Subthreshold K<Superscript>-</Superscript>-meson production in proton-nucleus reactions revisited

We study the inclusive K^--meson production in proton-nucleus collisions in the subthreshold energy regime in the framework of a spectral function approach for incoherent primary proton-nucleon and secondary pion-nucleon production processes. Our approach takes properly into account the effect of the nuclear mean-field potentials on these processes, as well as the final-state interaction (FSI) among the outgoing nucleons participating in the one-step antikaon creation process. A detailed comparison of the model calculations of the K^- differential cross-sections for the reactions p + ⁹Be, p + ⁶³Cu, and p + ¹⁹⁷Au at subthreshold energies with the currently available experimental data obtained recently at the ITEP proton synchrotron and at SIS/GSI is given. We find that our calculation, which includes both the nuclear density-dependent mean-field potentials and the elementary NN-FSI effects on the K^- production from the direct mechanism, is able to reproduce the energy dependences of the invariant differential cross-sections for the “hard” antikaon creation in p- ⁹Be and p- ⁶³Cu collisions. This result contradicts previous estimates which used only density-dependent mean fields in calculating the K^- yield from this mechanism. We further show that the NN-FSI effects play a minor role in describing the data on the spectrum of the relatively soft K^--mesons from p- ¹⁹⁷Au interactions at incident energy of 2.5GeV. We find that the relative strength of the proton- and pion-induced reaction channels in the subthreshold energy regime is governed by the kinematics of the experiment under consideration. We also explore the influence of the antikaon mean-field potential on the K^- yield at low antikaon momenta. Received: 26 July 2001 / Accepted: 23 December 2002 / Published online: 8 April 2003     

Antikaon production and medium effects in proton-nucleus reactions at subthreshold beam energies

Inclusive K ^?-meson production in proton-nucleus collisions in the subthreshold-energy regime is analyzed within an appropriate folding model for incoherent primary proton-nucleon and secondary pion-nucleon production processes, which takes properly into account the struck-target-nucleon momentum and removal-energy distribution (nucleon spectral function), novel elementary cross sections for proton-nucleon reaction channels close to threshold, as well as nuclear mean-field potential effects on the one-step and two-step antikaon-creation processes. A detailed comparison of the model calculations of the K ^? differential cross sections for the reactions p+⁹Be and p+⁶³Cu at subthreshold energies with the first experimental data obtained at the ITEP proton synchrotron is given. It displays both the relative role of the primary and secondary production channels at incident energies considered and the contributions to K ^? production that come from the use of the single-particle part and high-momentum-energy part of the nucleon spectral function. It is found that the pion-nucleon production channel does not dominate in the subthreshold “hard” antikaon production in p ⁹Be and p ⁶³Cu collisions and that the main contributions to the antikaon yields here come from the direct K ^?-production mechanism. The influence of the nucleon, kaon, and antikaon mean-field potentials on the K ^? yield is explored. It is shown that the effect of the nucleon mean field is of importance in explaining the considered experimental data on “hard” antikaon production, whereas the K ⁺ andK ^? optical potentials play a minor role. The sensitivity of subthreshold “soft” antikaon production in p ⁹Be reactions to the nucleon, kaon, and antikaon mean fields is studied. It is demonstrated that, contrary to the case of “hard” antikaon production, the K ^? potential has a very strong effect on the K ^? yield, which is comparable with that from the nucleon effective potential.     

Subthreshold <Emphasis Type="Italic">K</Emphasis><Superscript>−</Superscript>-meson production in proton-nucleus reactions revisited

