Exploring time like tranistions in pp, πp and AA reactions with HADES

Radiative transition of an excited baryon to a nucleon with emission of a virtual massive photon converting to dielectron pair (Dalitz decays) provides important information about baryon-photon coupling at low q2 in timelike region. A prominent enhancement in the respective electromagnetic transition Form Factors (etFF) at q2 near vector mesons ρ/ω poles has been predicted by various calculations reflecting strong baryon-vector meson couplings. The understanding of these couplings is also of primary importance for the interpretation of the emissivity of QCD matter studied in heavy ion collisions via dilepton emission. Dedicated measurements of baryon Dalitz decays in proton-proton and pion-proton scattering with HADES detector at GSI/FAIR are presented and discussed. The relevance of these studies for the interpretation of results obtained from heavy ion reactions is elucidated on the example of the HADES results.

Partial Wave Analysis of HADES Data for Two-Pion Production in Pion-Nucleon Reactions

Pion beams are important tools to study features of baryonic resonances and their decay channels because resonances are produced in s-channel at fixed mass equal to √s. In 2014 the HADES collaboration has performed systematic measurements in the second resonance region scanning around the mass of the N*(1520). Pion beams at four momenta (0.654, 0.686, 0.738 and 0.787 GeV/c) impinging on polyethylene and carbon targets have been used. With the use of the multichannel Partial Wave Analysis (PWA) the role of the N*(1520) resonance in conjunction with the intermediate ρ-meson production has been studied. Preliminary results at 0.654 GeV/c on exclusive production of two pions (ηπ+π- and pπ-π0) in the final state are presented.

Strong Absorption of Hadrons with Hidden and Open Strangeness in Nuclear Matter

We present the first observation of K^{-} and ϕ absorption within nuclear matter by means of π^{-}-induced reactions on C and W targets at an incident beam momentum of 1.7  GeV/c studied with HADES at SIS18/GSI. The double ratio (K^{-}/K^{+})_{W}/(K^{-}/K^{+})_{C} is found to be 0.319±0.009(stat)_{-0.012}^{+0.014}(syst) indicating a larger absorption of K^{-} in heavier targets as compared to lighter ones. The measured ϕ/K^{-} ratios in π^{-}+C and π^{-}+W reactions within the HADES acceptance are found to be equal to 0.55±0.04(stat)_{-0.07}^{+0.06}(syst) and to 0.63±0.06(stat)_{-0.11}^{+0.11}(syst), respectively. The similar ratios measured in the two different reactions demonstrate for the first time experimentally that the dynamics of the ϕ meson in nuclear medium is strongly coupled to the K^{-} dynamics. The large difference in the ϕ production off C and W nuclei is discussed in terms of a strong ϕN in-medium coupling. These results are relevant for the description of heavy-ion collisions and the structure of neutron stars.

Time-Like Baryon Transitions studies with HADES

The HADES collaboration uses the e+e− production as a probe of the resonance matter produced in collisions at incident energies of 1-3.5 GeV/nucleon at GSI. Elementary reactions provide useful references for these studies and give information on resonance Dalitz decays (R→Ne+e−). Such processes are sensitive to the structure of time-like electromagnetic baryon transitions in a kinematic range where (off-shell) vector mesons play a crucial role. Results obtained in proton-proton reactions and in a commissioning pion-beam experiment are reported and prospects for future pion beam experiments and for first hyperon Dalitz decay measurements are described. The connection with the investigations of medium effects to be continued with HADES in the next years at SIS18 and SIS100 is also discussed.

Partial wave analysis of HADES data for two-pion production in pion-nucleon reactions

Pion beams are perfect tools to probe resonance excitations at a fixed energy, thus properties of baryonic resonances and their coupling channels can be studied. The HADES Collaboration performed a systematic scan around the second resonance region at four different pion beam momenta 0.656, 0.69, 0.748 and 0.8 GeV/c in π− p reaction. The role of the N(1520) resonance in conjunction with the intermediate ρ-meson production has been studied in the framework of a partial wave analysis. Preliminary results on exclusive channels with one pion (π− p) and two pions (nπ+π− and pπ−π0) in the final state are presented.

Partial wave analysis of HADES data for two-pion production in pion-nucleon reactions

Pion beams are perfect tools to probe resonance excitations at a fixed energy, thus properties of baryonic resonances and their coupling channels can be studied. The HADES Collaboration performed a systematic scan around the second resonance region at four different pion beam momenta 0.656, 0.69, 0.748 and 0.8 GeV/c in π− p reaction. The role of the N(1520) resonance in conjunction with the intermediate ρ-meson production has been studied in the framework of a partial wave analysis. Preliminary results on exclusive channels with one pion (π− p) and two pions (nπ+π− and pπ−π0) in the final state are presented.

Isotensor Dibaryon in the pp→ppπ^{+}π^{-} Reaction?

Exclusive measurements of the quasifree pp→ppπ^{+}π^{-} reaction have been carried out at WASA@COSY by means of pd collisions at T_{p}=1.2  GeV. Total and differential cross sections have been extracted covering the energy region T_{p}=1.08-1.36  GeV, which is the region of N^{*}(1440) and Δ(1232)Δ(1232) resonance excitations. Calculations describing these excitations by t-channel meson exchange are at variance with the measured differential cross sections and underpredict substantially the experimental total cross section. An isotensor ΔN dibaryon resonance with I(J^{P})=2(1^{+}) produced associatedly with a pion is able to overcome these deficiencies.

Spin Dependence of η Meson Production in Proton-Proton Collisions Close to Threshold

Taking advantage of the high acceptance and axial symmetry of the WASA-at-COSY detector, and the high polarization degree of the proton beam of COSY, the reaction p[over →]p→ppη has been measured close to threshold to explore the analyzing power A_{y}. The angular distribution of A_{y} is determined with the precision improved by more than 1 order of magnitude with respect to previous results, allowing a first accurate comparison with theoretical predictions. The determined analyzing power is consistent with zero for an excess energy of Q=15  MeV, signaling s-wave production with no evidence for higher partial waves. At Q=72  MeV the data reveal strong interference of Ps and Pp partial waves and cancellation of (Pp)^{2} and Ss^{*}Sd contributions. These results rule out the presently available theoretical predictions for the production mechanism of the η meson.