Results on $\phi$ meson production in inelastic p+p collisions at CERN SPS energies are presented. They are derived from data collected by the NA61/SHINE fixed target experiment, by means of invariant mass spectra fits in the $\phi \to K^+K^-$ decay channel. They include the first ever measured double differential spectra of $\phi$ mesons as a function of rapidity $y$ and transverse momentum $p_T$ for proton beam momenta of 80 GeV/c and 158 GeV/c, as well as single differential spectra of $y$ or $p_T$ for beam momentum of 40 GeV/c. The corresponding total $\phi$ yields per inelastic p+p event are obtained. These results are compared with existing data on $\phi$ meson production in p+p collisions. The comparison shows consistency but superior accuracy of the present measurements. The emission of $\phi$ mesons in p+p reactions is confronted with that occurring in Pb+Pb collisions, and the experimental results are compared with model predictions. It appears that none of the considered models can properly describe all the experimental observables.
The production of $\Xi(1321)^{-}$ and $\overline{\Xi}(1321)^{+}$ hyperons in inelastic p+p interactions is studied in a fixed target experiment at a beam momentum of 158 GeV/textitc. Double differential distributions in rapidity y and transverse momentum $p_{T}$ are obtained from a sample of 33M inelastic events. They allow to extrapolate the spectra to full phase space and to determine the mean multiplicity of both $\Xi^{-}$ and $\overline{\Xi}^{+}$. The rapidity and transverse momentum spectra are compared to transport model predictions. The $\Xi^{-}$ mean multiplicity in inelastic p+p interactions at 158~\GeVc is used to quantify the strangeness enhancement in A+A collisions at the same centre-of-mass energy per nucleon pair.
We report on the production characteristics and total cross section for 9 beauty hadron pairs produced by a 600 GeV/ c π − beam, the first such information in this energy region. The events were detected in the hybrid emulsion spectrometer of Fermilab Experiment E653. The measured pair cross section for all χ F , assuming linear A dependence, is 33±11 (stat.)±6(syst.) nb/nucleon. Fits of the inclusive single-hadron production distribution to the forms d σ d χ F ∝ (1−|χ F −χ 0 |) n and d σ d p T 2 ∝ exp (−bp t 2 ) give n=5.0 −2.1−1.7 +2.7+1.7 , χ 0 =0.06 −0.07−0.03 +0.06+0.02 , and b=0.13 −0.04−0.02 +0.05+0.02 ( GeV /c −2 . .The pairs tend to be produced back-to-back.
We present total and differential cross sections for charm mesons produced in 600 GeV/ c π - emulsion interactions. Fits to d 2 σ / dx F dp T 2 ∞ (1−| x F |) n exp (- bp T 2 ) for 676 electronically reconstructed D mesons with x F >0 give n =4.25±0.24 ( stat .)±0.23 ( syst .) and b =0.76±0.03±0.03 ( GeV / c ) -2 . The total inclusive D + and D 0 cross sections are σ ( π - N → D ± ; x F >0) = 8.66±0.46±1.96 μb nucleon and σ(π - N→D 0 D 0 ; x F >0)=22.05±1.37±4.82μb nucleonk, where a linear dependence on the mean atomic weight of the target is assumed. These results are compared to next-to-leading order QCD predictions.
We report results on D 0 and D + production in proton-emulsion interactions at s =38.7 GeV. A fit to the form (1−| x F |) n exp (−bp 2 T ) yields n=6.9 +1.9 −1.8 and b=0.84 +0.10 −0.08 (GeV/ c ) −2 . The total inclusive cross section, is assuming linear A dependence, is measured to be 38±3(stat.) ±13 (sys.) μ b for the D 0 and 38±9±14 μ b for the D + . A comparison of these results with previous measurements indicates that nuclear effects do not strongly influence charm production. The predictions of QCD are in good agreement with our data.
We present results on charm pair correlations measured in proton-emulsion interactions at s =38.7 GeV. The predictions of leading order QCD for the distributions in invariant mass, rapidity gap, x F , and polar angle in the charm pair CMS are qualitatively consistent with our measurements. The mean p T of the pairs is equal within errors to that measured in dilepton production at the same energy and mass range.
Measurements of the $\pi^{\pm}$, $K^{\pm}$, and proton double differential yields emitted from the surface of the 90-cm-long carbon target (T2K replica) were performed for the incoming 31 GeV/c protons with the NA61/SHINE spectrometer at the CERN SPS using data collected during 2010 run. The double differential $\pi^{\pm}$ yields were measured with increased precision compared to the previously published NA61/SHINE results, while the $K^{\pm}$ and proton yields were obtained for the first time. A strategy for dealing with the dependence of the results on the incoming proton beam profile is proposed. The purpose of these measurements is to reduce significantly the (anti)neutrino flux uncertainty in the T2K long-baseline neutrino experiment by constraining the production of (anti)neutrino ancestors coming from the T2K target.
A search for charm production in the coherent diffractive dissociation reaction pSi→XSi was carried out for the modes D 0 → K − π + , D 0 → K − π + π + π − , and D + → K − π + π + . No charm signals were observed, and the 90% confidence level upper limit for coherent charm pair production was determined to be 26 μ b per silicon nucleus. The results are interpreted as an upper limit of 0.2% on the amount of intrinsic charm in the proton.
We have found 122 charmed-particle decays among 3855 neutrino interactions located in the fiducial volume of a hybrid emulsion spectrometer installed in the Fermilab wide-band neutrino beam. We obtain an average relative charmed-particle production cross section of σ(ν μ → c μ − ) σ(ν μ →μ − ) =4.9 −0.6 +0.7 % , at an average neutrino energy of 22 GeV. We also obtain a production rate of σ(ν μ → c c ν μ ) σ(ν μ →ν μ ) =0.13 −0.11 +0.31 % , if we assume that there was an undetected muon, a limit of σ(ν μ → c c μ − ) σ(ν μ → c μ − )<3% (90% CL ) can be obtained. Other cross section ratios and limits are also presented.
The measurement of $K^{*}(892)^0$ resonance production via its $K^{+}\pi^{-}$ decay mode in inelastic p+p collisions at beam momentum 158 GeV/$c$ ($\sqrt{s_{NN}}=17.3$ GeV) is presented. The data were recorded by the NA61/SHINE hadron spectrometer at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron. The $\textit{template}$ method was used to extract the $K^{*}(892)^0$ signal and double differential transverse momentum and rapidity spectra were obtained. The full phase-space mean multiplicity of $K^{*}(892)^0$ mesons was found to be $(78.44 \pm 0.38 \mathrm{(stat)} \pm 6.0 \mathrm{(sys)) \cdot 10^{-3}}$. The NA61/SHINE results are compared with the E$_{POS}$1.99 and Hadron Resonance Gas models as well as with world data from p+p and nucleus-nucleus collisions.