Search

We have measured excitation functions for the d+p->3He+X, (X=pi0, eta) channels near the eta production threshold. The data were taken during a slow ramping of the COSY internal deuteron beam scattered on a proton target. The excitation function for the reaction d+p->3He+pi0 does not show any structure which could originate from the decay of 3He-eta bound state. We measured also the threshold excitation curve for the d+p->3He+X process, however, contrary to the SATURNE results, we observe no cusp near the eta threshold., Comment: Talk given at 18th International IUPAP Conference on Few-Body Problems in Physics, 21-26 August, 2006, Santos, Brazil, 4 pages, 6 figures, will be published in Nuclear Physics A

Preliminary results of recent measurements of the near threshold eta meson production in the dp-->dp eta reaction are presented. The experiment was performed at the COSY-Juelich accelerator with the use of the COSY-11 detection system. Data were taken for three values of deuteron beam momenta corresponding to excess energies of 3.2, 6.1 and 9.2 MeV. The energy dependence of the total cross section confirms a strong effect of the final state interaction., Comment: Talk given at 9th International Workshop on Meson Production, Properties and Interaction, Cracow, Poland, 9-13 June 2006. 5 pages, 3 figures

Measurements of the analysing power for the p(pol)p --> ppeta reaction have been performed in the close-to-threshold energy region at beam momenta of p_{beam}=2.010 and 2.085 GeV/c, corresponding to excess energies of Q=10 and 36 MeV, respectively. The determined analysing power is essentially consistent with zero implying that the eta meson is produced predominantly in the s-wave at both excess energies. The angular dependence of the analysing power, combined with the hitherto determined isospin dependence of the total cross section for the eta meson production in nucleon-nucleon collisions, reveal a statistically significant indication that the excitation of the nucleon to the S_{11}(1535) resonance, the process which intermediates the production of the eta meson, is predominantly due to the exchange of the pi meson between the colliding nucleons., Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, content added

The low emittance and small momentum spread of the proton and deuteron beams of the Cooler Synchrotron COSY combined with the high mass resolution of the COSY-11 detection system permit to study the creation of mesons in the nucleon-nucleon interaction down to the fraction of MeV with respect to the kinematical threshold. At such small excess energies, the ejectiles possess low relative momenta and are predominantly produced with the relative angular momentum equal to zero. Taking advantage of these conditions we have performed investigations aiming to determine the mechanism of the production of eta and eta' mesons in the collision of hadrons as well as the hadronic interaction of these mesons with nucleons and nuclei. In this proceedings we address the ongoing studies of the spin and isospin dependence for the production of the eta and eta' mesons in free and quasi-free nucleon-nucleon collisions. New results on the spin observables for the vec(p)p --> pp eta reaction, combined with the previously determined total cross section isospin dependence, reveal a statistically significant indication that the excitation of the nucleon to the S11(1535) resonance, the process which intermediates the production of the eta meson in the nucleon-nucleon interactions, is predominantly due to the exchange of the pi meson between the colliding nucleons., Comment: Invited talk at MESON 2006: 9th International Workshop on Meson Production, Properties and Interactions, Cracow, Poland, 9-13 Jun 2006

Simple--minded thoughts about the cross sections for the reactions pp-->ppK+K- and pp-->ppK0K0 are presented, which certainly do not account for the complex coupled channel problem but rather provide some ideas into the mutual reaction dynamics., Comment: Talk given at 9th International Workshop on Meson Production, Properties and Interaction, Cracow, Poland, 9-13 June 2006. 3 pages, 2 figures

Information about the production mechanism of the eta meson in proton-proton collisions can be inferred by confronting the experimental studies on the analysing power for the p(pol)p --> pp eta reaction with the theoretical predictions of this observable. Results show that the predictions of pure pseudoscalar- or vector meson exchange model are insufficient to describe the analysing powers., Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, Presented at MESON 2006: 9th International Workshop on Meson Production, Properties and Interactions, Cracow, Poland, 9-13 Jun 2006

