Inclusive production of high-energy neutral pions from pion-proton collisions at 14 GeV/c

Abstract

Measurements of the differential cross section for the inclusive production of high-energy ${\pi }^0\text{'}\mathrm{s}$ are reported for the reactions ${\pi }^{\pm }p\to {\pi }^{0}X$ at a laboratory momentum of 14 GeV/c. The kinematic range covered, in terms of the Feynman scaling variable $x$ and the transverse momentum $P_{\perp }$, is $0.25\le x\le 1.0$ and $0\le P_{\perp }\le 0.7$ GeV/c. Two spectrometers, both employing large NaI(Tl) crystals, are used to detect the ${\pi }^0\text{'}\mathrm{s}$ and to identify them with a mass resolution of 17 MeV (full width at half maximum). The results are in accord with the hypothesis of limiting fragmentation, which regards the measured reactions, in the kinematic range covered, as examples of disfavored fragmentation.