SubthresholdK + production in proton-nucleus collisions

We analyzed theK ⁺ production at projectile energies below the free nucleon-nucleon threshold in proton-nucleus collisions and studied the contribution from different reaction channels to this process. It was shown that the secondary pion-nucleon (+N+K ⁺) channel significantly prevails over the direct (p+N+N+K ⁺) one. The momentum and angularK ⁺ spectra were calculated in the framework of different production channels in order to propose experimental measurements which allow to distinguish the mechanisms discussed. We also studiedK ⁺ d correlations and considered the deuteron reabsorption in the nuclear medium as well as the fast deuteron background. The features ofK ⁺ p correlations related to the different production channels were analyzed as well.     

Quark production in high-energy proton-nucleus collisions

In this note, we discuss the problem of quark-antiquark pair production in the framework of the color glass condensate. The cross-section can be calculated in closed form for the case of proton-nucleus collisions, where the proton can be considered to be a dilute object. We find that -factorization is broken by rescattering effects.Arrival of the final proofs: 4 May 2005PACS: 11.80.La, 11.15.Kc     

Subthreshold K+ production in proton-nucleus collisions

Double differential K⁺ cross sections have been measured in p+C collisions at 1.2, 1.5 and 2.5 GeV beam energy and in p+Pb collisions at 1.2 and 1.5 GeV. The K⁺ spectrum taken at 2.5 GeV can be reproduced quantitatively by a model calculation which takes into account first chance proton-nucleon collisions and internal momentum with energy distribution of nucleons according to the spectral function. At 1.2 and 1.5 GeV beam energy the K⁺ data excess significantly the model predictions for first chance collisions. When taking secondary processes into account the results of the calculations are in much better agreement with the data.     

Antideuteron production in proton-proton and proton-nucleus collisions

The experimental data of the antideuteron production in proton-proton and proton-nucleus collisions are analyzed within a simple model based on the diagrammatic approach to the coalescence model. This model is shown to be able to reproduce most of the existing data without any additional parameter. Received: 18 April 2002 / Accepted: 30 August 2002 / Published online: 17 January 2003 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: duperray@isn.in2p3.fr RID="b" ID="b"e-mail: protasov@isn.in2p3.fr RID="c" ID="c"e-mail: avoronin@aha.ru Communicated by A. Molinari     

Subthreshold K+ production in proton-nucleus collisions

Double differential K⁺cross sections have been measured in p+C collisions at 1.2, 1.5 and 2.5 GeV beam energy and in p+Pb collisions at 1.2 and 1.5 GeV. The K⁺ spectrum taken at 2.5 GeV can be reproduced quantitatively by a model calculation which takes into account first chance proton-nucleon collisions and internal momentum with energy distribution of nucleons according to the spectral function. At 1.2 and 1.5 GeV beam energy the K⁺ data excess significantly the model predictions for first chance collisions. When taking secondary processes into account the results of the calculations are in much better agreement with the data.     

Charmonium production in proton-nucleon and proton-nucleus collisions

Systematic nuclear effects discovered in the production ofJ/ψ particles in high-energy proton-nucleus collisions cannot be explained within the conventional picture in which a heavy color singlet $Q\bar Q$ pair, after its production, experiences multiple scattering from nucleons of the residual nucleus. We propose to take into account color octet intermediate states formed in the primary production of the heavy-quark pairs. Using a perturbative QCD analysis we study the microscopic production mechanism for $Q\bar Q$ pairs through gluon-gluon fusion with subsequent color neutralization in a strongly interacting medium. The influence of the surrounding matter on this process is investigated.     

Low mass dimuon production in proton and ion induced interactions at the SPS

The low mass dimuon spectra collected in p-U collisions by the NA38 experiment significantly exceeds the total cross section expected from previous analysis, done by other experiments. The ‘excess’ events have a harder distribution than the muon pairs from and Dalitz decays, expected to dominate the mass window 0.4–0.65 GeV/. We conjecture that the excess events may be due to annihilations, negligible at low but made visible by the cut applied in the NA38 data. Taking this assumption to parametrise the p-U spectra, we proceed with the corresponding analysis of the S-Cu, S-U and Pb-Pb data, collected by the NA38 and NA50 experiments, comparing the measured low mass dimuon spectra with the ‘expected cocktail’. Received: 14 July 1999 / Revised version: 3 November 1999 / Published online: 27 January 2000     

Investigation of heavy-quark production in proton-nucleus collisions with the HERA-B detector

Results obtained with the aid of the HERA-B detector, which operated at an internal target in a 920-GeV proton beam of the HERA storage ring at DESY (Hamburg, Germany), are discussed. About 164 million dilepton-triggered and 210 million minimum-bias events were collected over the data-taking time. These vast statistics made it possible to study in detail charmonium production in proton—nucleus collisions. Inclusive cross sections for open-charm, open-beauty, and ?-meson production weremeasured. The results are compared with the respective predictions of theoretical models.     

