Hard light meson production in (anti)proton-hadron collisions and charge-echange reactions

TL;DR

This paper extends a QED mechanism to describe light meson production in (anti)proton collisions, calculating cross sections and suggesting applications for high-energy neutron beam production at various facilities.

Contribution

It introduces a novel extension of the QED 'return to resonance' mechanism to light meson emission in hadron collisions, with detailed cross section calculations.

Findings

Collinear emission can produce high-energy (anti)neutron beams.

Calculated cross sections and multiplicity distributions for meson emission.

Potential applications at existing and planned facilities.

Abstract

An extension of the QED 'return to resonance' mechanism to light meson emission ($\pi$, $\rho$) in (anti)proton collisions with a hadronic target (nucleon or nucleus) is proposed. The cross section and the multiplicity distributions are calculated. The collinear emission (along the beam direction) of a charged meson may be used to produce high energy (anti)neutron beams. Possible applications at existing and planned facilities are considered.