Sigma+ hyperon production was measured at the COSY-11 spectrometer via the p p --> n K+ Sigma+ reaction at excess energies of Q = 13 MeV and Q = 60 MeV. These measurements continue systematic hyperon production studies via the p p --> p K+ Lambda/Sigma0 reactions where a strong decrease of the cross section ratio close-to-threshold was observed. In order to verify models developed for the description of the Lambda and Sigma0 production we have performed the measurement on the Sigma+ hyperon and found unexpectedly that the total cross section is by more than one order of magnitude larger than predicted by all anticipated models. After the reconstruction of the kaon and neutron four momenta, the Sigma+ is identified via the missing mass technique. Details of the method and the measurement will be given and discussed in view of theoretical models., Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures, Phys. Lett. B in print, in the second version a minor editorial changes have been made by a native speaking proofreader and a note in proof has been added with an additional reference

The high statistics data from the pp -> ppeta reaction measurement, delivered by the COSY-11 collaboration, are now being evaluated using the correlation femtoscopy technique. This method is based on the relative momentum correlations of two emitted protons and may permit determination of the size of the reaction volume. For the very first time, we apply an intensity interferometry technique to study the mechanism of the meson production via the nucleon-nucleon interaction close to the kinematical threshold. We invented a method to determine correlation function for the ppeta system free from the physical multi-pion production background. We show the comparison of experimental results with theoretical predictions and appraise the accuracy achieved for the determination of the size of the emission source., Comment: Talk presented at Eta05: Workshop on Production and Decay of eta and eta-prime Mesons, Cracow, Poland, 15-18 Sep 2005

We present preliminary results from dp --> 3He X (X=pi0,eta) measurements near the eta production threshold. The data were taken during a slow ramping of the COSY internal deuteron beam scattered on a proton target. The 3He ejectiles were registered with the COSY-11 detection setup. The ongoing data analysis should deliver high precision data for the dp --> 3He eta total and differential cross sections for the excess energies in the range from threshold up to 9 MeV. The preliminary excitation function for the reaction dp --> 3He pi0 does not show any structure which could originate from the decay of 3He-eta bound state. We present also a threshold excitation curve for the dp --> 3He X channel. Contrary to corresponding results from SATURNE we see no cusp in the vicinity of the eta threshold., Comment: 8 pages; 5 figures; Talk at Eta05 Workshop on Production and Decay of eta and eta-prime Mesons, Cracow, Poland, 15-18 Sep 2005; Acta Phys. Slovaca, in print

The analyzing power A_y for the p(pol)p --> pp eta reaction has been determined at the beam momentum p_{beam}=2010 MeV/c, corresponding to the excess energy Q=10 MeV. In the paper the method of the data analysis is briefly presented., Comment: 10 pages; 9 figures; Talk at Eta05 Workshop on Production and Decay of eta and eta-prime Mesons, Cracow, Poland, 15-18 Sep 2005; Acta Phys. Slovaca, in print

The relative angle correlation of intermediate mass fragments has been studied for p+Au collisions at 3.6 GeV. Strong suppression at small angles is observed caused by IMF-IMF Coulomb repulsion. Experimental correlation function is compared to that obtained by the multi-body Coulomb trajectory calculations with the various decay time of fragmenting system. The combined model including the empirically modified intranuclear cascade followed by statistical multifragmentation was used to generate starting conditions for these calculations. The model dependence of the results obtained has been carefully checked. The mean decay time of fragmenting system is found to be 85 +- 50 fm/c., Comment: Proceedings of IWM 2005, Catania, Italy

The total cross section of the reaction pp->ppK+K- has been measured at excess energies Q=10 MeV and 28 MeV with the magnetic spectrometer COSY-11. The new data show a significant enhancement of the total cross section compared to pure phase space expectations or calculations within a one boson exchange model. In addition, we present invariant mass spectra of two particle subsystems. While the K+K- system is rather constant for different invariant masses, there is an enhancement in the pK- system towards lower masses which could at least be partially connected to the influence of the Lambda(1405) resonance., Comment: accepted for publication in Phys. Lett. B

Thermal multifragmentation of hot nuclei is interpreted as the nuclear liquid--fog phase transition deep inside the spinodal region. The experimental data for p(8.1GeV) + Au collisions are analyzed. It is concluded that the decay process of hot nuclei is characterized by two size parameters: transition state and freeze-out volumes. The similarity between dynamics of fragmentation and ordinary fission is discussed. The IMF emission time is related to the mean rupture time at the multi-scission point, which corresponds to the kinetic freeze-out configuration., Comment: 7 pages, 3 Postscript figures, Proceedings of IWM 2005, Catania

