K<Superscript>+</Superscript> production in proton-nucleus reactions and the role of momentum-dependent potentials

The production of K⁺-mesons in proton-nucleus collisions from 1.0 to 2.5GeV is analyzed with respect to one-step nucleon-nucleon ( NN → NYK ⁺) and two-step Δ-nucleon ( ΔN → K ⁺ YN) or pion-nucleon ( πN → K ⁺ Y) production channels on the basis of a coupled-channel transport approach (CBUU) including the kaon final-state interactions. The influence of momentum-dependent potentials for the nucleon, hyperon and kaon in the final state are studied as well as the importance of K⁺ elastic rescattering in the target nucleus. The transport calculations are compared to the experimental K⁺ spectra taken at LBL Berkeley, SATURNE, CELSIUS, GSI and COSY-Jülich. It is found that the momentum-dependent baryon potentials affect the excitation function of the K⁺ cross-section; at low bombarding energies of ∼ 1.0GeV the attractive baryon potentials in the final state lead to a relative enhancement of the kaon yield, whereas the net repulsive potential at bombarding energies ∼ 2GeV causes a decrease of the K⁺ cross-section. Furthermore, it is pointed out that especially the K⁺ spectra at low momenta (or kinetic energy T _K) allow to determine the in-medium K⁺ potential almost model independently due to a relative shift of the K⁺ spectra in kinetic energy that arises from the acceleration of the kaons when propagating out of the nuclear medium to free space, i.e. converting the potential energy to the kinetic energy of the free kaon. Received: 28 January 2002 / Accepted: 3 June 2002 / Published online: 19 November 2002 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: Wolfgang.Cassing@theo.physik.uni-giessen.de Communicated by P. Schuck     

New data on the p + N → [Σ0K+] + N reaction at E p= 70 GeV and the search for exotic baryons

New data for the diffractive reaction p+N→ [Σ⁰ K ⁺] +N at E _p= 70 GeV were obtained with partially upgraded SPHINX setup. The data are in a good agreement with the results of our previous study of this reaction. In the mass spectrum M(Σ⁰ K ⁺) a structure at the threshold region with a mass ∼1810 MeV and a distinct X(2000) peak with M= 1989 ± 6 MeV and γ= 91 ± 20 MeV are observed. Unusual features of the massive X(2000) state (narrow decay width, anomalously large branching ratio for the decay channel with strange particle emission) make it a serious candidate for cryptoexotic pentaquark baryon with hidden strangeness |qqqsˉs>. We also present new results on the narrow threshold structure X(1810) with M= 1807 ± 7 MeV and γ= 62 ± 19 MeV which is produced in the region of very small P ² _T < 0.01 GeV². The possibility of the Coulomb production mechanism for X(1810) is discussed. Received: 28 April 1999     

The reaction pp→pΛK + near threshold

We analyze the recent total cross section data for pp→pΛK ⁺ near threshold measured at COSY. Using an effective range approximation for the on-shell pΛ S-wave final state interaction we extract from these data the combination ?= (2|K _s|²+|K _t|²)^−1/2= 0.38 fm⁴ of the singlet (K _s) and triplet (K _t) threshold transition amplitudes. We present an exploratory calculation of various (tree-level) vector and pseudoscalar meson exchange diagrams. Pointlike ω-exchange alone and the combined (ρ⁰,ω,K^*+)-exchange can explain the experimental value of ?. The pseudoscalar meson exchanges based on a SU(3) chiral Lagrangian turn out to be too large. However, when adding π⁰-exchange in combination with the resonant πN→S ₁₁(1650) →KΛ transition and introducing monopole form factors with a cut-off Λ_c= 1.5 GeV one is again able to reproduce the experimental value of ?. More exclusive measurements are necessary to reveal the details of the pp→pΛK ⁺ production mechanism. Received: 28 October 1998 / Revised version: 12 January 1999     

