Experimental results on diffractive one-pion production at the CERN ISR

New experimental results are reported on diffractive dissociation of protons into (nπ⁺) in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of $\text{s}\text{= 45}\text{GeV}$. The data were obtained using the Split-Field-Magnet detector at the CERN Intersecting Storage Rings. We have searched for resonance contributions and found peaks at mass values of 1.5 GeV, 1.65 GeV, and 2.1 GeV. A dip in $\text{d}\text{σ}\text{d}\text{t}$ is observed at low t and low mass; it is most pronounced for events with neutrons emitted at 90° in the Gottfried-Jackson frame. The correlation between mass and slope depends strongly on θ_J. The cross section of the channel pp → pnπ⁺ is 400 ± 110 μb at $\text{s}\text{= 45}\text{GeV}$, giving an energy dependence of s^?0.30±0.07 for isospin exchange zero in this channel.