Measurement of the d + d -> 4He + eta reaction using vector and tensor polarised beam has been performed at COSY using Big Karl magnetic spectrograph. The beam polarisation necessary for obtaining the vector and tensor analysing power for this reaction was measured. The method and the results of the tensor polarisation measurement of the deuteron beam are presented., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures Talk presented at the XI Workshop on High Energy Spin Physics, Dubna, Russia, 27 Sep - 1 Oct 2005

The separation of contributions from multi- and single-meson production in the missing mass spectrum of the quasi-free pn --> pnX reaction constitutes a~challenging task when the reaction is studied close to threshold. This is especially true if the resolution of the mass determination is comparable with the excess energy and if the investigated signal appears close to the kinematical limit. In this article we outline a method which permits the extraction of the signal originating from the creation of a single meson without the necessity of conducting model-dependent simulations. For the pd --> pnXp(spectator) reactions, the method allows one to combine events corresponding to multi-meson production at various excess energies with respect to the pn --> pn meson process, and hence leads to an increase of the statistics needed for the determination of the shape of the multi-meson background. As an example of the application of the method, we demonstrate that the evaluation of the data from the pd --> pnXp(sp) process according to the described technique enables one to extract a signal of the pn --> pn eta reaction whose shape is consistent with expectations, supporting the correctness and usefulness of the method introduced., Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures

According to the quark model, the masses of eta and eta' mesons should be almost equal. However, the empirical values of these masses differ by more than the factor of two. Similarly, though the almost the same quark-antiquark content, the total cross section for the creation of these mesons close to the kinematical thresholds in the pp --> ppX reaction differs significantly. Using the COSY-11 detection setup we intend to determine whether this difference will also be so significant in the case of the production of these mesons in the proton-neutron scattering. Additionally, the comparison of the pp --> pp eta' and pn --> pn eta' total cross sections will allow to learn about the production of the eta' meson in the channels of isospin I = 0 and I = 1 and to investigate aspects of the gluonium component of the eta' meson., Comment: Presented at LEAP05: International conference on Low Energy Antiproton Physics, Bonn - Juelich, Germany, May 16-22, 2005

The COSY-11 experimental setup is an internal facility installed at the COoler SYnchrotron COSY in Juelich. It allows to investigate meson production in free and quasi-free nucleon-nucleon collisions, eg. pp --> pp meson and pd --> p_sp np meson reactions. Drift chambers and scintillators permit to measure outgoing protons, separated in magnetic field of COSY-11 dipole. Neutrons are registered in the neutron modular detector installed downstream the beam. Recently, the experimental setup has been extended with spectator detector, deuteron drift chamber and polarization monitoring system, and since then meson production can be investigated also as a function of spin and isospin of colliding nucleons., Comment: Presented at LEAP05: International conference on Low Energy Antiproton Physics, Bonn - Juelich, Germany, May 16-22, 2005

Several processes of meson production in proton-deuteron collisions have been measured simultaneously using a calibrated magnetic spectrograph. Among these processes, the $\eta$ meson is seen clearly as a sharp missing--mass peak on a slowly varying background in the $p+d\to ^3\textrm{He} +X$ reaction. Knowing the kinematics of the other reactions with well determined masses, it is possible to deduce a precise mass for the $\eta$ meson. The final result, $m(\eta)=547.311\pm 0.028 \textrm{(stat)} \pm 0.032 \textrm{(syst) MeV/c}^2$, is significantly lower than that found by the recent NA48 measurement, though it is consistent with values obtained in earlier counter experiments., Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, Fig. 3 changed

We present the construction of a planar drift chamber with wires stretched between two arms of a c-shaped aluminium frame. The special shape of the frame allows to extendthe momentum acceptance of the COSY-11 detection system towards lower momenta without suppressing the high momentum particles. The proposed design allows for construction of tracking detectors covering small angles with respect to the beam, which can be installed and removed without dismounting the beam-pipe. For a three-dimensional track reconstruction a computer code was developed using a simple algorithm of hit preselection., Comment: submitted to Nucl. Instr. & Meth A

The open strangeness production near threshold is investigated at the internal experiment COSY-11 in different reaction channels. Recently, the main focus has been to extend measurements of the hyperon production pp->pK+Lambda/Sigma0 in different isospin channels as well as the associated strangeness production in pp->ppK+K-. The experimental technique is based on the reconstruction of the four momentum for all positively charged ejectiles. Neutrons are detected in addition using a neutral particle detector. The unregistered hyperon or meson is identified by means of the missing mass technique. The present status of the analysis for both reaction channels is presented. In case of the reaction pp->ppK+K-, very preliminary cross sections are shown., Comment: Talk presented at the 19th European Conference on Few-Body Problems in Physics, Groningen, Netherlands, August 23-27, 2004, 3 pages, 3 figures

