Cross sections for inclusive direct photon production in π−p, π+p, and pp collisions at 300 GeV/c are measured at transverse momenta pT up to 7 GeV/c (xT=0.6). For π−p→γX also the rapidity distribution is presented. The cross-section ratio σ(π−p→γX)/σ(π+p→γX) is found to be 1 at pT=4 GeV/c and rises with increasing pT. This observation signals the occurrence of valence-quark–antiquark annihilation. The results are in good agreement with QCD predictions.
Cross sections for inclusive π0 production at large transverse momentum pT were measured in π−p, π+p, and pp collisions at 300 GeV/c. The cross-section ratio σ(π−p→π0X)/σ(π+p→π0X) was found to be consistent with unity in the pT region of 1 to 5 GeV/c. The cross-section ratio σ(π+p→π0X)/σ(pp→π0X) however is growing with increasing pT and increasing π0 c.m.-system rapidity in agreement with parton-model expectations, where the partons in the pions have on average higher momenta than in the proton.
The NA24 experiment at CERN investigated inclusive γγ, π0π0, and γπ0 final states in the mass range between 4 and 9 GeV/c2 produced in π−p, π+p, and pp reactions at a c.m.-system energy s=23.7 GeV. The π0π0 cross sections agree well with expectations of the quark-parton model. For γπ0 production in π−p and pp reactions, a clear signal is observed and cross sections are shown. The production of γγ events was observed with a statistical significance of 2.9σ in π−p reactions. The cross section is in agreement with a higher-order QCD prediction.
New results on the production of charged pions in p+p interactions are presented. The data come from a sample of 4.8 million inelastic events obtained with the NA49 detector at the CERN SPS at 158 GeV/c beam momentum. Pions are identified by energy loss measurement in a large TPC tracking system which covers a major fraction of the production phase space. Inclusive invariant cross sections are given on a grid of nearly 300 bins per charge over intervals from 0 to 2 GeV/c in transverse momentum and from 0 to 0.85 in Feynman x. The results are compared to existing data in overlapping energy ranges.
The inclusive cross section for the production ofKs0 mesons, Λ and\(\bar \Lambda\) particles in proton-proton interactions at\(\sqrt s= 63\) GeV is presented. The produced particles have been detected in the full phase space. Behaviour of the longitudinal and transversal depandences of the cross sections are discussed. The total production cross sections fors0 mesons and Λ particles was determined to\(\sigma _{{\rm K}_S^0 }= (25.5 \pm 1.4)\) mb andσΛ=(7.8±1.2) mb respectively. A strong energy dependence of the production cross sections is observed.
Transverse momentum distributions and yields for $\pi^{\pm}$, $K^{\pm}$, $p$ and $\bar{p}$ in $p+p$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}$=200 and 62.4 GeV at midrapidity are measured by the PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). These data provide important baseline spectra for comparisons with identified particle spectra in heavy ion collisions at RHIC. We present the inverse slope parameter $T_{\rm inv}$, mean transverse momentum $<p_T>$ and yield per unit rapidity $dN/dy$ at each energy, and compare them to other measurements at different $\sqrt{s}$ in $p+p$ and $p+\bar{p}$ collisions. We also present the scaling properties such as $m_T$ scaling, $x_T$ scaling on the $p_T$ spectra between different energies. To discuss the mechanism of the particle production in $p+p$ collisions, the measured spectra are compared to next-to-leading-order or next-to-leading-logarithmic perturbative quantum chromodynamics calculations.
The single spin asymmetry for inclusive direct-photon production has been measured using a polarized proton beam of 200 GeV/c with an unpolarized proton target at −0.15 < xf < 0.15 and 2.5 < pt < 3.1 GeV/c at Fermilab. The data on the cross section for pp → γX at 2.5 < pt < 3.8 GeV/c are also provided. The measurement was done using lead-glass calorimeters and photon detectors which surrounded the fiducial area of the calorimeters. Background rejection has been done using these surrounding photon detectors. The cross section obtained is consistent with the results of previous measurements assuming a nuclear dependence of A 1.0 . The single spin asymmetry, A N , for the direct-photon production is consistent with zero within experimental uncertainty.
Data are reported on the momentum distributions of Λ, Λ (1520), φ (1020), Λ and p , inclusively produced between 1° and 2° with respect to one of the primary proton beams at the CERN Intersecting Storage Rings. In addition, the decay angular distribution of the Λ(1520), the ratio of the cross sections for the production of Σ − (1385) and Σ + (1385) and the ratios among different charge states of the pairs Λπ , Λ K, Δ ++ (1232) π and ππ have been measured. These data are confronted with current ideas on fragmentation.
Results are given on the inclusive production of charged pions, kaons, and nucleons, in proton-proton collisions at c.m. energies from √ s = 23 to 63 GeV at large angles and for the transverse momentum range 0.1 < p T < 4.8 GeV/ c . The dependence of the production spectra on the collision energy √ s , the transverse momentum p T , and the longitudinal rapidity is discussed.
Measurements are reported of inclusive production of η-mesons in the beam fragmentation region in γp, πp andKp collisions. Results include a small but significant departure from VMD, and a pronounced rise in theη/π0 ratio with increasingpT.