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.
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.
The NA61/SHINE experiment at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) studies the onset of deconfinement in hadron matter by a scan of particle production in collisions of nuclei with various sizes at a set of energies covering the SPS energy range. This paper presents results on inclusive double-differential spectra, transverse momentum and rapidity distributions and mean multiplicities of $\pi^\pm$, $K^\pm$, $p$ and $\bar{p}$ produced in the 20$\%$ most $central$$^7$Be+$^9$Be collisions at beam momenta of 19$A$, 30$A$, 40$A$, 75$A$ and 150$A$ GeV/$c$. The energy dependence of the $K^\pm$/$\pi^\pm$ ratios as well as of inverse slope parameters of the $K^\pm$ transverse mass distributions are close to those found in inelastic $p$+$p$ reactions. The new results are compared to the world data on $p$+$p$ and Pb+Pb collisions as well as to predictions of the EPOS, UrQMD, AMPT, PHSD and SMASH models.
The NA61/SHINE collaboration studies at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) the onset of deconfinement in hadronic matter by the measurement of particle production in collisions of nuclei with various sizes at a set of energies covering the SPS energy range. This paper presents results on inclusive double-differential spectra and mean multiplicities of $\pi^{-}$ mesons produced in the 5\% most \textit{central} $^7$Be+$^9$Be collisions at beam momenta of 19$A$, 30$A$, 40$A$, 75$A$ and 150$A$ GeV/$c$ obtained by the so-called $h^-$ method which does not require any particle identification. The shape of the transverse mass spectra differs from the shapes measured in central Pb+Pb collisions and inelastic p+p interactions. The normalized width of the rapidity distribution decreases with increasing collision energy and is in between the results for inelastic nucleon-nucleon and central Pb+Pb collisions. The mean multiplicity of pions per wounded nucleon in \textit{central} $^7$Be+$^9$Be collisions is close to that in central Pb+Pb collisions up to 75$A$GeV/$c$. However, at the top SPS energy the result is close to the one for inelastic nucleon-nucleon interactions. The results are discussed in the context of predictions for the onset of deconfinement at the CERN SPS collision energies.
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