The COSY-11 collaboration has conducted experiments aiming at the determination of the excitation function and phase-space population of the p p --> p p eta reaction close to the kinematical threshold. The precise data obtained with the stochastically cooled proton beam of the cooler synchrotron COSY and the high resolution zero-degree magnetic spectrometer allowed for the observation of the significant deviations - in the shape of the excitation function and two-particle invariant masses - from the predictions based on the assumption that the reaction phase space is homogenously populated. Comparison of the shape of the excitation function for the p p --> p p eta and p p --> p p eta-prime reaction allows to distinquish in the model independent way an influence originating from the proton-proton and proton-eta interaction. For the comparison the full data set from experiments performed at COSY and other laboratories is used., Comment: Talk given at 10th International Symposium on Meson-Nucleon Physics and the Structure of the Nucleon (MENU 2004), Beijing, China, 29 Aug - 4 Sep 2004, 4 pages, 1 figure, to be published in Int. J. Mod. Phys

Thermal multifragmentation of hot nuclei is interpreted as the nuclear liquid-fog phase transition inside the spinodal region. The experimental data for p(8.1GeV) + Au collisions are analyzed within the framework of the statistical multifragmentation model (SMM) for the events with emission of at least two IMFs. It is found that the partition of hot nuclei is specified after expansion to a volume equal to Vt = (2.6+-0.3) Vo, with Vo as the volume at normal density. However, the freeze-out volume is found to be twice as large: Vf = (5+-1) Vo., Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, to be published in Nucl.Phys.A

Measurements on the eta meson production in proton-deuteron collisions have been performed using the COSY-11 facility at COSY Juelich. Here we present preliminary results on total and differential cross sections for the pd --> 3He eta reaction at five excess energies between Q = 5.1 and Q = 40.6 MeV. The obtained angular distributions for the emitted eta mesons in the center of mass system expose a transition from an almost isotropic emission to a highly anisotropic distribution. The extracted total cross sections support a strong eta-3He final state interaction and will be compared with model predictions., Comment: Presented at MESON 2004: 8th International Workshop on Meson Production, Properties and Interactions, Cracow, Poland, 4-8 Jun 2004, 3 pages, Submitted to Int. J. Mod. Phys. A

The ongoing discussion concerning the nature of the scalar resonances f_0(980) and a_0(980) implicated to extend the studies of the pp -> ppK+K- reaction near the production threshold. Furthermore, such elementary production processes allow to study the interaction of the outgoing particles due to their low relative momenta. Therefore, final state interactions in the pK or K Anti-K system can be perfectly studied in such experiments. The acquired data at the excess energies Q=10 and 28 MeV have been taken at COSY-11 and the status of the ongoing analysis will be presented., Comment: Talk presented at the second symposium on threshold meson production in pp and pd interactions, Jagellonian University, Cracow, Poland, May 31-June 3, 2004, 7 pages, 5 figures

The Lambda, Sigma0 and Sigma+ hyperon production in NN collisions is studied at the COSY - 11 installation in order to investigate the production mechanism as well as to extract information about the Y-N interaction., Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures

Due to the high sensitivity of the N N --> N N gamma reaction to the nucleon-nucleon potential, Bremsstrahlung radiation is used as a tool to investigate details of the nucleon-nucleon interaction. Such investigations can be performed at the cooler synchrotron COSY in the Research Centre Juelich, by dint of the COSY-11 detection system. The results of the identification of Bremsstrahlung radiation emitted via the d p --> d p gamma reaction in data taken with a proton target and a deuteron beam are presented and discussed., Comment: 3 pages; Presented at Meson 2004: 8th International Workshop on Meson Production, Properties and Interaction, Krakow, Poland, 4-8 June 2004; Submitted to International Journal of Modern Physics A

A brief experimental overview on the close-to-threshold eta meson production in proton-proton interactions is presented and the available observables in measurements with unpolarized and polarized beam and target are discussed., Comment: 4 pages; Presented at Meson 2004: 8th International Workshop on Meson Production, Properties and Interaction, Krakow, Poland, 4-8 June 2004; Submitted to International Journal of Modern Physics A

