The NA61/SHINE experiment at the CERN SPS is performing a uniqe study of the phase diagram of strongly interacting matter by varying collision energy and nuclear mass number of colliding nuclei. In central Pb+Pb collisions the NA49 experiment found structures in the energy dependence of several observables in the CERN SPS energy range that had been predicted for the transition to a deconfined phase. New measurements of NA61/SHINE find intriguing similarities in p+p interactions for which no deconfinement transition is expected at SPS energies. Possible implications will be discussed.
Measurements of inclusive spectra and mean multiplicities of $\pi^\pm$, K$^\pm$, p and $\bar{\textrm{p}}$ produced in inelastic p+p interactions at incident projectile momenta of 20, 31, 40, 80 and 158 GeV/c ($\sqrt{s} = $ 6.3, 7.7, 8.8, 12.3 and 17.3 GeV, respectively) were performed at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron using the large acceptance NA61/SHINE hadron spectrometer. Spectra are presented as function of rapidity and transverse momentum and are compared to predictions of current models. The measurements serve as the baseline in the NA61/SHINE study of the properties of the onset of deconfinement and search for the critical point of strongly interacting matter.
The diffractive production of ρ0(770 @#@) mesons in muon-proton interactions is studied in the kinematic region 0.15 GeV2< Q2< 20 GeV2 and 20 GeV < ? < 420 GeV. The data were obtained in the Fermilab fixed-target experiment E665 with primary muons of 470 GeV energy. Results are presented on the Q2, x and ? dependence of the cross section, on the shape of the ρ+ρt - mass spectrum, on the slope of the diffraction peak and on the production and decay angular distributions of the ρ0(770). The cross section for diffractive production of ρ0 by virtual photons on protons depends mainly on Q2. At fixed Q2, no significant dependence on x or ? is observed. The extrapolation to Q2 = 0 yields a photoproduction cross section of (10.30 ± 0.33) μb. The slope of the t′ distribution has a value of (7.0 ± 0.2) GeV−2, with a tendency to decrease as Q2 increases. The production and decay angular distributions of the ρ0 depend strongly on Q2 and are consistent with s-channel helicity conservation. The ratio R = σl/σt deduced from the decay angular distributions rises strongly with Q2, passing the value of 1 at Q2≈ 2 GeV2.
The ratio of π+p to pp elastic scattering is found to be smoothly varying over the range −t=0.03 to 0.4 GeV2. It is well fitted by a single exponential, indicating the forward behavior must be quite similar for the two reactions.
We present a summary of the physics results from an experimental study of the reaction π−p→π−π+n at 100 and 175 GeV/c incident-beam momentum. Our data show the continuing dominance of one-pion exchange in these reactions with the characteristic 1Plab2 momentum dependence. We extract the pion Regge trajectory from our data on π−p→ρ0n and study the zero structure of the ππ differential cross section up to sππ=12 GeV2.
The reaction K−p→K¯0π−p has been studied at 100 and 175 GeV/c and the reaction π−p→K0K−p at 50, 100, and 175 GeV/c. Both reactions are dominated by production of resonances, K*(890), K*(1430) and A2(1320), A2(2040), respectively. Production cross sections, t distributions, and decay-angular distributions are studied. Isoscalar natural-parity exchange is dominant. The energy dependence of the K* and A2 resonance production between 10 and 175 GeV/c is well described by a Regge-pole model. Our data on A2 corrects that in an earlier paper.
The reaction π−p→K0K−p has been measured from 50 to 175 GeV/c. The production characteristics of the A2 have been analyzed. We find spin and t dependence similar to lower energies, but the cross section falls rapidly with energy. In a Regge description of π−p→A2−p our data imply a rather small Pomeron-exchange component.
Evidence of anomalous WW and WZ production was sought in pbar{p} collisions at a center-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 1.8 TeV. The final states $WW (WZ) to mu-nu-jet-jet + X, WZ to mu-nu-e-e + X and WZ to e-nu-e-e + X were studied using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of approximately 90 pb-1. No evidence of anomalous diboson production was found. Limits were set on anomalous WWgamma and WWZ couplings and were combined with our previous results. The combined 95% confidence level anomalous coupling limits for Lambda=2 TeV are -0.25 LE Delta-kappa LE 0.39 (lambda=0) and -0.18 LE lambda LE 0.19 (Delta \kappa = 0), assuming the WWgamma couplings are equal to the WWZ couplings.
We describe a search for the pair production of first-generation scalar and vector leptoquarks in the eejj and enujj channels by the D0 Collaboration. The data are from the 1992--1996 ppbar run at sqrt{s} = 1.8 TeV at the Fermilab Tevatron collider. We find no evidence for leptoquark production; in addition, no kinematically interesting events are observed using relaxed selection criteria. The results from the eejj and enujj channels are combined with those from a previous D0 analysis of the nunujj channel to obtain 95% confidence level (C.L.) upper limits on the leptoquark pair-production cross section as a function of mass and of beta, the branching fraction to a charged lepton. These limits are compared to next-to-leading-order theory to set 95% C.L. lower limits on the mass of a first-generation scalar leptoquark of 225, 204, and 79 GeV/c^2 for beta=1, 1/2, and 0, respectively. For vector leptoquarks with gauge (Yang-Mills) couplings, 95% C.L. lower limits of 345, 337, and 206 GeV/c^2 are set on the mass for beta=1, 1/2, and 0, respectively. Mass limits for vector leptoquarks are also set for anomalous vector couplings.
We search for Higgs bosons produced in association with a massive vector boson in 91±7pb−1 of pp¯ collisions at s=1.8TeV recorded by the Collider Detector at Fermilab. We assume the Higgs scalar H0 decays to a bb¯ pair with branching ratio β, and we consider the hadronic decays of the vector boson V ( W or Z). Observations are consistent with background expectations. We place 95% confidence level upper limits on σ(pp¯→H0V)β as a function of the scalar mass (MH0) over the range 70<MH0<140GeV/c2. When combined with an analysis of the case where V is a leptonically decaying W, these limits vary from 23 pb at MH0=70GeV/c2 to 17 pb at MH0=140GeV/c2.
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