The Drell-Yan and J ψ cross-sections measured in PbPb collisions are compared with the values extrapolated from the results obtained in proton and light ion induced reactions. While the Drell-Yan production exhibits the normal expected behaviour, the yield of J ψ in PbPb interactions is abnormally low, as it lies 9 standard deviations below the expected value. Moreover, the departure from the expected behaviour increases significantly from peripheral to central collisions.
The production of ${\rm J}/\psi$ and
The PSI(3685) to J/PSI cross section ratios.
First results are reported on J ψ and Drell-Yan cross-sections in PbPb reactions at 158 GeV/ c per nucleon. The ratio of cross-sections σ J/ψ /σ DY is studied as a function of the impact parameter of the collision estimated from the measured transverse energy.
The Drell-Yan cross sections are taken in the mass interval 2.9 to 4.5 GeV. SIG/SIG ratio are free from most systematic errors.
Cross sections for J ψ,ψ′ and Drell-Yan production in Pb+Pb collisions at 158×A GeV/c are presented and compared with results obtained by the NA38 and NA51 collaborations. The Pb+Pb data have been collected by the NA50 collaboration using the NA38 dimuon spectrometer. The Drell-Yan mechanism is found to scale as (A projectile · B target ) in p+B target and A projectile + B target collisions including Pb+Pb collisions. Regarding J ψ , an anomalous suppression is observed in Pb+Pb collisions with respect to the suppression observed in p+B target , O+B target and S+U collisions. The cross section ratios ψ′ ( J ψ ) are similar in Pb+Pb and S+U collisions.
A systematic set of measurements of the global transverse energy distributions, dσ/dET and dET/dη, from beams of protons, O16 and Si28 at 14.6A GeV/c, incident on targets ranging from Be to Au is presented. The detector was a semicircular array of lead-glass blocks, covering polar angles 9°<θ<32°, whose total response provides a good measure of the produced particle yield in the central rapidity region of these reactions. Proton-nucleus spectra exhibit a similar shape on the high-energy tail, independent of target, suggesting that produced particles in such events arise mostly from the first collision of the projectile proton. For targets heavier than Cu, the high-energy edges of the oxygen-nucleus spectra, and of the silicon-nucleus spectra, reach ratios consistent with the geometry of central collisions. Angular distributions, dET/dη, are characterized by Gaussian fits, and an acceptance-independent form of the differential cross section is found, based on the maximum value of dET/dη. The projectile dependence of nucleus-nucleus spectra is studied in terms of two very different models: simple energy scaling and the wounded projectile nucleon model of p+A convolutions.
A systematic study of the spectra and yields of K+ and K− is reported by experiment E866 as a function of centrality in Au+Au collisions at 11.6A GeV/c. The invariant transverse spectra for both kaon species are well described by exponentials in mt, with inverse slope parameters that are largest at midrapidity and which increase with centrality. The inverse slopes of the K+ spectra are slightly larger than the inverse slopes of the K− spectra. The kaon rapidity density peaks at midrapidity with the K+ distribution wider in rapidity than K−. The integrated total yields of K+ and K− increase nonlinearly and steadily with the number of projectile participants. The yield per participant for kaons is two to three times larger than the yield from N−N collisions. This enhancement suggests that the majority of kaons in central Au+Au reactions are produced in secondary hadronic collisions. There is no evidence for an onset of additional kaon production from a possible small volume of baryon-rich quark-gluon plasma. The differences between K+ and K− rapidity distributions and transverse spectra are consistent with a lower phase space for K− production due to a higher energy threshold. These differences also exclude simple thermal models that assume emission from a common equilibrated system.
The inclusive production of Ks0, Λ, Λ¯, and Ks0Λ in the p¯Ta reaction at 4 GeV/c was measured and compared with that in the p¯p reaction. The total inelastic and topological cross sections were also measured. The number of Λ’s produced in the p¯Ta reaction was 11.3 times larger than that expected from the geometrical cross section, which is defined as A2/3 times the cross section for the p¯p reaction. The yield ratio Λ¯/Λ was found to be 2×10−2. These values cannot be accounted for by a straightforward extension of the p¯N reaction. Besides, a correlation of 2 vees like Ks0-Λ could not prove their simultaneous production. Nuclear temperatures of 135 and 97 MeV were obtained from the kinetic energy spectra of Ks0 and Λ, respectively. The kinematical characteristics of the Ks0 and Λ produced were analyzed in terms of the fireball model.
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 NA50 collaboration has measured J/ψ , ψ′ and Drell Yan pair production in Pb Pb interactions at 158 GeV/ c per nucleon at the CERN SPS. Final results from the 1995 run and preliminary ones from the higher statistics 1996 run are presented. A anomalous J/ψ suppression (relative to the Drell-Yan process) has been observed with respect to the suppression pattern established in experiments NA38 and NA51 with proton, oxygen and sulfur beams. The 1996 data allow a detailed study of the suppression pattern in the Pb Pb sample itself, showing a discontinuity around an E T value (the neutral transverse electromagnetic energy) of 50 GeV. The ψ′ is also suppressed relative to Drell-Yan, with a pattern very similar to the one observed in S U collisions. Finally, the p T distributions of dimuons are presented. The average p T 2 of the J/ψ in Pb Pb collisions does not increase any more with E T above 100 GeV.
The azimuthal correlation distribution of 102 charmed-particle pairs observed in the hybrid emulsion experiment WA75 is compared with theoretical predictions. The various pairs - (D − D 0 ), (D − D + ), (D 0 D 0 ) and (D + D 0 )-all s how, within statistical error, the same azimuthal correlation distribution, demonstrating its independence from the specific nature of the production channel. Among the decays of 150 charged charmed particles and 138 neutral ones seen, higher multiplicities are favoured for hadronic as opposed to semileptonic decays. The data are consistent with the muonic decays of charged D mesons proceeding through the channels (μ ± , v, K 0 ) and [μ ± , v, K ∗0 (892)] , the fraction through K 0 being 0.76±0.06.
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