The inclusive K^?-meson production in proton-nucleus collisions in the subthreshold energy regime is studied in the framework of an appropriate spectral function approach for incoherent primary proton-nucleon and secondary pion-nucleon production processes, which takes properly into account the nuclear mean-field potential effects on these processes as well as the final state interaction (FSI) among the outgoing nucleons participating in the one-step antikaon creation process. A detailed comparison of the model calculations of the K^? differential cross sections is given for the reactions p + ⁹Be, p + ⁶³Cu, and p + ¹⁹⁷Au at subthreshold energies with the currently available experimental data obtained recently at the ITEP proton synchrotron and at SIS/GSI. It is found that the calculations with inclusion of the influence of both the nuclear density-dependent mean-field potentials and the elementary NN-FSI effects on the K^? production from direct mechanism are able to reproduce, contrary to previous estimates based on the use only of the density-dependent mean fields in calculating the K^? yield from this mechanism, the energy dependences of the invariant differential cross sections for “hard” antikaon creation in p⁹Be and p⁶³Cu collisions. It is further shown that the NN-FSI effects play a minor role in describing the data on the spectrum of relatively soft K^? mesons from p¹⁹⁷Au interactions at incident energy of 2.5 GeV. It is also shown that the relative strength of the proton-and pion-induced reaction channels in the subthreshold energy regime is governed by the kinematics of the experiment under consideration. The influence of the nucleon, kaon, and antikaon mean-field potentials on the K^? yield is explored. It is demonstrated that, in line with previous findings, the K^? optical potential has a strong effect on this yield at low antikaon momenta, which is greater than those from nucleon and kaon effective potentials. At high antikaon momenta, the K^? yield is found to be mainly determined, along with the elementary NN-FSI effects, by the nucleon mean field and the scenario with zero K⁺ potential is favorable.     

Production of charged pions, kaons and antikaons in relativistic C + C and C + Au collisions

Production cross-sections of charged pions, kaons and antikaons have been measured in C+C and C+Au collisions at beam energies of 1.0 and 1.8 AGeV for different polar emission angles. The kaon and antikaon energy spectra can be described by Boltzmann distributions whereas the pion spectra exhibit an additional enhancement at low energies. The pion multiplicity per participating nucleon M(π⁺)/<A _part> is a factor of about 3 smaller in C+Au than in C+C collisions at 1.0 AGeV whereas it differs only little for the C and the Au target at a beam energy of 1.8 AGeV. The K⁺ multiplicities per participating nucleon M(K⁺)/ <A _part> are independent of the target size at 1 AGeV and at 1.8 AGeV. The K^- multiplicity per participating nucleon M(K^-)/ <A _part> is reduced by a factor of about 2 in C+Au as compared to C+C collisions at 1.8 AGeV. This effect might be caused by the absorption of antikaons in the heavy target nucleus. Transport model calculations underestimate the K^-/K⁺ ratio for C+C collisions at 1.8 AGeV by a factor of about 4 if in-medium modifications of K-mesons are neglected. Received: 10 December 1999 / Accepted: 14 November 2000     

Subthreshold K + meson production in proton–nucleus reactions and nucleon spectral function

The inclusive K ⁺ meson production in proton–nucleus collisions in the near threshold and subthreshold energy regimes is analyzed with respect to the one–step (pN→K ⁺ YN, Y=Λ,Σ) and two–step (pN→NNπ, NN2π; πN→K ⁺ Y) incoherent production processes on the basis of an appropriate new folding model, which takes properly into account the struck target nucleon removal energy and momentum distribution (nucleon spectral function), extracted from recent quasielastic electron scattering experiments and from many–body calculations with realistic models of the NN interaction. Comparison of the model calculations of the K ⁺ total and double differential cross sections for the reaction p+C ¹² with the existing experimental data is given, illustrating both the relative role of the primary and secondary production channels at considered incident energies and those features of the cross sections which are sensitive to the high momentum and high removal energy part of the nucleon spectral function that is governed by nucleon–nucleon short–range and tensor correlations. It is found that the in–medium modifications of the available for pion and kaon production invariant energies squared due to the respective optical potentials are needed to account for considered experimental data. Received: 2 April 1997 / Revised version: 7 August 1997     

