Large-angle production of charged pions with 3-12.9 GeV/c incident protons on nuclear targets

TL;DR

This paper reports detailed measurements of charged pion production cross-sections from proton collisions with various nuclear targets at energies between 3 and 12.9 GeV/c, providing valuable data for understanding particle interactions.

Contribution

It provides the first comprehensive dataset of double-differential pion production cross-sections across multiple targets and energies using the HARP detector at CERN.

Findings

Measured pion production cross-sections for multiple targets.

Data covers a wide range of pion momenta and angles.

Results improve understanding of proton-nucleus interactions.

Abstract

Measurements of the double-differential charged pion production cross-section in the range of momentum 100 MeV/c < p < 800 MeV/c and angle 0.35 < \theta < 2.15 rad in proton-beryllium, proton-carbon, proton-aluminium, proton-copper, proton-tin, proton-tantalum and proton-lead collisions are presented. The data were taken with the large acceptance HARP detector in the T9 beam line of the CERN PS. The pions were produced by proton beams in a momentum range from 3 GeV/c to 12.9 GeV/c hitting a target with a thickness of 5% of a nuclear interaction length.