Eta Meson Production in Proton-Deuteron Collisions

Abstract

Abstract. Since many years the strong final state interaction between η-mesons and light nuclei and the discussed possibility for the formation of η-mesic nuclei has attracted broad experimental and theoretical investigations. Prominent examples are production experiments on the 3 He-η final state which present an unexpected strong total cross section enhancement at threshold, indicating the presence of a pole very close to threshold. Stimulated by these results new proton-deuteron collision experiments on the η meson production have been performed in the near-threshold region and at higher excess energies using both polarized and unpolarized beams. Recent results are presented and discussed in this contribution