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.
Transverse momentum-rapidity spectrum of pi− produced in inelastic p+p interactions at 31 GeV/c with systematic uncertainties.
The proton is composed of quarks and gluons, bound by the most elusive mechanism of strong interaction called confinement. In this work, the dynamics of quarks and gluons are investigated using deeply virtual Compton scattering (DVCS): produced by a multi-GeV electron, a highly virtual photon scatters off the proton which subsequently radiates a high energy photon. Similarly to holography, measuring not only the magnitude but also the phase of the DVCS amplitude allows to perform 3D images of the internal structure of the proton. The phase is made accessible through the quantum-mechanical interference of DVCS with the Bethe-Heitler (BH) process, in which the final photon is emitted by the electron rather than the proton. We report herein the first full determination of the BH-DVCS interference by exploiting the distinct energy dependences of the DVCS and BH amplitudes. In the high energy regime where the scattering process is expected to occur off a single quark in the proton, these accurate measurements show an intriguing sensitivity to gluons, the carriers of the strong interaction.
Beam helicity dependent cross sections. The first systematic uncertainty is the combined correlated systematic uncertainty, the second is the point-to-point systematic uncertainty to add quadratically to the statistical uncertainty.
We present a measurement of the production of muon pairs in 194 GeV/c π−-tungsten interactions. A sample of 155,000 events with mass higher than 4.07 GeV/c2 has been used to determine the differential cross-section as a function of the scaling variables\(\sqrt \tau\) andxF.
The differential cross section ${\rm d}^2\sigma/{\rm d}\sqrt{\tau}{\rm d}x$ as a function of $x$ in the $\sqrt{\tau}$ = 0.24-0.27 interval for muon pair production in 286 GeV $\pi^-$-tungsten interactions as measured by the CERN-NA10 experiment. The errors quoted are statistical only and no backgrounds have been subtracted. The systematic errors are dominated by the uncertainties in the flux (4%), in the efficiencies (5%), and in the absorption cross section for W. These data complement those given at 194 GeV but did not appear in the paper (Betev et al., <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01550243">Z.Phys. C28 (1985) 9</a>). The numbers here are the result of the re-analysis by the NA10 experimenters using a better estimate of Fermi motion effects.
A semi-inclusive measurement of charged hadron multiplicities in deep inelastic muon scattering off an isoscalar target was performed using data collected by the COMPASS Collaboration at CERN. The following kinematic domain is covered by the data: photon virtuality $Q^{2}>1$ (GeV/$c$)$^2$, invariant mass of the hadronic system $W > 5$ GeV/$c^2$, Bjorken scaling variable in the range $0.003 < x < 0.4$, fraction of the virtual photon energy carried by the hadron in the range $0.2 < z < 0.8$, square of the hadron transverse momentum with respect to the virtual photon direction in the range 0.02 (GeV/$c)^2 < P_{\rm{hT}}^{2} < 3$ (GeV/$c$)$^2$. The multiplicities are presented as a function of $P_{\rm{hT}}^{2}$ in three-dimensional bins of $x$, $Q^2$, $z$ and compared to previous semi-inclusive measurements. We explore the small-$P_{\rm{hT}}^{2}$ region, i.e. $P_{\rm{hT}}^{2} < 1$ (GeV/$c$)$^2$, where hadron transverse momenta are expected to arise from non-perturbative effects, and also the domain of larger $P_{\rm{hT}}^{2}$, where contributions from higher-order perturbative QCD are expected to dominate. The multiplicities are fitted using a single-exponential function at small $P_{\rm{hT}}^{2}$ to study the dependence of the average transverse momentum $\langle P_{\rm{hT}}^{2}\rangle$ on $x$, $Q^2$ and $z$. The power-law behaviour of the multiplicities at large $P_{\rm{hT}}^{2}$ is investigated using various functional forms. The fits describe the data reasonably well over the full measured range.
About 10 μs after the Big Bang, the universe was filled—in addition to photons and leptons—with strong-interaction matter consisting of quarks and gluons, which transitioned to hadrons at temperatures close to kT = 150 MeV and densities several times higher than those found in nuclei. This quantum chromodynamics (QCD) matter can be created in the laboratory as a transient state by colliding heavy ions at relativistic energies. The different phases in which QCD matter may exist depend for example on temperature, pressure or baryochemical potential, and can be probed by studying the emission of electromagnetic radiation. Electron–positron pairs emerge from the decay of virtual photons, which immediately decouple from the strong interaction, and thus provide information about the properties of QCD matter at various stages. Here, we report the observation of virtual photon emission from baryon-rich QCD matter. The spectral distribution of the electron–positron pairs is nearly exponential, providing evidence for a source of temperature in excess of 70 MeV with constituents whose properties have been modified, thus reflecting peculiarities of strong-interaction QCD matter. Its bulk properties are similar to the dense matter formed in the final state of a neutron star merger, as apparent from recent multimessenger observation.
Reconstructed $e^{+} e^{-}$ mass distribution from Au+Au collisions.
Reconstructed $e^{+} e^{-}$ mass distribution from Au+Au collisions.
Reconstructed $e^{+} e^{-}$ mass distribution from Au+Au collisions.