On large transverse momentum production in high-energy proton-nucleus collisions

Experimental data from inclusive production of large p_T hadronsin high-energy proton-nucleus collisions are analysed with emphasis on the influence of the size of the target nucleus. It is found that data at p_T?3 GeV/c are consistent with the hypothesis that the incoming proton collides “simultaneously” with all the nucleons in its way, resulting in an effective collision energy larger than the one expected in a single proton-nucleon hit. At p_T > 3 GeV/c, data are in conflict with such a simple model, a result we think is a consequence of the dominance of hard parton collisions at very large p_T.     

Low mass dilepton production in relativistic heavy ion collisions

Mechanisms of formation for low mass dilepton excess observed in the relativistic heavy ion collisions are considered. The experimental data are reviewed. In addition to discussing the standard mechanisms of dilepton production specific to the collisions of relativistic nuclei (the pion annihilation in the hadron-gas stage and the quark-antiquark annihilation in the quark-gluon phase), the mechanism of dilepton production in the mixed phase of nuclear matter is proposed, and its contribution to the low mass dilepton spectrum is estimated. In addition, the first-order corrections in the strong-interaction coupling constant to the dilepton production in the parton medium and the nonperturbative approaches are considered.     

φ meson production in NA60

NA60 is a fixed-target experiment at the CERN SPS which measured dimuon production in nucleus–nucleus and proton–nucleus collisions. The experiment collected muon pair samples of unprecedented quality in heavy-ion experiments. This paper presents a high quality measurement of the p_T distribution of the φ meson, covering a broad p_T window. The data were collected in 2003 in In-In collisions at 158 GeV per nucleon. The results, presented as a function of centrality, were studied against several possible sources of systematic effects and proved to be fairly stable. We show that the inverse m_T slope measured in In-In collisions, in the φ→μμ decay channel, depends significantly on the range used to perform the fit. When the fit is performed at low transverse momentum, the effective inverse slope increases from peripheral to central collisions, as measured by other experiments. We finally show that our measurement for In-In is compatible with the overall systematics of T slope versus mass, measured in different collision systems by the NA49 experiment PACS 25.75.Nq; 25.75.-q; 25.75.Dw; 14.40.Cs; 12.38.Mh     

Dilepton production in proton-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions at SPS energies

Dilepton production in proton- and nucleus-induced reactions is studied in the relativistic transport model using initial conditions determined by the string dynamics from RQMD. It is found that both the CERES and HELIOS-3 data for dilepton spectra in proton-nucleus reactions can be well described by the ‘conventional’ mechanism of Dalitz decay and direct vector meson decay. However, to provide a quantitative explanation of the observed dilepton spectra in central S+Au and S+W collisions requires contributions other than these direct decays. Introducing a decrease of vector meson masses in hot and dense medium, we find that these heavy-ion data can also be satisfactorily explained. This agrees with our earlier conclusions based on a fire-cylinder model. We also give predictions for Pb+Au collisions at 160 GeV/nucleon using current CERES mass resolution and acceptance.     

Microscopic theory of photon production in proton-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions

The production of energetic photons in medium-energy proton and heavy-ion induced reactions is studied on the basis of incoherent nucleon-nucleon collisions. For this purpose we first evaluate covariantly the photon production from proton-neutron collisions in a vector (ω) and scalar meson (σ) exchange model with coupling constants given by the M2Y G-matrix in the nonrelativistic limit. We furthermore follow the proton-neutron collisional history by means of a phase-space simulation based on the Boltzmann-Uehling-Uhlenbeck approach for proton-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions adding up incoherently the yields from each individual collision. The satisfactory agreement we obtain in comparison with experimental data allows to conclude that energetic photons predominantly arise from proton-neutron bremsstrahlung during the early stage of the collision.     

NA60 low mass di-muon data

Data taken by NA60 in 2002 with a 400 GeV proton beam on various nuclear targets confirms that di-muon production with a mass below the ? can be explained by meson decays. The production cross sections of these mesons agree with what earlier experiments have reported. In 2003, NA60 has recorded a large sample of interactions between a 158 GeV/n In beam and In targets. Pending a study of the background, we do not comment on the existence of an excess in this data sample, but our measurements shed new light on the apparent conflict between NA49 and NA50 measurements of the inverse transverse mass slope of ? production. The NA60 measurement of the ?/(?+ω) ratio as function of number of participants agrees well with earlier measurements, both in proton and in ion data.     

Calculations of K± and ϕ production in near-threshold proton-nucleus collisions

K^± and ? meson production in proton-nucleus (pA) collisions has been calculated within a BUU transport model. It is shown that the nucleon-hyperon strangeness transfer channel is essential. The role of three-body reactions has been investigated within the medium. The target mass dependence of ? production is predicted to give important information on the in-medium properties of all three mesons.