An extensive investigation of antiproton-proton interactions at 5.7 GeV/c without strange-particle production was carried out using a hydrogen bubble chamber. Cross-sections for different channels are given and discussed. The reliability of the analysis was checked using artificially generated events. The cross-sections for elastic scattering, for all processes involving annihilation, and for all other inelastic processes are respectively σel=(16.3±0.6)mb,σannlbil=(22.5±2.0)mb, σinel=(24.8±2.0)mb. TheN * 1:38 is present both in the single and multiple pion production channels. For the reaction MediaObjects/11539_2007_Article_BF02720569_f1.jpg a cross-section of (1.05±0.21) mb was obtained. Cross-sections forN * 1238 production in other channels are also given. Some indication of the presence ofI=1/2 isobars was found in the nucleon-pion and the nucleon-two-pion systems. The inelastic nonannihilation reactions were found to be strongly peripheral. The one-pion exchange model including either a form factor or corrections for absorption was applied to the reaction MediaObjects/11539_2007_Article_BF02720569_f2.jpg . Neither version of the model could correctly account for all features of the reaction. The average number of pions in the annihilation was found to be 7.3±0.6. The presence of an asymmetry in the angular distribution of the charged pions was confirmed at this energy; it is due mostly to high-energy pions. The production of ρ and ω mesons was observed in various annihilation channels. Rates of up to 80% for ρ production and up to 15% for ω production were obtained by fitting phase-space and Breit-Wigner curves to the effective-mass distributions of different channels.

The total cross sections for pionic charge exchange on hydrogen were measured using a transmission technique on thin CH2 and C targets. Data were taken for pi- lab energies from 39 to 247 MeV with total errors of typically 2% over the Delta-resonance and up to 10% at the lowest energies. Deviations from the predictions of the SAID phase shift analysis in the 60 to 80 MeV region are interpreted as evidence for isospin-symmetry breaking in the s-wave amplitudes. The charge dependence of the Delta-resonance properties appears to be smaller than previously reported.

The differential cross section for η production in reaction π−p→ηn has been measured over the full angular range at seven incident π− beam momenta from threshold to pπ−=747 MeV/c using the Crystal Ball multiphoton spectrometer. The angular distributions are S wave dominated. At 10 MeV/c above threshold, a small D-wave contribution appears that interferes with the main S wave. The total η production cross section σtot is obtained by integration of dσ/dΩ. Starting at threshold, σtot rises rapidly, as expected for S-wave-dominated production. The features of the π−p→ηn cross section are strikingly similar to those of the SU(3) flavor-related process K−p→ηΛ. Comparison of the π−p→ηn reaction is made with η photoproduction.

Reaction π−p→π0π0n has been measured with high statistics in the beam momentum range 270–750MeV∕c. The data were obtained using the Crystal Ball multiphoton spectrometer, which has 93% of 4π solid angle coverage. The dynamics of the π−p→π0π0n reaction and the dependence on the beam energy are displayed in total cross sections, Dalitz plots, invariant-mass spectra, and production angular distributions. Special attention is paid to the evaluation of the acceptance that is needed for the precision determination of the total cross section σt(π−p→π0π0n). The energy dependence of σt(π−p→π0π0n) shows a shoulder at the Roper resonance [i.e., the N(1440)12+], and there is also a maximum near the N(1520)32−. It illustrates the importance of these two resonances to the π0π0 production process. The Dalitz plots are highly nonuniform; they indicate that the π0π0n final state is dominantly produced via the π0Δ0(1232) intermediate state. The invariant-mass spectra differ much from the phase-space distributions. The production angular distributions are also different from the isotropic distribution, and their structure depends on the beam energy. For beam momenta above 550MeV∕c, the density distribution in the Dalitz plots strongly depends on the angle of the outgoing dipion system (or equivalently on the neutron angle). The role of the f0(600) meson (also known as the σ) in π0π0n production remains controversial.

Measured values of the differential cross section for pion-nucleon charge exchange are presented at momenta 148, 174, 188, 212, 238, 271, 298, and 323 MeV/c, a region dominated by the Delta resonance. Complete angular distributions were obtained using the Crystal Ball detector at the Alternating Gradient Synchrotron (AGS) at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL). Statistical uncertainties of the differential cross sections are typically 2-6%, exceptions being the results at the lowest momentum and at the most forward measurements of the five lowest momenta. We estimate the systematic uncertainties to be 3-6%.

We report a new measurement of the π−p→3π0n total cross section from threshold to pπ=0.75GeV/c. The cross section near the N(1535)12− resonance is only a few μb after subtracting the large η→3π0 background associated with π−p→ηn. A simple analysis of our data results in the estimated branching fraction B[S11→πN(1440)12+]=(8±2)%. This is the first such estimate obtained with a three-pion production reaction.

Total cross-section measurements of the π+p→π+π+n reaction at pion kinetic energies of 180, 184, 190, and 200 MeV are reported. The threshold value for the amplitude a(π+π+) as well as the s-wave, isospin 2, ππ scattering length a20 were determined. The results were found to be in agreement with chiral perturbation theory and inconsistent with the calculations of Jacob and Scadron and the model of dominance by quark loop anomalies.

Integral cross sections for π + p interaction have been measured between 125.9 and 201.7 MeV using the transmission method. Over this energy range the results are in very good agreement with predictions made with currently accepted phase shifts. These results are also consistent with similar measurements at lower energies when the dispersion relation constrained Karlsruhe phase shifts are used.

The reaction π+p→π+π+n was studied in the vicinity of the reaction threshold at ten incident pion beam momenta from 297 MeV/c to 480 MeV/c. From data angular distributions, invariant mass spectra and integrated cross-sections were deduced. The chiral symmetry breaking parameter as determined by this reaction equals to ξ=1.56±0.26±0.39, where the first error is experimental, while the latter reflects the uncertainty in the ansatz used in the extrapolation to the reaction threshold. A comparison with the other reaction channels of the reaction πp→ππN indicates that a single parameter (ξ) is not sufficient to describe low energy ππ interactions.

A full-kinematics measurement of the π − p→ π − p π 0 reaction in the incident π − momentum region from 295 to 450 MeV/ c is presented. The measurement was performed with the OMICRON spectrometer at the CERN synchrocyclotron.