The single-pion production reactions $pp\to d\pi^+$, $pp\to np\pi^+$ and $pp\to pp\pi^0$ were measured at a beam momentum of 0.95 GeV/c ($T_p \approx$ 400 MeV) using the short version of the COSY-TOF spectrometer. The implementation of a central calorimeter provided particle identification, energy determination and neutron detection in addition to time-of-flight and angle measurements. Thus all pion production channels were recorded with 1-4 overconstraints. The total and differential cross sections obtained are compared to previous data and theoretical calculations. Main emphasis is put on the discussion of the $pp\pi^0$ channel, where we obtain angular distributions different from previous experimental results, however, partly in good agreement with recent phenomenological and theoretical predictions. In particular we observe very large anisotropies for the $\pi^0$ angular distributions in the kinematical region of small relative proton momenta revealing there a dominance of proton spinflip transitions associated with $\pi^0$ $s$- and $d$-partial waves and emphasizing the important role of $\pi^0$ d-waves.
Total cross section measurements.. Errors are mainly systematic.
Measured angular distribution for elastic P P scattering in the CM system normalised to the data in the SAID database (Arndt et al. PR C62,034005(2000). This measurement is made to determine the luminosity.
The measured pion angular distribution in the CM system in the reaction P P --> DEUT PI+.
Kinematically complete measurements of the $pp\to pp\pi^{0}$ reaction were performed for beam energies in the range $292 - 298 $MeV. By detecting both protons in coincidence with the large acceptance COSY-TOF spectrometer set up at an external beam line of the proton synchrotron COSY-Julich, total and differential cross sections and energy distributions were obtained. A strong enhancement is observed in the Dalitz plots resulting from the final state interaction between the outgoing proton pair: the data are well reproduced by Monte Carlo simulations with standard parameters for scattering length $a_0$=-7.83 fm and effective range $r_0$=2.8 fm. The total cross sections exceed the ones measured recently in internal target experiments at IUCF and CELSIUS by roughly 50%. Arguments are presented which link this discrepancy with the effect of the final state interaction pushing yield into the very small-angle region and the near-impossibility of an internal target experiment to cover just this range.
Total P P --> P P PI0 cross section.
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