The pp -> p K+ Y0 reaction has been studied for hyperon masses m(Y0)<1540 MeV/c2 at COSY-J\'ulich by using a 3.65 GeV/c circulating proton beam incident on an internal hydrogen target. Final states comprising two protons, one positively charged kaon and one negatively charged pion have been identified with the ANKE spectrometer. Such configurations are sensitive to the production of the ground state Lambda and Sigma0 hyperons as well as the Sigma0(1385) and Lambda(1405) resonances. Applying invariant- and missing-mass techniques, the two overlapping excited states can be separated unambiguously. The shape and position of the Lambda(1405) distribution, reconstructed cleanly from its Sigma0 pion0 decay, are similar to those found in other production modes and there is no obvious mass shift. This finding constitutes a challenging test for models that predict Lambda(1405) to be a two-state resonance.

Measurements of the pn -> p_spec dK^+K^- reaction, where p_spec is a spectator proton, have been undertaken at the Cooler Synchrotron COSY-Juelich by detecting a fast deuteron in coincidence with a K^+K^- pair in the ANKE facility. Although the proton beam energy was fixed, the moving target neutron allowed values of the non-resonant quasi-free pn -> dK^+K^- total cross section to be deduced up to an excess energy epsilon ~ 100 MeV. Evidence is found for the effects of K^-d and KKbar final state interactions. The comparison of these data with those of pp -> ppK^+K^- and pp -> dK^+Kbar shows that all the total cross sections are very similar in magnitude.

The differential and total cross sections for kaon pair production in the pp->ppK+K- reaction have been measured at three beam energies of 2.65, 2.70, and 2.83 GeV using the ANKE magnetic spectrometer at the COSY-Juelich accelerator. These near-threshold data are separated into pairs arising from the decay of the phi-meson and the remainder. For the non-phi selection, the ratio of the differential cross sections in terms of the K-p and K+p invariant masses is strongly peaked towards low masses. This effect can be described quantitatively by using a simple ansatz for the K-p final state interaction, where it is seen that the data are sensitive to the magnitude of an effective K-p scattering length. When allowance is made for a small number of phi events where the K- rescatters from the proton, the phi region is equally well described at all three energies. A very similar phenomenon is discovered in the ratio of the cross sections as functions of the K-pp and K+pp invariant masses and the identical final state interaction model is also very successful here. The world data on the energy dependence of the non-phi total cross section is also reproduced, except possibly for the results closest to threshold.

The pp->pp phi reaction has been studied at the Cooler Synchrotron COSY-Juelich, using the internal beam and ANKE facility. Total cross sections have been determined at three excess energies epsilon near the production threshold. The differential cross section closest to threshold at epsilon=18.5 MeV exhibits a clear S-wave dominance as well as a noticeable effect due to the proton-proton final state interaction. Taken together with data for pp omega-production, a significant enhancement of the phi/omega ratio of a factor 8 is found compared to predictions based on the Okubo-Zweig-Iizuka rule.

The quasi-free pn->dphi reaction has been studied at the Cooler Synchrotron COSY-Juelich, using the internal proton beam incident on a deuterium cluster-jet target and detecting a fast deuteron in coincidence with the K+K- decay of the phi-meson. The energy dependence of the total and differential cross sections are extracted for excess energies up to 80 MeV by determining the Fermi momentum of the target neutron on an event-by-event basis. Though these cross sections are consistent with s-wave production, the kaon angular distributions show the presence of p waves at quite low energy. Production on the neutron is found to be stronger than on the proton but not by as much as for the eta-meson.

The differential and total cross sections for the d+p->3He+eta reaction have been measured in a high precision high statistics COSY-ANKE experiment near threshold using a continuous beam energy ramp up to an excess energy Q of 11.3 MeV with essentially 100% acceptance. The kinematics allowed the mean value of Q to be determined to about 9 keV. Evidence is found for the effects of higher partial waves for Q>4 MeV. The very rapid rise of the total cross section to its maximum value within 0.5 MeV of threshold implies a very large eta-3He scattering length and hence the presence of a quasi-bound state extremely close to threshold.

