Observation of high mass electron-positron pairs produced in proton-proton collisions at the CERN ISR

In an experiment performed at the CERN Intersecting Storage Rings (ISR), 11 e⁺e^? pairs of high invariant mass value (> 2.5 GeV/c²) have been observed. Of these events, 9 can be interpreted as arising from the reaction p + p → J (3.1) + anything. the cross-section for this reaction is estimated and compared with the result obtained at lower centre-of-mass energies.     

Kaon interferometry in heavy-ion collisions at the CERN SPS

K⁺K⁺ and K^–K^– correlations from S+Pb collisions at 200 GeV/c per nucleon and K⁺K⁺ correlations from p+Pb collisions at 450 GeV/c per nucleon, are presented as measured by the focusing spectrometer of the NA44 experiment at CERN. Multidimensional fits are performed in order to characterize the kaon-emission volume, which is found to be smaller than the pion-emission volume.     

Low-mass lepton pair production in Pb-Au collisions at 40 A.GeV

The CERES/NA45 experiment at the CERN SPS has previously measurede ⁺ e ^- pair production in 160 A.GeV Pb-Au collisions. In the mass regionm > 02 GeV/c², an enhancement of 2.7±04(stat.)±0.5(syst.) compared to the expectation from known hadronic decay sources was observed. In the 40 A.GeV data taken in 1999, an enhancement is again found; a preliminary analysis gives an even larger value of 50 ±13(stat.). The results are compared to theoretical model calculations based on π⁺π^- annihilation with a modified ρ-propagator; they may be related to chiral symmetry restoration.     

Quark-gluon plasma signatures in nucleus-nucleus collisions at CERN SPS

Two signatures of the quark-gluon plasma—strangeness ‘enhancement’ and J/ψ ‘suppression’—in nucleus-nucleus collisions at the SPS energies are critically discussed.     

Kaon production in S+nucleus and Pb+Pb collisions at CERN SPS

Charged and neutral kaon production in S-nucleus and Pb-Pb collisions has been measured at CERN in the NA35 and NA49 experiments, close to mid-rapidity. The production ofK ^± in S+S, Ag, Au at 200 GeV/nucleon was measured via their one-prong (kink) topology inside a Time Projection Chamber (TPC). The resulting charged kaon yields are in agreement with other measurements done in the same experiment. TheK ⁺/K ^? ratio was found to be 1.30±0.15 in central S+Au interactions. The production ofK _S ⁰ in Pb+Pb collisions was measured using the NA49’s large (Main) TPCs outside the magnetic field. The resulting yields are compatible with other measurements performed in the same experiment, within the quoted systematic errors. The preliminary rapidity distribution in Pb+Pb scales with the number of participants if compared to S+S collisions. From this we conclude that no further strangeness enhancement (relative to nucleon-nucleon collisions) is observed in going from S+S to Pb+Pb.     

Measuring Displaced muon Pairs in Indium-Indium collisions at the CERN SPS

The NA60 experiment at the CERN-SPS studies dimuon production in proton-nucleus and heavy-ion collisions. We report on the effort towards measuring open charm in Indium-Indium collisions. Although work on the final background subtraction procedure is still under way, we can already demonstrate that the detector performance is adequate to separate prompt dimuous from muon pairs originating in distant $D\bar D$ decays.     

On energy densities reached in heavy-ion collisions at the CERN SPS

We present a few estimates of energy densities reached in heavy-ion collisions at the CERN SPS. The estimates are based on data and models of proton-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus interactions. In all of these estimates the maximum energy density in central Pb+Pb interactions is larger than the critical energy density GeV/fm³ following from lattice gauge theory computations. In estimates which we consider as realistic the maximum energy density is about . In this way our analysis gives some support to claims that deconfined matter has been produced at the CERN SPS. Any definite statement requires a deeper understanding of formation times of partons and hadrons in nuclear collisions. We also compare our results with implicit energy estimates contained in earlier models of anomalous suppression in nuclear collisions. Received: 3 February 2003 / Revised version: 5 March 2003 / Published online: 5 May 2003     

Signatures of the deconfinement transition in nucleus-nucleus collisions at the CERN SPS

The energy dependence of hadron production in relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions reveals anomalies-kink, horn, and step. They have been predicted as the signals of the deconfinement phase transition and observed recently by the NA49 Collaboration in Pb + Pb collisions at the CERN SPS. This indicates the onset of deconfinement in nucleus-nucleus collisions at about 30 A GeV. The text was submitted by the author in English.     

First proton-antiproton collisions in the CERN SPS collider

Protons and antiprotons have been stored simultaneously in the CERN SPS for several hours. Their interactions at 540 GeV in the centre-of-mass system have been observed by three different experiments.     

