A high statistics measurement of the reaction π − p → π 0 n has been performed at the Serpukhov accelerator for 15, 20, 25, 30 and 40 GeV/ c incident pion momentum using the NICE set-up with its associated 648-channel hodoscope spectrometer for γ-ray detection. More than 3 million charge-exchange events have been recorded in total. It is found that the spin-flip and non-spin-flip amplitudes can be parametrized, for small | t |, as exponentials with the same slopes to within a few percent. Also the behaviour of the differential cross section for small and medium | t | agrees with the prediction of a geometrical s -channel model which describes binary reactions in terms of a complex pole b 0 ( s ). The imaginary part of this universal pole, Im b 0 ( s ), has been determined and found to be growing logarithmically with s .
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.
We report a new measurement of the differential cross section for π−p→π0n from pπ=649 to 752 MeV/c, which is around the opening of the η channel (685 MeV/c). Our data support the main features of the π−p charge-exchange differential cross sections generated by the SAID πN partial-wave analysis. The opening of the η channel has a clear effect on the shape of the excitation function for dσ(π−p→π0n), which is most noticeable in the backward direction.
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%.
The analyzing power of π−p→π0n has been measured for pπ=301−625 MeV/c with a transversely polarized target, mainly in the backward hemisphere. The final-state neutron and a γ from the π0 were detected in coincidence with two counter arrays. Our results are compared with predictions of recent πN partial-wave analyses by the groups of Karlsruhe-Helsinki, Carnegie-Mellon University-Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (CMU-LBL), and Virginia Polytechnic Institute (VPI). At the lower incident energies little difference is seen among the three analyses, and there is excellent agreement with our data. At 547 MeV/c and above, our data strongly favor the VPI phases, and disagree with Karlsruhe-Helsinki and CMU-LBL analyses, which are the source of the πN resonance parameters given in the Particle Data Group table.
Differential cross sections for π−p→γn have been determined from 427 to 625 MeV/c, mainly at 90° and 110° c.m. The data were obtained by combining measurements of the Panofsky ratio in flight with known charge-exchange cross sections. The results are compared with γn→π−p data derived from γd experiments; the difference is typically 30%. The radiative decay amplitudes of neutral πN resonances are therefore uncertain by at least 30%.
The π−p charge-exchange analyzing power has been measured from 547 to 687 MeV/c in the center-of-mass angular range -0.9≤cosθ̃π≤0.9 using a transversely polarized target. The recoil neutron was detected in coincidence with a photon from π0 decay. The results are compared with the three recent partial-wave analyses (PWA’s); the VPI analysis is most consistent with our measured distributions except at 687 MeV/c where no PWA agrees with our data. The charge-exchange transversity cross sections are evaluated using the differential cross sections of Borcherding et al. These transversity cross sections are used in conjunction with earlier π±p data by our group to test the triangle inequalities which are a model-independent test of isospin invariance. Our data satisfy these inequalities everywhere; in contrast, Abaev et al. have reported a violation of more than 5 standard deviations at 685 MeV/c.
Precise measurements of the differential cross sections on the π − p→ π 0 n charge exchange scattering have been performed at six incident beam momenta of 1969, 2172, 2370, 2569, 2767 and 2965 MeV/ c covering a wide angular range of −0.95 < cos θ π ∗ < 0.95, where θ π ∗ is an emission angle of π 0 meson in the c.m.s. The results are compared with predictions of recent partial wave analyses.
Polarization parameters for the π − p → π 0 n charge exchange scattering have been measured at eight beam momenta between 1965 and 4220 MeV/ c using two different experimental set-ups. The angular range covered is −0.90 < cos θ π ∗ < 0.95 at the five momenta of 1965, 2168, 2360, 2566 and 2960 MeV/ c , where θ π ∗ is the emission angle of the π 0 meson in the c.m.s.. For three momenta of 2770, 3490 and 4220 MeV/ c , the measurements cover the forward angles of 0.1 < cos θ π ∗ < 1.0 . The results are compared with the predictions of π N partial wave analyses.
The asymmetry parameter A in π−p elastic scattering at incident pion laboratory kinetic energies Tπ of 98, 238, and 2922 MeV and in π−p charge-exchange scattering π−p→π0n at Tπ=238, 292, and 310 MeV have been measured over a wide range of scattering angles (typically from about 60° to 130° c.m.) with a polarized proton target. The data have been used in an energy-independent phase-shift analysis to improve the precision of the pion-nucleon phase shifts, to set new limits on violation of isospin conservation in the pion-nucleon S wave, and to confirm significant charge dependence in the P32 wave.