Angular correlations in the φφ system and evidence for hadronic ηc production

• Published in: Nuclear physics. B 1986-09, Vol.273 (3), p.689-702
• Main Authors: Booth, P.S.L., Carroll, L.J., Ronald, R.A., Edwards, D.N., Frame, D., French, B.R., Houlden, M.A., Hughes, I.S., Jackson, J.N., Kilcoyne, P.A., Lassalle, J.C., Lewis, J.E.T., Lynch, J.G., McFadzean, D.McL, Myerscough, J.J., Range, W.H., Richardson, J.A., Thompson, A.S., Thompson, I.R.M., Turnbull, R.M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0550-3213; 1873-1562
• DOI: 10.1016/0550-3213(86)90385-8

The paper describes a study of angular correlations in the φφ system produced in the reaction π − Be → φφ + X at 85 GeV/ c. A sample of 33 851 candidate φφ events with φφ mass less than 3.2 GeV/ c 2 was obtained in an experiment using the OMEGA spectrometer at CERN with a 4-kaon trigger. Moments of the decay angular distributions are presented as a function of φφ mass over the range 2.0 to 3.2 GeV/ c 2. The distributions in the mass interval 2.0–2.5 GeV/ c 2 are best fitted by a dominance of J P = 2 +. A signal in the H(222200) moment in the mass interval 2.9–3.0 GeV/ c 2 is interpreted as due to η c → φφ and yields a value for (ross section) × (anching ratio) = 14.1 ± 6.3 nb/nucleon.