This paper presents and contrasts features of the inelastic nuclear reactions of 200 GeV/nucleon 16 O and 32 S ions with emulsion nuclei. Both the multiplicities of shower particles and the extent of target fragmentation have been studied for varying degress of disruption of the projectile nuclei. The results may be interpreted within a simple geometrical model. In particular the rapidity distributions of those events which exhibit complete projectile break-up without any overt sign of low-energy target fragmentation have been determined. The interaction of secondary projectile fragments of charge two or more issuing from oxygen interactions were also studied and the mean free paths in emulsion of the primary 16 O and 32 S ions and all such fragments have been compared to those predicted by a simple Glauber model.

The reaction pp->p K0 pi+ Lambda has been studied with the ANKE spectrometer at COSY-Juelich at a beam momentum of 3.65 GeV/c in order to search for a possible signal of the pentaquark Theta+(1540), decaying into the p K0 system. By detecting four charged particles in the final state, the K0 and the Lambda have been reconstructed to tag strangeness production. It has been found that the pi+ Lambda missing-mass spectrum displays no significant signal expected from the Theta+(1540) excitation. The total cross section for the reaction pp->p K0 pi+ Lambda has been deduced, as well as an upper limit for the Theta+ production cross section. The intermediate Delta++ K0 Lambda state is found to provide a significant contribution to the reaction.

The differential cross section and deuteron analysing powers of the dp -> {pp}n charge-exchange reaction have been measured with the ANKE spectrometer at the COSY storage ring. Using a deuteron beam of energy 1170 MeV, data were obtained for small momentum transfers to a {pp} system with low excitation energy. A good quantitative understanding of all the measured observables is provided by the impulse approximation using known neutron-proton amplitudes. The proof of principle achieved here for the method suggests that measurements at higher energies will provide useful information in regions where the existing np database is far less reliable.

The differential cross section for the reaction π + + d → p + p has been measured at pion momenta between 0.48 and 1.16 GeV c with steps of 20 and 40 GeV c for seven CM proton angles between 6° and 61°. At smaller angles, the measured cross sections show a dip at around 0.7 GeV c , while at larger angles the cross sections vary monotonically as a function of incident momentum. The angular distribution shows a considerably rapid variation with increasing momentum. Legendre polynomial fits of the data are presented.

The backward differential cross section for π−−d elastic scattering has been measured at incident momenta between 420 and 1160 MeV/c. The data show two bumps at around 670 and 1100 MeV/c, two dips near 630 and 980 MeV/c, and a break at 550 MeV/c. The result of a phenonomenological fit is consistent with the existence of three dibaryon resonances in this energy region. A theoretical calculation of Kanai et al. agrees well with the data below 800 MeV/c, but the agreement becomes worse above 800 MeV/c.

Precise measurements of deuteron vector and tensor analyzing powers Ayd, Axx, Ayy, and Axz in d−p elastic scattering were performed via 1H(d→,d)p and 1H(d→,p)d reactions at three incoming deuteron energies of Edlab=140, 200, and 270 MeV. A wide range of center-of-mass angles from ≈10° to 180° was covered. The cross section was measured at 140 and 270 MeV at the same angles. These high precision data were compared with theoretical predictions based on exact solutions of three-nucleon Faddeev equations and modern nucleon-nucleon potentials combined with three-nucleon forces. Three-body interactions representing a wide range of present day models have been used: the Tucson-Melbourne 2π-exchange model, a modification thereof closer to chiral symmetry, the Urbana IX model, and a phenomenological spin-orbit ansatz. Large three-nucleon force effects are predicted, especially at the two higher energies. However, only some of them, predominantly dσ/dΩ and Ayd, are supported by the present data. For tensor analyzing powers the predicted effects are in drastic conflict to the data, indicating defects of the present day three-nucleon force models.

A spectroscopic study of the CΛ12 hypernucleus by the (π+, K+) reaction has been performed using a new superconducting kaon spectrometer (INS-SKS) at the KEK 12 GeV Proton Synchrotron with an energy resolution of 2 MeV (FWHM). In addition to two prominent peaks which correspond to the s and p orbitals of a Λ hyperon, for the first time two smaller peaks were clearly observed at excitation energies of 2.6 and 6.9 MeV. These two peaks are interpreted as states where the C11 excited core and a Λ hyperon in the s orbit are weakly coupled. The excitation energies and the cross sections of these peaks provide information on the ΛN interaction.