We report the measurement of the $\gamma p \rightarrow K^{+}\Lambda$ and $\gamma p \rightarrow K^{+}\Sigma^{0}$ reactions at SPring-8. The differential cross sections and photon-beam asymmetries are measured at forward $K^{+}$ production angles using linearly polarized tagged-photon beams in the range of $E_{\gamma}=1.5$--3.0 GeV. With increasing photon energy, the cross sections for both $\gamma p \rightarrow K^{+}\Lambda$ and $\gamma p \rightarrow K^{+}\Sigma^{0}$ reactions decrease slowly. Distinct narrow structures in the production cross section have not been found at $E_{\gamma}=1.5$--3.0 GeV. The forward peaking in the angular distributions of cross sections, a characteristic feature of $t$-channel exchange, is observed for the production of $\Lambda$ in the whole observed energy range. A lack of similar feature for $\Sigma^{0}$ production reflects a less dominant role of $t$-channel contribution in this channel. The photon-beam asymmetries remain positive for both reactions, suggesting the dominance of $K^{*}$ exchange in the $t$ channel. These asymmetries increase gradually with the photon energy, and have a maximum value of +0.6 for both reactions. Comparison with theoretical predictions based on the Regge trajectory in the $t$ channel and the contributions of nucleon resonances indicates the major role of $t$-channel contributions as well as non-negligible effects of nucleon resonances in accounting for the reaction mechanism of hyperon photoproduction in this photon energy regime.
Differential cross sections for the GAMMA P --> K+ LAMBDA reaction as a function of |t-tmin| for 2.8 < Egamma < 2.9 GeV.
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.
Double differential yiedls of positively charged pions emitted from the surface of the T2K replica target, in the polar angle range from 120 to 140 mrad and in the longitudinal range from 18 to 36cm, as a function of momentum. The normalization is per proton on target.
This paper describes a measurement of light-by-light scattering based on Pb+Pb collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment during Run 2 of the LHC. The study uses $2.2$ nb$^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity collected in 2015 and 2018 at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}=5.02$ TeV. Light-by-light scattering candidates are selected in events with two photons produced exclusively, each with transverse energy $E_{\mathrm{T}}^{\gamma} > 2.5$ GeV, pseudorapidity $|\eta_{\gamma}| < 2.37$, diphoton invariant mass $m_{\gamma\gamma} > 5$ GeV, and with small diphoton transverse momentum and diphoton acoplanarity. The integrated and differential fiducial cross sections are measured and compared with theoretical predictions. The diphoton invariant mass distribution is used to set limits on the production of axion-like particles. This result provides the most stringent limits to date on axion-like particle production for masses in the range 6-100 GeV. Cross sections above 2 to 70 nb are excluded at the 95% CL in that mass interval.
Measured differential fiducial cross sections of $\gamma\gamma \rightarrow \gamma\gamma$ production in Pb+Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV for diphoton invariant mass are shown as points with error bars giving the statistical uncertainty and grey bands indicating the size of the total uncertainty. The results are compared with the prediction from the SuperChic v3.0 MC generator (solid line) with bands denoting the theoretical uncertainty.
Measured normalised differential fiducial cross sections of $\gamma\gamma \rightarrow \gamma\gamma$ production in Pb+Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV for diphoton invariant mass are shown as points with error bars giving the statistical uncertainty and grey bands indicating the size of the total uncertainty. The results are compared with the prediction from the SuperChic v3.0 MC generator (solid line).
Measured differential fiducial cross sections of $\gamma\gamma \rightarrow \gamma\gamma$ production in Pb+Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV for diphoton $|cos(\theta*)|$ are shown as points with error bars giving the statistical uncertainty and grey bands indicating the size of the total uncertainty. The results are compared with the prediction from the SuperChic v3.0 MC generator (solid line) with bands denoting the theoretical uncertainty.
The standard model (SM) of particle physics is spectacularly successful, yet the measured value of the muon anomalous magnetic moment $(g-2)_\mu$ deviates from SM calculations by 3.6$\sigma$. Several theoretical models attribute this to the existence of a "dark photon," an additional U(1) gauge boson, which is weakly coupled to ordinary photons. The PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider has searched for a dark photon, $U$, in $\pi^0,\eta \rightarrow \gamma e^+e^-$ decays and obtained upper limits of $\mathcal{O}(2\times10^{-6})$ on $U$-$\gamma$ mixing at 90% CL for the mass range $30<m_U<90$ MeV/$c^2$. Combined with other experimental limits, the remaining region in the $U$-$\gamma$ mixing parameter space that can explain the $(g-2)_\mu$ deviation from its SM value is nearly completely excluded at the 90% confidence level, with only a small region of $29<m_U<32$ MeV/$c^2$ remaining.
The experimental sensitivity and observed limit on the number of dark photon candidates as a function of the assumed dark photon mass.
The fixed-target MIPP experiment, Fermilab E907, was designed to measure the production of hadrons from the collisions of hadrons of momenta ranging from 5 to 120 GeV/c on a variety of nuclei. These data will generally improve the simulation of particle detectors and predictions of particle beam fluxes at accelerators. The spectrometer momentum resolution is between 3 and 4%, and particle identification is performed for particles ranging between 0.3 and 80 GeV/c using $dE/dx$, time-of-flight and Cherenkov radiation measurements. MIPP collected $1.42 \times10^6$ events of 120 GeV Main Injector protons striking a target used in the NuMI facility at Fermilab. The data have been analyzed and we present here charged pion yields per proton-on-target determined in bins of longitudinal and transverse momentum between 0.5 and 80 GeV/c, with combined statistical and systematic relative uncertainties between 5 and 10%.
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