We propose to extend the investigations of the eta meson production in nucleon-nucleon collisions by studying single and double polarization observables. Over the last years, the eta meson has been studied at several different experiments mainly by measurements of unpolarized total and differential cross sections. To reveal the production mechanism, polarization observables help to disentangle the amplitudes of the partial waves and therefore to understand the underlying exchange processes. Analyzing powers have been measured enabling to separate the contributing amount of some of these amplitudes. Double polarization observables will widen the number of accessible amplitudes and hence give further constraints to the theoretical models. Due to the trigonometric symmetries in polarization measurements, a symmetric detector geometry in the azimuthal angle is preferable. The WASA detector with its 4-pi geometry for neutral and charged particles together with the use of a frozen spin target should therefore allow to study double polarization observables not only in vec{p}vec{p} but also in vec{p}vec{d} or vec{d}vec{p} collisions. This first requires the development of a frozen-spin target whereas single polarization observables can be measured directly with the current setup., Comment: Letter of Intent for an experiment with a 4-pi electromagnetic calorimeter at COSY; 8 pages

The paper is devoted to the experimental determination of the space-time characteristics for the target multifragmentation in p(8.1GeV) + Au collisions. The experimental data on the fragment charge distribution and kinetic energy spectra are analyzed within the framework of the statistical multifragmentation model. It is found that the partition of hot nuclei is specified after expansion of the target spectator to a volume equal to Vt = (2.9 +- 0.2) Vo, with Vo as the volume at normal density. However, the freeze-out volume is found to be Vf = (11 +- 3) Vo. At freeze-out, all the fragments are well separated and only the Coulomb force should be taken into account. The results are in accordance with a scenario of spinodal disintegration of hot nuclei., Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Phys.Rev.C

The production of the Lambda and Sigma0 hyperons has been measured via the pp->pK+Lambda / Sigma0 reaction at the internal COSY-11 facility in the excess energy range between 14 and 60 MeV. The transition of the Lambda/Sigma0 cross section ratio from about 28 at Q<=13 MeV to the high energy level of about 2.5 is covered by the data showing a strong decrease of the ratio between 10 and 20 MeV excess energy. Effects from the final state interactions in the p-Sigma0 channel seem to be much smaller compared to the p-Lambda one. Estimates of the effective range parameters are given for the N-Lambda and the N-Sigma systems., Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, submitted to EPJA

The eta-prime meson production in the reaction pp-->pp eta-prime has been studied at excess energies of Q = 26.5, 32.5 and 46.6 MeV using the internal beam facility COSY-11 at the cooler synchrotron COSY. The total cross sections as well as one angular distribution for the highest Q-value are presented. The excitation function of the near threshold data can be described by a pure s-wave phase space distribution with the inclusion of the proton-proton final state interaction and Coulomb effects. The obtained angular distribution of the eta-prime mesons is also consistent with pure s-wave production., Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Eur. Phys. J. A

Polarisation observables constitute a powerful tool for establishing the production mechanism of the eta meson and for infering the presence of higher partial waves in the final system. Measurements of the proton analysing power for the p(pol)p-->ppeta reaction have been performed by the COSY-11 group at three different excess energies: Q=10, 37 and 40 MeV. Data at Q=40 MeV indicate that the eta meson is probably produced in partial waves higher than s wave., Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, Presented at X. International Conference On Hadron Spectroscopy (Hadron 2003), Aschaffenburg, Germany, 31 Aug - 6 Sep 2003

It has been argued recently that the so-called nuclear modification factor ($R_{AA}$) is an observable useful for identifying the quark-gluon plasma. We discuss the effect of Fermi motion in nuclei on $R_{AA}$ at CERN SPS and BNL RHIC energies. Contrary to the simple intuition, rather large effects are found for CERN SPS. The Fermi motion in nuclei contributes significantly to the Cronin effect. The effect found is qualitatively similar to the one observed experimentally at CERN energies and similar to the one obtained in the models of multiple scattering of initial partons. We predict different size of the effect for different types of hadrons, especially at low energies., Comment: 16 pages + 6 figures, some calculations have been corrected, text has been modified accordingly, 1 figure has been added, in print Modern Physics Letters A19 (2004) 1