First measurement of the helicity-dependent γ p?pη differential cross-section

The helicity dependence of the γ p↦pη reaction has been measured for the first time at a center-of-mass angle θ^* _η = 70^° in the photon energy range from 780 MeV to 790 MeV. The experiment, performed at the Mainz microtron MAMI, used a 4π-detector system, a circularly polarized, tagged photon beam, and a longitudinally polarized frozen-spin target. The helicity 3/2 cross-section is found to be small and the results for helicity 1/2 agree with predictions from the MAID analysis. Received: 19 December 2002 / Accepted: 10 March 2003 / Published online: 20 May 2003     

Experimental evidence for narrow baryons in the mass range 1.0≤M≤1.46 GeV

The reaction pp → pπ⁺ X was studied at different incident energies around T _p = 2 GeV. Narrow baryonic structures were observed in the missing mass M _X and in the invariant mass M _pπ{+}. The masses of these structures are 1004, 1044, 1094, 1136, 1173, 1249, 1277, and 1384 MeV (and possibly 1339 MeV). Some of them were also observed at the same masses in the missing-mass spectra of the dp → ppX reaction although with a weaker signature. Many checks were performed to make sure that these structures were not produced by experimental artifacts. Several narrow small-amplitude peaks, were also extracted using already published photonucleon cross-sections. The small widths of all these results, and the stability of the observed structures, regardless of the experiment, were used to conclude that they are genuine baryons and not merely the consequence of dynamical rescatterings. These baryons cannot be associated with classical q³ quark configurations. We associate them with two colored-quark cluster configurations. Received: 3 July 2002 / Accepted: 30 January 2003 / Published online: 5 June 2003     

Chiral dynamics and the reactions pp↦dK+ and pp↦dπ+η

We perform a study of the final-state interactions of the K ⁺ and the d systems in the reactions pp↦dK ⁺ and pp↦dπ⁺η. Since the two-meson system couples strongly to the a ₀(980) resonance, these reactions are expected to be an additional source of information about the controversial scalar sector. We also show that these reactions present peculiar features which can shed additional light on the much debated meson-baryon scalar sector with strangeness -1. We deduce the general structure of the amplitudes close to the dK ⁺ threshold, allowing for primary K ⁺ as well as π⁺η production with the two mesons in relative S- or P-wave. The interactions of the mesons are accounted for by using chiral unitary techniques, which generate dynamically the a ₀(980) resonance, and the d interaction is also taken into account. General formulae are derived that allow to incorporate the final-state interactions in these systems for any model of the production mechanism. We illustrate this approach by considering two specific production mechanisms based on three flavor meson-baryon chiral perturbation theory. It is demonstrated that in this scenario the d interactions are very important and can change the cross-section by as much as one order of magnitude. The amount of π⁺ηversus K ⁺ production is shown to depend critically on the primary mixture of the two mechanisms, with large interference effects due to final-state interactions. These effects are also shown to occur in the event distributions of invariant masses which are drastically modified by the final-state interactions of the two-meson or the d system. Received: 28 September 2001 / Accepted: 26 November 2001     

Is the 4.742 MeV state in 88Sr the 1− two-phonon state?

A nuclear resonance fluorescence experiment on ⁸⁸Sr has been performed with bremsstrahlung of 6.7 MeV endpoint energy. The γ-ray linear polarisation has been measured with a EUROBALL CLUSTER detector used as a Compton polarimeter. The results indicate positive parity for the J= 1 state at 4.742 MeV in ⁸⁸Sr, in contrast to the previous interpretation as a 1⁻ two-phonon (2⁺ ₁⊗ 3⁻ ₁) state and in conflict with the predictions of the quasiparticle-phonon model. On the basis of such calculations the 1⁺ state at 3.486 MeV may be considered as the 1⁺ ₁ one-phonon state and the very strong 1⁺ ₁→ 0⁺ ₁ deexcitation as proton spin-flip 2p_1/2→ 2p_3/2 transition. Received: 3 November 1999     

