The upgraded Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF II) has a high bandwidth available for track based triggers. This capability in conjunction with the unprecedented integrated luminosity in excess of 1 fb −1 enables detailed studies of charm hadron production. CDF is now releasing first measurements of the prompt charm meson pair cross sections, which give access to QCD mechanisms by which charm quarks are produced in proton anti-proton collisions. Recent results on the spin alignment of J/ψ and ψ(2S) as well as on the relative production of the χc1(P1) and χc2(1P) challenge our understanding of the fragmentation of charm quarks into charmonium states.
We have measured the production polarization of 265- and 310-GeV/c Σ− in the inclusive reaction p+Cu→Σ−+X using 400-GeV/c protons. The polarization was analyzed via the asymmetry in the weak decay Σ−→n+π−, and has typical values of +0.20 with respect to the direction of the cross product of the incident-proton and Σ− momenta. Using the spin-precession technique, we have determined the Σ− magnetic moment to be -1.23±0.03±0.03 nuclear magnetons, where the statistical and systematic errors are shown separately.
The mass spectrum of muon pairs in the range 5 to 15 GeV is studied in the inclusive reaction p+nucleus→μ++μ−+anything. The ϒ and continuum distribution are presented as is the A dependence of the continuum. Comparison with a parton-annihilation model yields a sea-quark distribution.
We report final results of a series of measurements of continuum dimuon production in proton-nucleus collisions at Fermilab. New results with 6 times more statistics are included. A full description of the apparatus and methods used in the analysis of this series of measurements is given. The sea quark distribution of the nucleon is determined within the context of Drell-Yan and quantum-chromodynamic description of dilepton production in hadron collisions.
The production of the ϒ family in proton-nucleus collisions is clarified by a sixfold increase in statistics. Constraining ϒ,ϒ′ masses to those observed at DORIS we find the statistical significance of the ϒ′′ to be 11 standard deviations. The dependence of ϒ production on pt, y, and s is presented. Limits for other resonance production in the mass range 4-18 GeV are determined.
Dimuon production is studied in 400-GeV proton-nucleus collisions. A strong enhancement is observed at 9.5 GeV mass in a sample of 9000 dimuon events with a mass $m_{\mu^+\mu^-} \to$ 5 GeV.
We present proton-nucleus dimuon-production cross sections for masses between 4 and 15 GeV, center-of-mass rapidities between -0.23 and 0.6 and incident energies of 200, 300, and 400 GeV. The data confirm scaling to the 20% level. The dependence of continuum 〈pT〉 on beam energy is also presented.
We report a measurement of the electroweak parameters sin2θw and ϱ based on the ratios of neutral current to charged current events measured in the Fermilab narrow-band neutrino beam at energies of 30–240 GeV. The data are fully corrected for radiative effects, heavy-quark production, and other effects. The best value for sin2θw obtained, sin2θw=0.239±0.011, is consistent with the most recent values fromW andZ production, as well as from other neutrino experiments.
We have studied D* production mechanisms using data from a photoproduction experiment at the Fermilab Tagged Photon Spectrometer. A large sample of charged D*’s was selected via the clean signature of the cascade decay D*→D0π+ and subsequently D0→K−π+ or D0→K−π+π0. The cross section for the process γp→(D*++anything)p at an average energy of 105 GeV was measured to be 88±32 nb. Only (11±7)% of D*’s were found to be consistent with being accompanied solely by a D¯* or a D¯; the remaining events contain additional particles. The distribution of the production angle of the D* in the photon-fragmentation-system center of mass is strongly anisotropic and consistent with the form f(θ*)=cos4θ*. We set a limit on the associated-production-process cross section σ(γp→(D¯*−+anything)Λc) x)<60 nb (90% C.L.).
We present results on the production of hadrons in collisions of 400-GeV/c protons with beryllium, copper, and tungsten nuclei. The data cover the region from 5.6 to 8.0 GeV/c in the transverse momentum of the final-state hadron and from 73° to 102° in the proton-nucleon center-of-momentum frame production angle theta*. The restriction of the data to values of xT (xT=2pT/ √s ) greater than 0.4 enriches the sample with hard collisions of valence quarks. Asymmetries about theta*=90° reflect the presence of neutrons in the target nuclei. The variation of the atomic-weight dependence parameter α with production angle is discussed in the context of the phenomenology of nucleonic structure within nuclei. We also extrapolate our measurements to a ‘‘deuteron’’ target to minimize nuclear effects and compare the result to QCD calculations.