A comparison of the close-to-threshold total cross sections for the eta-prime meson production in both the pp --> pp eta-prime and pn --> pn eta-prime reactions should provide insight into the flavour-singlet (perhaps also into gluonium) content of the eta-prime meson and the relevance of quark-gluon or hadronic degrees of freedom in the creation process. The excitation function for the reaction pp --> pp eta-prime has been already established. At present, experimental investigations of the quasi-free pn --> pn X reactions are carried out at the COSY-11 facility using a beam of stochastically cooled protons and the deuteron cluster target. A method of measurement and preliminary results from the test experiments of the pn --> pn eta reaction are presented in this report., Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, Presented at X. International Conference On Hadron Spectroscopy (Hadron 2003), Aschaffenburg, Germany, 31 Aug - 6 Sep 2003

Motivated by the ongoing discussion concerning the nature of the scalar resonances f0(980) and a0(980), the COSY-11 collaboration has taken exclusive data on the pp->ppK+K- reaction near the production threshold. A first total cross section sigma=(1.80+-0.27+0.28-0.35)nb for the excess energy Q=17 MeV has been determined. In contrary to the eta, omega and eta' single meson production studies which clearly show the strong pp final state interaction (FSI), the cross section values obtained at COSY-11 and DISTO can be both described by a fit with a four-body phase space including the proton-proton final state interaction as well as with one-meson exchange calculations neglecting FSI effects. Therefore, one might think about a compensation of the strong pp interaction through a pK- FSI effect or an additional degree of freedom caused by the four-body final state. In the latter case, strong FSI effects can be expected at Q-values very close to the K+K- production threshold. Such a motivation triggered -- in combination with the investigation of the kaon-Antikaon interaction being relevant to the structure of the f0(980) -- further measurements at the excess energies Q=10 and Q=28 MeV at COSY-11., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, Presented at X. International Conference On Hadron Spectroscopy (Hadron 2003), Aschaffenburg, Germany, 31 Aug - 6 Sep 2003

Thermal multifragmentation of hot nuclei is interpreted as the nuclear liquid-fog phase transition. The charge distributions of the intermediate mass fragments produced in p(3.6 GeV) + Au and p(8.1 GeV) + Au collisions are analyzed within the statistical multifragmentation model with the critical temperature for the nuclear liquid-gas phase transition Tc as a free parameter. The analysis presented here provides strong support for a value of Tc > 15 MeV., Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, Submittet to Proc. of NN2003 to be published in Nucl. Phys. A

A first measurement of the analysing power in the reaction p(pol)p --> pp eta near the production threshold has been performed at the internal facility COSY-11 at the COoler SYnchrotron COSY., Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, Presented at Meson 2002: 7th International Workshop on Production, Properties and Interaction of Mesons, Cracow, Poland, 24-28 May 2002

Utilizing a missing mass technique we investigate the pp --> ppX reaction scanning beam energies in the range permitting to create a mass close to that of the f0(980) and a0(980) scalar resonances, but still below the K^+K^- threshold where they decay dominantly into pi pi and pi eta mesons, respectively. Prior to the data analysis we introduce a notion of the close to threshold total cross section for broad resonances. We estimated for the overlapping mesons a0 and f0 the total cross section to be smaller than 430 nb at excess energy of Q = 5 MeV. The experiment have been performed at the Cooler Synchrotron COSY using the COSY-11 facility., Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, submitted to J. Phys. G: Nucl. Phys

A high statistics measurement of the pp --> ppeta reaction at an excess energy of Q = 15.5 MeV has been performed at the internal beam facility COSY-11. The stochastically cooled proton beam and the used detection system allowed to determine the momenta of the outgoing protons with a precision of 4 MeV/c (sigma) in the center-of-mass frame. The determination of the four-momentum vectors of both outgoing protons allowed to derive the complete kinematical information of the ppeta-system. An unexpectedly large enhancement of the occupation density in the kinematical regions of low proton-eta relative momenta is observed. A description taking the proton-proton and the eta-proton interaction into account and assuming an on-shell incoherent pairwise interaction among the produced particles fails to explain this strong effect. Its understanding will require a rigorous three-body approach to the ppeta system and the precise determination of contributions from higher partial waves. We also present an invariant mass spectrum of the proton-proton system determined at Q = 4.5 MeV. Interestingly, the enhancement at large relative momenta between protons is visible also at such a small excess energy. In contrast to all other determined angular distributions, the orientation of the emission plane with respect to the beam direction is extracted to be anisotropic., Comment: 18 pages, 27 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. C