Subthreshold and near-threshold K +-meson production on light nuclei by protons

Inclusive K ⁺-meson production in proton-nucleus collisions in the near-threshold and subthreshold energy regimes is analyzed with respect to the one-step (pN → K ⁺ YN, Y=Λ, Σ) and two-step (pN → NNπ, NN2π; πN → K ⁺ Y) incoherent production processes. An appropriate folding model is used that properly takes into account the struck-target-nucleon-removal energy and the momentum distribution (nucleon spectral function), novel elementary cross sections for proton-nucleon reaction channel close to threshold, as well as nuclear-mean-field-potential effects on the one-step and two-step kaon-creation processes. A detailed comparison of the model calculations of the K ⁺ total and differential cross sections for the p+⁹Be and p+¹²C interactions with the existing experimental data is given, which displays both the relative role of the primary and secondary production channels at considered incident energies and those features of the cross sections that are sensitive to the high-momentum and high-removal-energy parts of the nucleon spectral function. It is found that, contrary to previous studies known in the literature, the pion-nucleon production channels do not necessarily dominate in pA collisions at subthreshold energies and that the relative strength of the proton-and pion-induced reaction channels for light target nuclei in the subthreshold energy regime is governed by the kinematics of the experiment under consideration.     

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     

Medium effects in ΛK~+ pair production by 2.83 GeV protons on nuclei

We study ΛK~+ pair production in the interaction of protons of 2.83 GeV kinetic energy with C, Cu,Ag, and Au target nuclei in the framework of the nuclear spectral function approach for incoherent primary proton–nucleon and secondary pion–nucleon production processes, and processes associated with the creation of intermediate Σ~0K~+ pairs. The approach accounts for the initial proton and final Λ hyperon absorption, final K~+ meson distortion in nuclei, target nucleon binding, and Fermi motion, as well as nuclear mean-field potential effects on these processes.We calculate the Λ momentum dependence of the absolute ΛK~+ yield from the target nuclei considered, in the kinematical conditions of the ANKE experiment, performed at COSY, within the different scenarios for the Λ-nucleus effective scalar potential. We show that the above observable is appreciably sensitive to this potential in the low-momentum region. Therefore, direct comparison of the results of our calculations with the data from the ANKE-at-COSY experiment can help to determine the above potential at finite momenta. We also demonstrate that the two-step pion–nucleon production channels dominate in the low-momentum ΛK~+ production in the chosen kinematics and, therefore, they have to be taken into account in the analysis of these data.     

Subthreshold ϕ-meson production and medium effects in proton-nucleus reactions

Within the spectral function approach, we study the direct production and decay via the dikaon (dimuon) channel of ϕ mesons in the interactions of 2.4-and 2.7-GeV protons with light and medium target nuclei. It is shown that the K ⁺ K ⁻ (μ⁺ μ⁻) invariant-mass distribution consists of the two components, which correspond to the ϕ decay “outside” and “inside” the target nucleus. The first (narrow) component has the free ϕ width, while the second (broad) component is distorted by the nuclear matter owing to resonance-nucleon scattering and a possible in-medium modification of the kaons and ρ meson at finite baryon density. The relative strength of the “inside” and “outside” components is analyzed in different scenarios for the ϕ width and momentum cut. It is demonstrated that the width of the resulting dimuon invariant-mass distribution on medium nuclei is larger than the free ϕ width by a factor of about 2 if the total ϕ in-medium width is used and the respective cutoff for the ϕ three-momentum is applied, whereas the resulting dikaon invariant-mass distribution has an insignificant sensitivity to the ϕ in-medium properties owing to the strong absorption of the K ⁻ in the surrounding nuclear matter. On the other hand, because of the distortion of the K ⁺ and K ⁻ on their way out of the target nucleus mainly due to the hadronic kaon potentials, the latter distribution is broadened and shifted to higher invariant masses, which means that the measurement of such broadening would give additional evidence for the modification of the kaon and antikaon properties in the nuclear medium. The text was submitted by the author in English.     