Searching for the QCD critical point in AA collisions at CERN SPS

We investigate the transverse momentum correlations of pairs of opposite charged pions near their production threshold. Through intermittency analysis, we search for power-law dependence on observation scale, as dictated by critical QCD. We analyze the data on the most central collisions in four A systems (A = p, C, Si, Pb) at maximum SPS energy. We find a significant effect for the SiSi system approaching in size the critical QCD predictions as measured by the intermittency index ? ₂. Absence of this effect in the (?? ^?, ?? ^?) sector of the SiSi system gives further support that the observed behavior in the isoscalar mode is of critical origin.     

Study of A+A collisions in NA49 at the CERN SPS

The NA49 experiment performed an energy scan of particle production in Pb+Pb collisions through the CERN SPS range. Observed features in the energy dependence of pion and strangeness production can so far only be described by a model assuming deconfinement to set in at the early stage of the reaction at the lower SPS energies.     

Charged particle spectra in16O induced nuclear collisions at the CERN SPS

Charged particle multiplicity distributions and pseudo-rapidity density distributions from¹⁶O induced nuclear collisions at 200 and 60A GeV are presented. The data were taken, using a minimumbias trigger, with the WA80 set-up at the CERN SPS. In this presentation we focus on how the yield of charged particles depends on the projectile energy, the mass number of the target nucleus and the energy measured in a uranium-plastic sampling calorimeter covering angles close to zero degrees. The data are compared to simulations from the event generator FRITIOF.     

Search for free quark production at the CERN SPS collider

No experiment has found convincing evidence for free quarks [1, 2]. A possible explanation for this non-observation in accelerator experiments is that their cross-section for interaction with matter is much larger than those of hadrons [3], and hence they are scattered and/or absorbed by material between their production point and the detector. We have examined this possibility by exposing 1/4 mm diameter steel balls near an intersection point of the CERN SPS \(p\bar p\) collider beams. These balls have been subsequently examined for the presence of fractional charge, using the Rutherford Laboratory room temperature magnetic levitation system [4]. None of the 60 balls tested to date shows evidence of fractional charge.     

Strangelet search and particle production studies in Pb+Pb collisions at 158 AGeV/c at CERN SPS

We searched for long-lived strange quark matter particles, so-calledstrangelets, and studied particle and antiparticle production in Pb+Pb collisions at 158 GeV/c per nucleon at zero degree production angle. We give upper limits for the production of strangelets covering a mass to charge ratio up to 120 GeV/c ² and lifetimest _lab>1.2 μs and plot invariant differential production cross sections as a function of rapidity for a variety of particles.     

Multiplicity dependence of the pion source in S+A collisions at the CERN SPS

The emission of pions from relativistic heavy-ion collisions of S+S, S+Ag and S+Pb at 200 GeV/nucleon is characterized using two-particle interferometry. The multiplicity dependence of the pion source parameters near midrapidity is studied. The transversal (R _t) and longitudinal (R _l) pion source parameters are independent of the initial nuclei in the interaction and increase with increasing multiplicity. This suggests that the freeze-out process is governed mainly by the particle multiplicity. The multiplicity dependence is weaker than that expected from a simple model of a freeze-out at a constant density.     

Indications for the onset of deconfinement in Pb+Pb collisions at the CERN SPS

Particle production in central Pb+Pb collisions was studied with the NA49 large acceptance spectrometer at the CERN SPS at beam energies of 20, 30, 40, 80 and 158 GeV per nucleon. A change of the energy dependence is observed around 30A GeV for the yields of pions and strange particles as well as for the shapes of the transverse mass spectra. The energy dependence of fluctuations and correlations shows no structure. At present only a reaction scenario with onset of deconfinement is able to reproduce the measurements.     

Photon production in heavy-ion collisions at SPS energies

Single photon spectra in heavy-ion collisions at SPS energies are studied in the relativistic transport model that incorporates self-consistently the change of hadron masses in dense matter. We separate the total photon spectrum into “background” arising from the radiative decays of π⁰ and η mesons, and the “thermal” one from other sources. For the latter we include contributions from radiative decays of ρ, ω, η′, and a₁, radiative decays of baryon resonances, as well as two-body processes such as ππ → ργ and πρ → πγ. It is found that more than 95% of all photons come from the decays of π⁰ and η mesons, while the thermal photons account for less than 5% of the total photon yield. The thermal photon spectra in our calculations with either free or in-medium meson masses do not exceed the upper bound set by the experimental measurement of the WA80 Collaboration.     

Angular correlations of electron-positron pairs produced in heavy-ion collisions

We investigate the strength of angular correlations between coincident electron-positron pairs produced in Pb + Pb collisions at 5.7 MeV/u. The angular correlations are predicted to be observable at electron energies above 200 keV, almost independent of positron energy.