Measurement of neutron energy spectra and neutron-gamma angular correlations for the muon capture process 16O(μ−, νμxn)14, 15N

Neutron-gamma coincidence spectra have been measured for muon capture in ¹⁶O. The γ-spectrum is dominated by the ground state transitions from the $\text{3}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}\text{(6.32}\text{MeV}\text{)}\text{and}\text{1}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{+}\text{5}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{(5.3}\text{MeV}\text{)}$ states of ¹⁵N that are populated after the emission of one neutron. The neutron energy spectra and the neutron energy dependence of the ny angular correlation coefficient A₂ for these final states are presented. The observed transitions in ¹⁴N and the associated neutron spectra give direct evidence for the emission of two correlated neutrons. The data are discussed in terms of direct neutron emission plus emission via giant resonance intermediate states of ¹⁶N. The large yield for the emission of one and two fast neutrons is explained by a capture mechanism involving short-range nucleon-nucleon correlations.     

Search for a bound trineutron with the 3He(π−pgr;+)nnn reaction

A search for the production of a bound trineutron state has been performed using the reaction ³He(π⁻,π⁺)nnn at incident pion energies of 65, 75, and 120 MeV. No evidence for the existence of the ³n was found, and an upper limit for the production cross section of approximately 30 nb/sr (2σ confidence level) was obtained. Received: 22 October 1998     

Single-spin asymmetries in semi-inclusive deep-inelastic scattering on a transversely polarized hydrogen target

Single-spin asymmetries for semi-inclusive electroproduction of charged pions in deep-inelastic scattering of positrons are measured for the first time with transverse target polarization. The asymmetry depends on the azimuthal angles of both the pion (phi) and the target spin axis (phi(S)) about the virtual-photon direction and relative to the lepton scattering plane. The extracted Fourier component sin((phi+phi(S))(pi)(UT) is a signal of the previously unmeasured quark transversity distribution, in conjunction with the Collins fragmentation function, also unknown. The component sin((phi-phi(S)(pi)(UT) arises from a correlation between the transverse polarization of the target nucleon and the intrinsic transverse momentum of quarks, as represented by the previously unmeasured Sivers distribution function. Evidence for both signals is observed, but the Sivers asymmetry may be affected by exclusive vector meson production.