Subthreshold and near threshold K+ meson photoproduction\newline on nuclei

The inclusive K⁺ meson production in photon–induced reactions in the near threshold and subthreshold energy regimes is analyzed with respect to the one–step (γN→K ⁺ Y, Y=Λ,Σ) incoherent production processes on the basis of an appropriate new folding model, which takes properly into account the struck target nucleon removal energy and internal momentum distribution (nucleon spectral function), extracted from recent quasielastic electron scattering experiments and from many–body calculations with realistic models of the NN interaction. Simple parametrizations for the total and differential cross sections of the K⁺ production in photon–nucleon collisions are presented. Comparison of the model calculations of the K⁺ differential cross sections for the reaction γ+C¹² in the threshold region with the existing experimental data is given, that displays the contributions to the K⁺ production at considered incident energies coming from the use of the single–particle part as well as high momentum and high removal energy part of the nucleon spectral function. Detailed predictions for the K⁺ total and differential cross sections from γH², γC¹² and γPb²⁰⁸ reactions at subthreshold and near threshold energies are provided. The influence of the uncertainties in the elementary K⁺ production cross sections on the K⁺ yield is explored. Received: 12 April 1999 / Revised version: 11 September 1999     

The σK coupling in the chiral unitary approach and the isoscalar ¯N , ¯A interaction

We evaluate the “σ " exchange contribution to the ˉN → ˉN scattering within a chiral unitary approach. We show that the chiral transition potentials for ππ → Kˉ in the t -channel lead to a “σ " contribution that vanishes in the ˉ forward direction and, hence, would produce a null “σ " exchange contribution to the K^- optical potential in nuclear matter in a simple impulse approximation. This is a consequence of the fact that the leading-order chiral Lagrangian gives an I = 0 ππ → Kˉ amplitude proportional to the squared momentum transfer, q². This finding poses questions on the meaning or the origin of “σ " exchange potentials used in relativistic mean-field approaches to the K^- nuclear self-energy. This elementary “σ ” exchange potential in ˉN → ˉN is compared to the Weinberg-Tomozawa term and is found to be smaller than the present theoretical uncertainties but will be relevant in the future when aiming at fitting increasingly more accurate data.     

Kaon absorption from kaonic atoms and formation spectra of kaonic nuclei

We considered the kaon absorption from atomic states into the nucleus. We found that the nuclear density probed by the atomic kaon significantly depends on the kaon orbit. Then, we re-examined the meanings of the observed strengths of one-body and two-body kaon absorption, and investigated the effects to the formation spectra of kaon bound states by in-flight (K ^-, p) reactions. As a natural consequence, if the atomic kaon probes a smaller nuclear density, the ratio of the two-body absorption at nuclear center is larger than the observed value in kaonic atoms, and the depth of the imaginary potential is deeper even at smaller kaon energies as in kaonic nuclear states because of the large phase space for the two-body processes. This deeper imaginary potential makes the signals of kaonic nucleus formation more unclear in the (K ^-, p) spectra.     

Antikaon production in nucleon- nucleon reactions near threshold

The antikaon production cross section from nucleon-nucleon reactions near threshold is studied in a meson exchange model. We include both pion and kaon exchange, but neglect the interference between the amplitudes. In case of pion exchange the antikaon production cross section can be expressed in terms of the antikaon production cross section from a pion-nucleon interaction, which we take from the experimental data if available. Otherwise, a K* -resonance exchange model is introduced to relate the different reaction cross sections. In case of kaon exchange the antikaon production cross section is related to the elastic KN and K?N cross sections, which are again taken from experimental measurements. We find that the one-meson exchange model gives a satisfactory fit to the available data for the NN → NN KK? cross section at high energies. We compare our predictions for the cross section near threshold with an earlier empirical parameterization and that from phase space models.     

Attenuation of Λ(1520) Hyperons in near-threshold <Emphasis Type="Italic">pA</Emphasis> reactions

In the framework of the nuclear spectral function approach for incoherent primary proton-nucleon and secondary pion-nucleon production processes we study the inclusive Λ(1520)-hyperon production in the interaction of 2.83-GeV protons with nuclei. In particular, the A and momentum dependences of the absolute and relative Λ(1520)-hyperon yields are investigated within the different scenarios for their in-medium width. Our model calculations show that the pion-nucleon production channel contributes distinctly to the “low-momentum” Λ(1520) creation both in light and heavy nuclei in the chosen kinematics and, hence, has to be taken into consideration on close examination of the dependences of the Λ(1520)-hyperon yields on the target mass number with the aim to get information on their width in the medium. They also demonstrate that both the A dependence of the relative Λ(1520)-hyperon production cross section and momentum dependence of the absolute Λ(1520)-hyperon yield at incident energy of interest are appreciably sensitive to the Λ(1520) in-medium width, which means that these observables may be an important tool to determine the above width.     