On the search for a narrow penta-quark Z+-baryon in NN interactions

The possibility for an observation of a narrow penta-quark Z⁺-baryon in NN reactions is discussed. It is shown that the pp↦nΣ⁺ K ⁺ reaction at excess energies around 100 MeV above threshold provides optimal conditions for Z⁺-baryon detection by an analysis of the nK⁺ invariant mass spectrum, if the Z⁺ mass is located around 1.5 GeV involving a rather narrow width. Received: 24 May 2000 / Accepted: 3 August 2000     

Dynamic polarization potential of 12C+12C system at molecular-resonance energies

The nuclear reaction dynamics leading to the formation of recently discovered resonance in the mutual-0₂ ⁺ channel of the ¹²C+¹²C inelastic scattering around E _c.m.≃ 32 MeV is studied in terms of the dynamic polarization potential (DPP) induced by the channel coupling among various excited states in ¹²C. The microscopic 3α cluster-model wave functions are used to generate the ¹²C−¹²C diagonal and coupling potentials in the double-folding model. It is found that DPP for the 0₂ ⁺+ 0₂ ⁺ channel is an unusually strong attractive potential which even exceeds the zeroth-order folding-model potential of this channel around the nuclear surface region and that the strong coupling between the 0₂ ⁺ and 2₂ ⁺ states is predominantly responsible for the unusual DPP in this channel. The effective potential, the sum of the original folding-model potential and the attractive DPP, is found to generates resonance states in the same energy region as that of the resonance states generated by the original folding-model potential but the former states are found to be higher-nodal states having four additional radial nodes. Similar but more moderate property of DPP is also found in the entrance (elastic) channel. These results suggest that the reaction dynamics of generating the resonance in the ¹²C(0₂ ⁺) +¹²C(0₂ ⁺) channel may rather differ from that of the simple crossing of the zeroth-order molecular band generated by the potentials in the entrance and exit channels suggested by the standard band-crossing model. Received: 17 December 1998 / Revised version: 1 March 1999     

Measurement of the lifetime of the first 2+ state in 124Ba

The lifetime of the first 2⁺ state in the nucleus ¹²⁴Ba has been measured by γ-γ coincidence recoil-distance Doppler shift method. The ¹⁰⁹Ag(¹⁹F, 4n)¹²⁴Ba reaction at a beam energy of 75 MeV was employed to populate excited states in ¹²⁴Ba. The mean lifetime was determined to be 275(12) ps using the differential decay curve method. The value of B(E2;0₁ ⁺→ 2₁ ⁺) for ¹²⁴Ba deduced from the lifetime is in reasonable agreement with the prediction of the proton-neutron interacting boson model(IBM-2) without Pauli blocking effect. Received: 23 February 1998     

Mirror decay of 75Sr

The β-decay of ⁷⁵Sr to its mirror nucleus ⁷⁵Rb was studied at the ISOLDE PSB facility at CERN by means of β-delayed γ and proton spectroscopy. The decay Q-value and β-delayed γ intensity were measured for the first time. These results, 10.60±0.22 MeV and 4.5^+1.9 _-0.7%, together with accurate measurements of the β-decay half-life and β-delayed proton branching ratio yielded the Gamow-Teller strength 0.35±0.05 for the mirror transition. Implications of the results on studies of deformation effects and on the path of the rapid proton capture process are discussed. Received: 26 September 2002 / Accepted: 30 October 2002 / Published online: 18 February 2003 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: jussi.huikari@phys.jyu.lfi Communicated by D. Schwalm     