The associated strangeness dissociation at threshold has been studied at the COSY-11 facility measuring the hyperon - and the K+K- meson pair production. Measurements of the near threshold Lambda and Sigma0 production via the pp -> pK+ Lambda / Sigma0 reaction at COSY-11 have shown that the Lambda / Sigma0 cross section ratio exceeds the value at high excess energies (Q >= 300 MeV) by an order of magnitude. For a better understanding additional data have been taken between 13 MeV and 60 MeV excess energy. The near threshold production of the charged kaon-antikaon pair is related to the discussion about the nature of the scalar states in the 1 GeV/c^2 mass range, i.e. the f0(980) and a0(980). The interpretation as a K anti-K molecule is strongly dependent on the K anti-K interaction which can be studied via the production channel. A first total cross section value on the reaction pp -> ppK+K- at an excess energy of 17 MeV i.e. below the phi production threshold was measured., Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures, Presented at Conference on Quarks and Nuclear Physics (QNP 2002), Julich, Germany, 9-14 Jun 2002

Exclusive data on the reactions pp -> ppK+K- and pp -> pK+ Lambda/Sigma0 have been taken at the cooler synchrotron COSY close to threshold. At equal excess energies, an enhancement of the Lambda/Sigma0 ratio by one order of magnitude has been observed compared to data at higher excess energies. New results obtained at the COSY-11 facility explore the transition region between this low-energy Sigma0 suppression and excess energies of 60 MeV. A first total cross section for elementary antikaon production below the phi threshold has been determined, two orders of magnitude smaller compared to kaon production at the same excess energy., Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, Talk given by P. Moskal at 16th International Conference on Particles and Nuclei (PANIC 02), Osaka, Japan, 30 Sep - 4 Oct 2002

At the internal facility COSY-11 a first measurement of the reaction p(pol)p -> pp eta near the production threshold has been performed. Results for the analysing power will be presented and a comparison with one meson exchange models will be discussed., Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures, Presented at Conference on Quarks and Nuclear Physics (QNP 2002), Julich, Germany, 9-14 Jun 2002

Exclusive data on both the elementary kaon and antikaon production channels have been taken at the cooler synchrotron COSY in proton-proton scattering. In the kaon--hyperon production an enhancement by one order of magnitude of the Lambda/Sigma0 ratio has been observed at excess energies below Q=13 MeV compared to data at higher excess energies (Q>300 MeV). New results obtained at the COSY-11 facility explore the transition region between the regime of this low-energy Sigma0 suppression and excess energies of 60 MeV. A comparison of the energy dependence of the Lambda and Sigma0 total cross sections exhibits distinct qualitative differences between both hyperon production channels. Studies of kaon-antikaon production have been motivated especially by the ongoing discussion about the nature of the scalar resonances f0(980) and a0(980) coupling to the K anti-K channel. For the reaction pp->ppK+K- a first total cross section value is reported at an excess energy of Q=17 MeV, i.e. below the phi threshold. Calculations obtained within an OBE model indicate that the energy dependence of the available total cross section data close to threshold is rather difficult to reconcile with the assumption of a phase-space behaviour modified predominantly by the proton-proton final state interaction., Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, Presented at Meson 2002: 7th International Workshop on Meson Production, Properties and Interaction, Cracow, Poland, 24-28 May 2002

The charge distribution of the intermediate mass fragments produced in p (8.1 GeV) + Au collisions is analyzed in the framework of the statistical multifragmentation model with the critical temperature for the nuclear liquid-gas phase transition $T_c$ as a free parameter. It is found that $T_c=20\pm3$ MeV (90% CL)., Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, published in Phys. Rev. C

Due to their short life-time, flavour-neutral mesons cannot be utilized as free secondary beams or targets, and therefore a study of their interaction with nucleons is not possible via direct scattering experiments. This interaction is, however, accessible via its influence on the energy dependence - and on the phase space distributions of the cross sections for reactions in which these mesons are produced. In case of the p p --> p p eta reaction the experimentally determined distributions of the differential cross sections close to the production threshold cannot be described by taking into account the S-wave proton-proton and proton-eta interaction only. Here we show that the angular distributions determined at the COSY-11 facility reveal some evidence for P-wave admixture in the proton-proton subsystem already at an excess energy as low as Q = 15.5 MeV. We also present that one can estimate the relative strength of the eta-nucleon and eta-prime-nucleon interactions by comparison of the eta and eta-prime production yield., Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, Talk given at 16th International Conference on Particles and Nuclei (PANIC 02), Osaka, Japan, 30 Sep - 4 Oct 2002

