The reactions π − p → p π − and π − p → p ϱ − ( ϱ − → π − π 0 ) at 10 GeV/ c with the proton in the forward direction in the c.m.s. are discussed on the basis of 953 elastic scattering events and 2240 events of the reaction π − p → p π − π 0 . The total backward cross sections are 0.52±0.10 and 1.52±0.28 μ b, respectively. In both cases the production mechanism is compatible with the dominance of the baryonic Δ δ Regge trajectory exchange. The ϱ − decay angular distributions are studied in the u -channel helicity frame and the spin density matrix elements are presented as functions of u .
The WA94 experiment uses the production of strange particles and antiparticles to investigate the properties of hot hadronic matter created in heavy-ion interactions. Λ, Λ , Ξ − and Ξ + particle yields and transverse mass spectra are presented for pS interactions. These results are compared with those from SS interactions. Our results are also compared with those from pW and SW interactions of the WA85 experiment.
Charged particle production in central S-S collisions at 200 GeV/ c per nucleon has been studied by the WA94 experiment at the CERN-SPS. Particle identification has been provided by the Omega RICH, while a silicon telescope in the Omega spectrometer and an array of MultiWire Proportional Chambers have been used to trace particles through the RICH detector. Production ratios and transverse mass spectra for π ± , K ± and p( p ) at central rapidity and p T > 1.3 GeV/ c are presented.
Λ , Ξ and Ω yields and transverse mass spectra have been measured in Pb-Pb and p-Pb collisions at 158 A GeV/ c . The yields in Pb-Pb interactions are presented as a function of the collision centrality and compared with those obtained from p-Pb collisions. Strangeness enhancement is observed which increases with centrality and with the strangeness content of the hyperon.
Preliminary results from WA97 measurements on Λ, Ξ and Ω production in lead-lead and proton-lead collisions are presented, along with a comparison of WA97 proton-lead data with previous WA85 proton-tungsten results. The ratio Ω gX seems to be enhanced in lead initiated reactions compared to proton initiated reactions.
The NA44 Collaboration has measured yields and differential distributions of K+, K-, pi+, pi- in transverse kinetic energy and rapidity, around the center-of-mass rapidity in 158 A GeV/c Pb+Pb collisions at the CERN SPS. A considerable enhancement of K+ production per pi is observed, as compared to p+p collisions at this energy. To illustrate the importance of secondary hadron rescattering as an enhancement mechanism, we compare strangeness production at the SPS and AGS with predictions of the transport model RQMD.
The production ofπ0 andη mesons has been studied in the reactions20Ne +Al at 350 MeV/u and40Ar + Ca at 1.0 GeV/u. Rapidity distributions and transverse momentum spectra have been measured and are compared to thermal distributions.
Transverse mass spectra of pions, kaons, and protons from the symmetric heavy-ion collisions 200 A GeV S+S and 158 A GeV Pb+Pb, measured in the NA44 focusing spectrometer at CERN, are presented. The mass dependence of the slope parameters provides evidence of collective transverse flow from expansion of the system in heavy-ion induced central collisions.
The production of neutrons carrying at least 20% of the proton beam energy ($\xl > 0.2$) in $e^+p$ collisions has been studied with the ZEUS detector at HERA for a wide range of $Q^2$, the photon virtuality, from photoproduction to deep inelastic scattering. The neutron-tagged cross section, $e p\to e' X n$, is measured relative to the inclusive cross section, $e p\to e' X$, thereby reducing the systematic uncertainties. For $\xl >$ 0.3, the rate of neutrons in photoproduction is about half of that measured in hadroproduction, which constitutes a clear breaking of factorisation. There is about a 20% rise in the neutron rate between photoproduction and deep inelastic scattering, which may be attributed to absorptive rescattering in the $\gamma p$ system. For $0.64 < \xl < 0.82$, the rate of neutrons is almost independent of the Bjorken scaling variable $x$ and $Q^2$. However, at lower and higher $\xl$ values, there is a clear but weak dependence on these variables, thus demonstrating the breaking of limiting fragmentation. The neutron-tagged structure function, ${{F}^{\rm\tiny LN(3)}_2}(x,Q^2,\xl)$, rises at low values of $x$ in a way similar to that of the inclusive \ff of the proton. The total $\gamma \pi$ cross section and the structure function of the pion, $F^{\pi}_2(x_\pi,Q^2)$ where $x_\pi = x/(1-\xl)$, have been determined using a one-pion-exchange model, up to uncertainties in the normalisation due to the poorly understood pion flux. At fixed $Q^2$, $F^{\pi}_2$ has approximately the same $x$ dependence as $F_2$ of the proton.
Data on φ -production obtained by the CERN NA49 experiment for central Pb+Pb collisions at 158 GeV/u are presented. Compared with pp interactions the φ -yield shows substantial strangeness enhancement: the φ /π ratio is found to increase by a factor of 2.6 ± 0.6, which is approximately the square of the K/π enhancement.