An experiment to measure the electromagnetic form factor of the negative π meson has been carried out at Fermilab by elastically scattering 100-GeV/c pions from the atomic electrons in a liquid-hydrogen target. We find that the elastic differential scattering cross section is characterized by a root-mean-square pion charge radius of 0.56±0.04 fm. This paper described our experimental design, measurement resolutions, event triggering logic, event reconstruction, experimental corrections, and form-factor results.
We have measured the electromagnetic form factor of the charged pion by direct scattering of 100-GeV/c π− from stationary electrons in a liquid-hydrogen target at Fermilab. The deviations from the pointlike pion-scattering cross section may be characterized by a root-mean-square charge radius for the pion of 〈rπ2〉12=0.56±0.04 F.
The yields and average transverse momenta of pions, kaons, and antiprotons produced at the Fermilab p¯p collider at s=300, 540, 1000, and 1800 GeV are presented and compared with data from the energies reached at the CERN collider. We also present data on the dependence of average transverse momentum 〈pt〉 and particle ratios as a function of charged particle density dNcdη; data for particle densities as high as six times the average value, corresponding to a Bjorken energy density 6 GeV/fm3, are reported. These data are relevant to the search for quark-gluon phase of QCD.