The production of eta and eta-prime mesons in elementary nucleon-nucleon collisions has been investigated at the synchrotrons CELSIUS, COSY and SATURNE. The magnitude and energy dependence of the total cross section as well as the occupation distribution of the phase space serve as observables for investigating the mechanisms underlying the production processes and the interaction of mesons with nucleons. The precise data on the eta and eta-prime creation via the pp --> pp eta(eta-prime) reactions allowed to settle the general features of the eta and eta-prime meson production and revealed the sensitivity of the mentioned observables to the nucleon-nucleon-meson final state interaction. The particular production properties, like for example the determination of the dominating exchange processes which lead to the excitation of the S_11 nucleon isobar in the case of eta creation, must be established by confrontation with other observables. The present status of this investigation with an emphasis on the results of the COSY-11 collaboration is briefly presented. The available data are interpreted in view of the production mechanism and the meson-nucleon interaction., Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures, Presented at Conference on Quarks and Nuclear Physics (QNP 2002), Julich, Germany, 9-14 Jun 2002

Measurements of the eta meson production with a polarised proton beam in the reaction p(pol) p --> p p eta have been carried out at an excess energy of Q = 40 MeV. The dependence of the analysing power A_y on the polar angle theta^*_q of the eta meson in the center of mass system (CMS) has been studied. The data indicate the possibility of an influence of p- and d-waves to the close to threshold eta production., Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, in section 3.1 the formula of vec(p) containing fatal typos was removed, and the values in table were corrected

By means of the COSY-11 detection system, using a stochastically cooled proton beam of the cooler synchrotron COSY and a hydrogen cluster target, we have performed a high statistics measurement of the pp --> pp eta reaction at an excess energy of Q = 15.5 MeV. The experiment was based on the four-momentum determination of both outgoing protons. This permits to identify pp --> pp eta events and to derive the complete kinematical information of the eta-p-p-system allowing for subsequent investigations of the eta-p interaction. The observed spectrum of the invariant mass of the proton-proton system deviates strongly from the phase-space distribution revealing the influence of the final-state-interaction among the outgoing particles or nontrivial features of the primary production mechanism., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, Talk presented at Meson 2002, 7th International Workshop on Meson Production, Properties and Interaction, Cracow, Poland, 24-28 May 2002

The production of K+ and K- mesons in elementary proton-proton collision has been investigated at the Cooler Synchrotron COSY in Juelich. A high quality proton beam with low emittance and small momentum spread permitted to study the creation of these mesons very close to the kinematical threshold. The energy dependence of the total cross section is investigated using internal beam facilities providing a high accuracy particle momentum determination as well as an external non-magnetic detection setup with a large geometrical acceptance. The determination of the four-momentum vectors for all ejectiles of each registered event gives the complete kinematical information allowing to study the interaction of the outgoing particles. Results on the performed studies of the pp --> pp K+ K-, pp --> p Lambda K+ and pp --> p Sigma0 K+ reactions will be presented and their relevance to the interpretation of heavy ion collisions will be discussed., Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, plenary talk at 6th International Conference On Strange Quarks in Matter: '2001 - A Flavorspace Odyssey' (SQM2001), Frankfurt, Germany, September 25-29, 2001, to be published in J. Phys. G: Nucl. Part. Phys

A measurement of the pp --> p p eta reaction at the excess energy of Q = 15.5 +- 0.4 MeV has been carried out at the internal beam facility COSY-11 with an integrated luminosity of 811 nb^-1 The number of ~24000 identified events permits a precise determination of total (2.32 +- 0.05 +- 0.35 \mu b) and differential cross sections. Preliminary investigations show that the angular distribution of the eta meson in the center-of-mass system is isotropic. A qualitative analysis of the Dalitz-plot distribution is presented., Comment: 3pp, Talk given at 9th International Symposium on Meson - Nucleon Physics and the Structure of the Nucleon (MENU 2001), Washington, District of Columbia, 26-31 Jul 2001. To be published in pN Newsletter 16 (2001)