Low-energy pions in nuclear matter and 2pi photoproduction within a BUU transport model

A description of low-energy scattering of pions and nuclei within a BUU transport model is presented. Implementing different scenarios of medium modifications, the mean free path of pions in nuclear matter at low momenta and pion absorption reactions on nuclei have been studied and compared to data and to results obtained via quantum mechanical scattering theory. We show that even in a regime of a long pionic wave length the semi-classical transport model is still a reliable framework for pion kinetic energies greater than ~20-30 MeV. Results are presented on pion-absorption cross sections in the regime of 10 MeV < E(kin) < 130 MeV and on photon-induced double-pion production at incident beam energies of 400-500 MeV.Comment: 22 pages, 20 figures Replaced with a revised version. Accepted for publication in EPJ A. Added a short section on pion reaction and charge exchange cross-section

In-Medium Properties of Hadrons - Observables II

In this review we discuss the observable consequences of in-medium changes of hadronic properties in reactions with elementary probes, and in particular photons, on nuclei. After an outline of the theoretical method used we focus on a discussion of actual observables in photonuclear reactions; we discuss in detail $2\pi$- and vector-meson production. We show that the $2\pi^0$ photoproduction data can be well described by final state interactions of the pions produced whereas the semi-charged $\pi^0\pi^\pm$ channel exhibits a major discrepancy with theory. For $\omega$ production on nuclei in the TAPS/CB@ELSA experiment we analyse the $\pi^0\gamma$ decay channel, and illustrate the strength of the method by simulating experimental acceptance problems. Completely free of final state interactions is dilepton production in the few GeV range. We show that the sensitivity of this decay channel to changes of hadronic properties in medium in photonuclear reactions on nuclei is as large as in ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions and make predictions for the on-going G7 experiment at JLAB. Finally we discuss that hadron production in nuclei at 10 -- 20 GeV photon energies can give important information on the hadronization process, and in particular on the time-scales involved. We show here detailed calculations for the low-energy (12 GeV) run at HERMES and predictions for planned experiments at JLAB.Comment: Invited Talk by U. Mosel, Proceedings of the Int. School on Nuclear Physics, 26th Course, "Lepton scattering and the structure of hadrons and nuclei", Erice (Sicily), September 16th-24th, 2004, short piece of text adde

Strangeness production in proton-proton and proton-nucleus collisions

In these lectures we discuss the investigation of the strange meson production in proton-proton ($pp$) and in proton-nucleus ($pA$) reactions within an effective Lagrangian model. The kaon production proceeds mainly via the excitations of $N^*$(1650), $N^*$(1710), and $N^*$(1720) resonant intermediate nucleonic states, in the collision of two initial state nucleons. Therefore, the strangeness production is expected to provide information about the resonances lying at higher excitation energies. For beam energies very close to the kaon production threshold the hyperon-proton final state interaction effects are quite important. Thus, these studies provide a check on the models of hyperon-nucleon interactions. The in-medium production of kaons show strong sensitivity to the self energies of the intermediate mesons.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures, Talk presented in the workshop on Hadron Physics, Puri, India, March 7-17,200

Modification of the ω\omega-Meson Lifetime in Nuclear Matter

The photo production of $\omega$ mesons on the nuclei C, Ca, Nb and Pb has been measured using the Crystal Barrel/TAPS detector at the ELSA tagged photon facility in Bonn. The dependence of the $\omega$ meson cross section on the nuclear mass number has been compared with three different types of models, a Glauber analysis, a BUU analysis of the Giessen theory group and a calculation by the Valencia theory group. In all three cases, the inelastic $\omega$ width is found to be $130-150 \rm{MeV/c^2}$ at normal nuclear matter density for an average 3-momentum of 1.1 GeV/c. In the restframe of the $\omega$ meson, this inelastic $\omega$ width corresponds to a reduction of the $\omega$ lifetime by a factor $\approx 30$. For the first time, the momentum dependent $\omega$N cross section has been extracted from the experiment and is in the range of 70 mb.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Photoproduction of ω\omega mesons on nuclei near the production threshold

The photoproduction of $\omega$ mesons on LH_2, C and Nb has been studied for incident photon energies from 900 to 1300 MeV using the CB/TAPS detector at ELSA. The $\omega$ line shape does not show any significant difference between the LH_2 and the Nb targets. The data are compared with results of transport calculations that predict a sensitivity of the $\omega$ line shape to in-medium modifications near the production threshold on a free nucleon of $E_{\gamma}^{lab}$ = 1109 MeV.}Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Photoproduction of phi mesons from nuclei

We investigate the consequences of possible medium modifications of the phi meson at finite nuclear matter density on the K+K- mass distribution in photonuclear reactions. The inclusive cross sections for K+K- pair production are calculated within a semi--classical BUU transport model, which combines the initial state interaction of the incoming photon with the final state interactions of the produced particles. The effects of final state interactions on the invariant mass distribution of the observed K+K- pairs are discussed in detail. In addition we calculate the Coulomb correction and possible effects of hadronic kaon potentials on the K+K- mass spectrum. Due to the large cross sections for reactions of the final state particles with the surrounding nuclear medium and the influence of the Coulomb potential we find no measurable sensitivity of the observables to the phi properties at finite baryon density.Comment: revtex4, 24 page

Photoproduction of η -mesons off nuclei for Eγ ⩽ 2.2 GeV

The photoproduction of η -mesons off 12C , 40Ca , 93Nb , and nat Pb nuclei has been measured with a tagged photon beam with energies between 0.6 and 2.2GeV. The experiment was performed at the Bonn ELSA accelerator with the combined setup of the Crystal Barrel and TAPS calorimeters. It aimed at the in-medium properties of the S 11(1535) nucleon resonance and the study of the absorption properties of nuclear matter for η -mesons. Careful consideration was given to contributions from ηπ final states and secondary production mechanisms of η -mesons, e.g. from inelastic πN reactions of intermediate pions. The analysis of the mass number scaling shows that the nuclear absorption cross-section $\sigma_{{N\eta}}^{}$ for η -mesons is constant over a wide range of the η momentum. The comparison of the excitation functions to data off the deuteron and to calculations in the framework of a BUU model show no unexplained in-medium modifications of the S 11(1535

First observation of in-medium modifications of the omega meson

The photoproduction of omega mesons on nuclei has been investigated using the Crystal Barrel/TAPS experiment at the ELSA tagged photon facility in Bonn. The aim is to study possible in-medium modifications of the omega meson via the reaction A(gamma, omega)X. Results obtained for Nb are compared to a reference measurement on a liquid hydrogen target. While for recoiling, long-lived mesons (pi, eta and etaprime), which decay outside of the nucleus, a difference in the lineshape for the two data samples is not observed, we find a significant enhancement towards lower masses for omega mesons with low momenta produced on the Nb target.Comment: Latex, 4 pages, 4 figures, accepted by Phys. Rev. Lett; references re-arranged, now references in chronological order in first paragrap