Rotational bands in 181Ta

High-spin states in ¹⁸¹Ta have been studied via the ¹⁷⁶Yb(¹¹B,α2n) reaction at 52 MeV using the PEX array and at 57 MeV using the NORDBALL array, with α-particle detection. The previously known, K^π=(7/2)⁺ ground state band and K^π=(9/2)⁻ band have been extended to spins (29/2)⁺ and (31/2)⁻, respectively. Two new one-quasiparticle bands, the K^π=(5/2)⁺ band built on the known (5/2)⁺ isomer and a K^π=((1/2)⁻) band have been observed. Two other rotational bands with three-quasiparticle structure, K^π=(15/2)⁻ and ((19/2)⁺ with π(7/2)[404]ν²(1/2)[510](9/2)[624] and π(9/2)[514]ν²(1/2)[510](9/2)[624] configurations, respectively, have been newly observed. The half-life of the K^π=((19/2)⁺) bandhead which decays to the head of the (15/2)⁻ band has been measured to be 140(36) ns. However, transitions from the ((19/2)⁺) state to the (15/2)⁻ band have not been observed. Received: 26 August 1998     

In-medium spectral functions of charmonia studied by ¯p + A reactions<Superscript>a</Superscript>

We study the perspectives of resonant charmonium production in ˉp + A reactions within the Multiple Scattering Monte Carlo (MSMC) approach. We calculate the production of the resonances Ψ(2S) and Ψ(3770) on various nuclei, their propagation and decay to dileptons and D + ˉD in the medium and vacuum, respectively, employing parametrizations for the D,ˉD self-energies taken from QCD sum rule studies. The elastic and inelastic interactions of the charmonia and open-charm mesons in the medium are taken into account, too. It is found that the D,ˉD invariant-mass spectra from light and heavy nuclei are not sufficiently sensitive to the in-medium properties of the Ψ(2S) and Ψ(3770). However, a “suppression” of low-mass dileptons from the Ψ(3770) might be seen experimentally as well as a small broadening of the Ψ(2S) dilepton spectra. Received: 19 December 2002 / Accepted: 28 February 2003 / Published online: 5 June 2003     

Inelastic excitation of <Superscript>187</Superscript>Re

Excited states in ¹⁸⁷Re populated by inelastic scattering of a 500 MeV ⁸²Se beam have been studied by means of in-beam γ-ray spectroscopy. Levels built on the 5/2⁺[402] and 9/2^-[514] one-quasiparticle states were measured up to I ^π = (21/2⁺) and (21/2^-), respectively. In addition, several new levels including an isomer at 1682 keV with a half-life of 114(23) ns have been found. Quasiparticle configurations of the levels and the transition rates are discussed. Received: 12 December 2002 / Accepted: 13 March 2003 / Published online: 13 May 2003     

High-spin states in <Superscript>36</Superscript>Ar and their underlying shell model configurations

Eight high-spin states in ³⁶Ar below 10MeV excitation energy, among them a prospective J ^π = 8^- state at 9408keV and the J? 8 levels of the recently discovered superdeformed rotational band, have been observed by n-γ coincidence measurements with the ³³S(α, nγ) reaction at E _α = 14.4 and 13.4MeV. High-spin assignments of, respectively, J ^π = 6⁺ and 5^- were obtained for the E _p = 1209 and 1462keV (E _x = 9682 and 9927keV) resonances of the ³⁵Cl (p,γ) reaction by a measurement of γ-ray angular distributions. The spectrum of the high-spin and of the E _x? 7.4MeV levels is decomposed according to the underlying shell model configurations with n = 0, 1, 2, 4 particles excited from the N = 2 into the N = 3 major shell. The role of four-particle excitations, all connected with large prolate distortions, is elucidated for the entire A = 36-40 mass region. Received: 21 December 2001 / Accepted: 25 March 2002     

