Properties of neutral charmed mesons in pA interactions at 70 GeV.

The results of data handling for the E-184 experiment involving the irradiation of the active target, consisting of carbon, silicon, and lead plates by a 70-GeV proton beam are presented. When the two-prong neutral charmed meson decay signal was selected and the cross section for charm production at a near-threshold energy was estimated ( σ( c $$ \bar c $$) = 7.1 ± 2.4(stat.) ± 1.4(syst.) µb/nucleon), some properties of D and $$ \bar D^0 $$ were investigated. These include the atomic-weight dependence of the cross section on the target mass number (its A dependence); the differential cross sections dσ/dp and dσ/dx; and the dependence of the parameter α on x, p, and p. The experimental results are compared with the predictions of the FRITIOF7.02 program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]