Large-angle production of charged pions by 3 GeV/c - 12 GeV/c protons on carbon, copper and tin targets

TL;DR

This paper reports measurements of charged pion production cross-sections from proton collisions with carbon, copper, and tin targets at energies between 3 and 12 GeV/c, providing detailed data for particle physics research.

Contribution

It presents new double-differential cross-section data for charged pion production at multiple proton beam energies on various targets, using the HARP detector at CERN.

Findings

Cross-section data for pion production at four proton energies.

Detailed angular and momentum distributions of produced pions.

Data useful for modeling particle interactions in accelerators.

Abstract

A measurement of the double-differential $\pi^{\pm}$ production cross-section in proton--carbon, proton--copper and proton--tin collisions in the range of pion momentum $100 \MeVc \leq p < 800 \MeVc$ and angle $0.35 \rad \le \theta <2.15 \rad$ is presented. The data were taken with the HARP detector in the T9 beam line of the CERN PS. The pions were produced by proton beams in a momentum range from 3 \GeVc to 12 \GeVc hitting a target with a thickness of 5% of a nuclear interaction length. The tracking and identification of the produced particles was done using a small-radius cylindrical time projection chamber (TPC) placed in a solenoidal magnet. An elaborate system of detectors in the beam line ensured the identification of the incident particles. Results are shown for the double-differential cross-sections at four incident proton beam momenta (3 \GeVc, 5 \GeVc, 8 \GeVc and 12 \GeVc).