The 1H(e,e′K+)Λ reaction was studied as a function of the squared four-momentum transfer, Q2, and the virtual photon polarization, ɛ. For each of four Q2 settings, 0.52, 0.75, 1.00, and 2.00 (GeV/c)2, the longitudinal and transverse virtual photon cross sections were extracted in measurements at three virtual photon polarizations. The Q2 dependence of the σL/σT ratio differs significantly from current theoretical predictions. This, combined with the precision of the measurement, implies a need for revision of existing calculations.

Results are presented on the production characteristics of charmed particles obtained from the WA75 emulsion hybrid experiment. The events, selected by the presence of a muon with a high momentum transverse to the beam direction, were located and analysed in nuclear emulsions. Inclusive and correlation properties are systematically compared with the lowest-order QCD calculations for DD hadroproduction. Results concerning the correlation properties indicate some contribution from next-to-leading order [O(α_S^3)] subprocesses.

The differential cross sections and vector analyzing powers for nd elastic scattering at En=248 MeV were measured for 10°–180° in the center-of-mass (c.m.) system. To cover the wide angular range, the experiments were performed separately by using two different setups for forward and backward angles. The data are compared with theoretical results based on Faddeev calculations with realistic nucleon-nucleon (NN) forces such as AV18, CD Bonn, and Nijmegen I and II, and their combinations with the three-nucleon forces (3NFs), such as Tucson-Melbourne 99 (TM99), Urbana IX, and the coupled-channel potential with Δ-isobar excitation. Large discrepancies are found between the experimental cross sections and theory with only 2N forces for θc.m.>90°. The inclusion of 3NFs brings the theoretical cross sections closer to the data but only partially explains this discrepancy. For the analyzing power, no significant improvement is found when 3NFs are included. Relativistic corrections are shown to be small for both the cross sections and the analyzing powers at this energy. For the cross sections, these effects are mostly seen in the very backward angles. Compared with the pd cross section data, quite significant differences are observed at all scattering angles that cannot be explained only by the Coulomb interaction, which is usually significant at small angles.

The angular distributions of the cross section, the proton analyzing power, and all proton polarization transfer coefficients of p→d elastic scattering were measured at 250 MeV. The range of center-of-mass angles was 10°–165° for the cross section and the analyzing power, and about 10°–95° for the polarization transfer coefficients. These are the first measurements of a complete set of proton polarization observables for p→d elastic scattering at intermediate energies. The present data are compared with theoretical predictions based on exact solutions of the three-nucleon Faddeev equations and modern realistic nucleon-nucleon potentials combined with three-nucleon forces (3NF), namely, the Tucson-Melbourne (TM) 2π-exchange model, a modification thereof (TM′) closer to chiral symmetry, and the Urbana IX model. Large effects of the three-nucleon forces are predicted. The inclusion of the three-nucleon forces gives a good description of the cross section at angles below the minimum. However, appreciable discrepancies between the data and predictions remain at backward angles. For the spin observables the predictions of the TM 3NF model deviate strongly from the other two 3NF models, which are close together, except for Kyy′. In the case of the analyzing power all 3NF models fail to describe the data at the upper half of the angular range. In the restricted measured angular range the polarization transfer coefficients are fairly well described by the TM′ and Urbana IX 3NF models, whereas the TM 3NF model mostly fails. The transfer coefficient Kyy′ is best described by the Urbana IX but the theoretical description is still insufficient to reproduce the experimental data. These results call for a better understanding of the spin structure of the three-nucleon force and very likely for a full relativistic treatment of the three-nucleon continuum.

This paper describes measurements of the semileptonic weak-neutral-current reactions νpμ→νpμ and ν¯pμ→ν¯pμ which yield the absolute differential cross sections dσ(νpμ)dQ2 and dσ(ν¯pμ)dQ2. The weak-neutral-current parameter, sin2θW, is determined to be sin2θW=0.220±0.016(stat.)(syst.)−0.031+0.023.

