Properties of Neutral Charmed Mesons in Proton--Nucleus Interactions at 70 GeV

TL;DR

This paper reports on the production and properties of neutral charmed mesons in proton-nucleus interactions at 70 GeV, including cross sections, decay signals, and comparisons with theoretical models.

Contribution

It provides new measurements of charm production cross sections and meson properties in proton-nucleus collisions at 70 GeV, and compares experimental data with FRITIOF7.02 predictions.

Findings

Charm production cross section: 7.1 ± 2.4(stat.) ± 1.4(syst.) μb/nucleon

Dependence of cross section on target mass number

Differential cross sections and parameter α behavior

Abstract

The results of treatment of data obtained in the SERP-E-184experiment "Investigation of mechanisms of the production of charmed particles in proton-nucleus interactions at 70 GeV and their decays" by irradiating the active target of the SVD-2 facility consisting of carbon, silicon, and lead plates, are presented. After separating a signal from the two-particle decay of neutral charmed mesons and estimating the cross section for charm production at a threshold energy {\sigma}(c\v{c})=7.1 \pm 2.4(stat.) \pm 1.4(syst.) \mub/nucleon, some properties of D mesons are investigated. These include the dependence of the cross section on the target mass number (its A dependence); the behavior of the differential cross sections d{\sigma}/dpt2 and d{\sigma}/dxF; and the dependence of the parameter {\alpha} on the kinematical variables xF, pt2, and plab. The experimental results in question are compared with predictions obtained on the basis of the FRITIOF7.02 code.