ scattering. We find that the experimental data from the DLS collaboration cannot be described within the $\rho$-meson spectral function approach. A dropping $\eta$-mass scenario leads to a good reproduction of the DLS dilepton data, however, violates the $m_T$-scaling of $\pi^0$ and $\eta$ spectra as observed by the TAPS collaboration as well as $\eta$ photoproduction on nuclei.Comment: 35 pages, ReVTeX, including 11 postscript figures, UGI-97-06, Nucl. Phys. A, in pres

Near-Threshold eta Meson Production in Proton-Proton Collisions

The production of eta mesons has been measured in the proton-proton interaction close to the reaction threshold using the COSY-11 internal facility at the cooler synchrotron COSY. Total cross sections were determined for eight different excess energies in the range from 0.5 MeV to 5.4 MeV. The energy dependence of the total cross section is well described by the available phase-space volume weighted by FSI factors for the proton-proton and proton-eta pairs.Comment: 9 pages, 1 table, 5 figure

Eta physics at threshold

The production of eta and eta-prime mesons in elementary nucleon-nucleon collisions has been investigated at the synchrotrons CELSIUS, COSY and SATURNE. The magnitude and energy dependence of the total cross section as well as the occupation distribution of the phase space serve as observables for investigating the mechanisms underlying the production processes and the interaction of mesons with nucleons. The precise data on the eta and eta-prime creation via the pp --> pp eta(eta-prime) reactions allowed to settle the general features of the eta and eta-prime meson production and revealed the sensitivity of the mentioned observables to the nucleon-nucleon-meson final state interaction. The particular production properties, like for example the determination of the dominating exchange processes which lead to the excitation of the S_11 nucleon isobar in the case of eta creation, must be established by confrontation with other observables. The present status of this investigation with an emphasis on the results of the COSY-11 collaboration is briefly presented. The available data are interpreted in view of the production mechanism and the meson-nucleon interaction.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures, Presented at Conference on Quarks and Nuclear Physics (QNP 2002), Julich, Germany, 9-14 Jun 200

Phenomenology of pp->pp eta reaction close to threshold

The recent high statistics measurement of the pp -> pp eta reaction at an excess energy Q=15.5 MeV has been analysed by means of partial wave decomposition of the cross section. Guided by the dominance of the final state 1S0 pp interaction (FSI), we keep only terms involving the FSI enhancement factor. The measured p-p and p-eta effective mass spectra can be well reproduced by lifting the standard on-shell approximation in the enhancement factor and by allowing for a linear energy dependence in the leading 3P0->1S0,s partial wave amplitude. Higher partial waves seem to play only a marginal role