K + production in proton and deuteron induced reactions at subthreshold energies

The production ofK ⁺ mesons in proton-nucleus and deuteron-nucleus collisions is analyzed with respect to one-step nucleon-nucleon (NN → N ΛK ⁺),Δ- nucleon (ΔN → N Λ K⁺) and two-step pion-nucleon (πN → K ⁺ Λ) production channels on the basis of experimental ground state momentum distributions and free on-shell production processes. Whereas forK ⁺ production in proton-nucleus reactions the secondary channelπN clearly dominates at subthreshold energies, meson and nucleon induced channels are of similar magnitude in deuteron-nucleus reactions. Contrary to nucleus-nucleus collisions theΔ induced reaction channels are found to be of minor importance. The experimental differentiation of the underlying microscopic reaction channels appears possible via differential proton —K ⁺ coincidence measurements as shown in detail by the microscopic simulations including proton rescattering.     

The PHENIX forward spectrometer upgrade

The forward spectrometer upgrade of the PHENIX detector aims to add capabilities at forward rapidities to: probe nucleon structure through W production and promptphotons in polarized p + p, study nucleon structure in nuclei at high parton densities in p + A collisions through the measurement of γ and π⁰ in the forward region, greatly extend the acceptance for high p _T γ-jet measurements (jet tomography) in A + A, and increase our capabilities to measure the production quarkonium states by giving sensitivity to the χ _c through the J/ψ + γ channel. for the PHENIX Forward Upgrade Collaboration Presented in the Poster Session “Future Experiments and Facilities” at the 18th International Conference “Quark Matter 2005”, Budapest, Hungary, 4–9 August 2005.     

Converging upper and lower bounds for ground-state energies of atomic nuclei

The production of K⁺-mesons in proton-nucleus collisions from 1.0 to 2.3 GeV is analyzed with respect to one-step nucleon-nucleon (NN NYK⁺) and two-step -nucleon (N K⁺YN) or pion-nucleon (N K⁺Y) production channels on the basis of a coupled-channel (CBUU) transport approach including the kaon final-state-interactions (FSI). Momentum-dependent potentials for the nucleon, hyperon and kaon in the final state are included as well as K⁺ elastic rescattering in the target nucleus. The transport calculations are compared to the experimental K⁺ spectra taken at COSY-Jülich. Our systematic analysis of K⁺ spectra from ¹²C, ⁶³Cu, ¹⁰⁷Ag and ¹⁹⁷Au targets as well as their momentum differential ratios gives a repulsive K⁺ potential of 20±5 MeV at normal nuclear matter density.     

Evidence for time-reversal violation?

The experiment CPLEAR at CERN has measured an asymmetry between the transition rates of the antikaon to kaon process, and its reverse, kaon to antikaon. The present note shows, based on a criterion by Wolfenstein, that this observation constitutes direct evidence for time-reversal violation. Experiments at FNAL (KTEV) and CERN (NA48) have measured a T-odd asymmetry in the K_L decay. Based on an analysis by Sehgal and van Leusen, it is demonstrated that this asymmetry is well described by a (hypothetical) kaon time evolution, which is time-reversal invariant.Received: 8 January 2004, Published online: 11 May 2004     

ψ(3770) and B meson exclusive decay B → ψ(3770)K in QCD factorization

Belle has observed surprisingly copious production of ψ(3770) in the B meson decay B → ψ(3770)K, whose rate is comparable to that of B → ψ(3686)K. We study this puzzling process in the QCD factorization approach with the effect of the S-D mixing considered. We find that the soft scattering effects in the spectator interactions play an essential role. With a proper parametrization for the higher-twist soft end-point singularities associated with kaon, and with the S-D mixing angle θ = - 12^°, the calculated decay rates can be close to the data. Implications of these soft spectator effects to other charmonium production in B exclusive decays are also emphasized.