K − /K + and p ¯ / p ratios measured in 158 A·GeV Pb+Pb collisions are shown as a function of transverse momentum P T and centrality in top 8.5% central region. Little centrality dependence of the K − / K + and p ¯ / p ratios is observed. The transverse mass m T distribution and dN/dy of K + , K − , p and p ¯ around mid-rapidity are obtained. The temperature T ch and the chemical potentials for both light and strange quarks (μ q , μ s ) at chemical freeze-out are determined by applying simple thermodynamical model to the present data. The resultant μ q , μ s and T ch are compared with those obtained from similar analysis of SPS S+A and AGS Si+A data. The chemical freeze-out temperature T ch at CERN energies is higher than thermal freeze-out temperature T fo which is extracted from m T distribution of charged hadrons. At AGS energies T ch is close to T fo .

We have made the first measurements of the virtual Compton scattering process via the e p -> e p gamma exclusive reaction at Q**2 = 1 GeV**2 in the nucleon resonance region. The cross section is obtained at center of mass (CM) backward angle, theta_gamma_gamma*, in a range of total (gamma* p) CM energy W from the proton mass up to W = 1.91 GeV. The data show resonant structures in the first and second resonance regions, and are well reproduced at higher W by the Bethe-Heitler+Born cross section, including t-channel pi0-exchange. At high W, our data, together with existing real photon data, show a striking Q**2 independence. Our measurement of the ratio of H(e,e'p)gamma to H(e,e'p)pi0 cross sections is presented and compared to model predictions.

Exclusive electroproduction of pi0 mesons on protons in the backward hemisphere has been studied at Q**2 = 1.0 GeV**2 by detecting protons in the forward direction in coincidence with scattered electrons from the 4 GeV electron beam in Jefferson Lab's Hall A. The data span the range of the total (gamma* p) center-of-mass energy W from the pion production threshold to W = 2.0 GeV. The differential cross sections sigma_T+epsilon*sigma_L, sigma_TL, and sigma_TT were separated from the azimuthal distribution and are presented together with the MAID and SAID parametrizations.

The NA44 collaboration has measured charged kaon and pion distributions at midrapidity in sulphur and proton collisions with nuclear targets at 200 and 450 GeV/c per nucleon, respectively. The inverse slopes of kaons are larger than those of pions. The difference in the inverse slopes of pions, kaons and protons, all measured in our spectrometer, increases with system size and is consistent with the buildup of collective flow for larger systems. The target dependence of both the yields and inverse slopes is stronger for the sulphur beam suggesting the increased importance of secondary rescattering for SA reactions. The rapidity density, dN/dy, of both K+ and K- increases more rapidly with system size than for pi+ in a similar rapidity region. This trend continues with increasing centrality, and according to RQMD, it is caused by secondary reactions between mesons and baryons. The K-/K+ ratio falls with increasing system size but more slowly than the pbar/p ratio. The pi-/pi+ ratio is close to unity for all systems. From pBe to SPb the K+/p ratio decreases while K-/pbar increases and ({K+*K-}/{p*pbar})**1/2 stays constant. These data suggest that as larger nuclei collide, the resulting system has a larger transverse expansion, baryon density and an increasing fraction of strange quarks.

The NA44 Collaboration has measured yields and differential distributions of K+, K-, pi+, pi- in transverse kinetic energy and rapidity, around the center-of-mass rapidity in 158 A GeV/c Pb+Pb collisions at the CERN SPS. A considerable enhancement of K+ production per pi is observed, as compared to p+p collisions at this energy. To illustrate the importance of secondary hadron rescattering as an enhancement mechanism, we compare strangeness production at the SPS and AGS with predictions of the transport model RQMD.

The abundances of light nuclei probe the later stages of the evolution of a system formed in a relativistic heavy-ion collision. After the system has cooled and expanded, nucleons in close proximity and moving with small relative momenta coalesce to form nuclei. Light nuclei production enables the study of several topics, including the mechanism of composite particle production, freeze-out temperature, size of the interaction region, and entropy of the system. NA44 is the only relativistic heavy-ion experiment to have both deuteron and antideuteron results in both pA and AA collisions and the first CERN experiment to study the physics topics addressed by d and d production.

Single particle distributions of π ± , K ± , p , p and d near mid-rapidity from 450 GeV/c p A and 200 GeV/c per nucleon SA collisions are presented. Inverse slope parameters are extracted from the transverse mass spectra, and examined for indications of collective phenomena. Proton and antiproton yields are determined for different projectile-target combinations. First results from 160 GeV/c per nucleon PbPb collisions are presented.