Evolution of the N = 20 and N = 28 shell closures in neutron-rich nuclei

The isospin dependence of shell closure phenomena is studied for light neutron-rich nuclei within a microscopic self-consistent approach using the Gogny force. Introducing configuration mixing, ³²Mg is found to be dynamically deformed, although the N = 20 spherical shell closure persists at the mean-field level for all N = 20 isotones. In contrast, the N = 28 spherical shell closure is found to disappear for N - Z≥ 10 whereas deformed shell closures are preserved and lead to shape coexistence in ⁴⁴ S. Configuration mixing shows that the ground state of this nucleus is triaxially deformed. The first 2⁺ excitation energy E_x = 1.46 MeV and the reduced transition probability B(E2;0⁺ _gs→ 2⁺ ₁)= 420 e ² fm ⁴ obtained with our approach are in good agreement with experimental data. Received: 26 July 2000 / Accepted: 30 August 2000     

The K * Kπ and ρππ couplings in QCD

The light cone QCD sum rules are derived for the K ^* Kπ coupling g _K ^* Kπ and the ρππ coupling g _ρππ. The contribution from the excited states and the continuum is subtracted cleanly through the double Borel transform with respect to the two external momenta, p ₁ ², p ₂ ²= (p−q)². Our result g _K ^* Kπ= (8.7 ± 0.5) and g _ρππ= (11.5 ± 0.8) is in good agreement with the experimental value. Received: 31 July 1998 / Revised version: 20 November 1998     

Production of neutron-rich nuclei in fission induced by neutrons generated by the p + <Superscript>13</Superscript>C reaction at 55 MeV

Cross-sections for the production of neutron-rich nuclei obtained by neutron-induced fission of natural uranium have been measured. The neutrons were generated by bombarding a ¹³C target with 55 MeV protons. The results, position of the maximum in the (Z, A)-plane, width and magnitude, are very comparable with those where the neutrons are generated by bombardment of natural ¹²C graphite with 50 MeV deuterons. Depending on the geometry of the converter/target assembly the isotope yields, however, are a factor of 2-3 lower due to less efficient production of neutrons per primary projectile, especially at small forward angles. Received: 8 November 2002 / Accepted: 20 December 2002 / Published online: 15 April 2003     

Measurement of the 24Mg(p, t)22Mg reaction for the states near the 21Na + p threshold

Differential cross-sections of the ²⁴Mg(p, t)²²Mg reaction were measured at 34.68 MeV for the states near the proton threshold at 5.502 MeV in ²²Mg. Among them, the new states at 5.962, 6.046, 6.246 and 6.323 MeV, which were reported previously, have been confirmed. Angular distributions for these states were analyzed by distorted-wave Born-approximation calculations to deduce the spins and parities. The angular distribution for the 5.714 MeV state, which is considered to be most crucial for the stellar reaction ²¹Na(p, γ)²²Mg, has been found to be consistent with J ^π = 2⁺ assignment. The 6.046 MeV state is newly assigned to have J ^π = 0⁺, and the 5.962 MeV state is tentatively assigned to have J ^π = (1^-). These two states will also play an important role for ²²Mg production in novae. Received: 7 March 2002 / Accepted: 7 May 2002     

Pre-equilibrium dipole strength in charge asymmetric peripheral heavy-ion reactions

We report on the results obtained from the study of the ³²S + ⁶⁴Ni and ³²S + ⁵⁸Ni peripheral reactions at incident energies E _lab = 288 MeV and E _lab = 320 MeV, respectively. High-energy γ-rays were detected in an array of 8 seven-pack BaF₂ clusters. Coincidence with complex fragments detected in 12 three-stage telescopes ensured the selection of peripheral reaction events. All of the relevant reaction parameters were kept constant with the exception of the different initial dipole moment caused by the different entrance channel charge asymmetry. While for quasi-elastic events no N/Z effect was observed in the differential γ-ray multiplicities of the two reactions, for deep-inelastic events a larger dipole γ-ray emission occurs during the more N/Z asymmetric reaction. A theoretical interpretation based on a collective Bremsstrahlung analysis of the reaction dynamics is presented. Received: 26 September 2002 / Accepted: 13 November 2002 / Published online: 6 March 2003 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: pierroutsakou@na.infn.it RID="b" ID="b"Present address: INFN, Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro, Padova, Italy. Communicated by C. Signorini