Production ofWMesons inNN¯Annihilation

Abstract

The consequences of assuming the existence of intermediate $W$ mesons with mass greater than two nucleons are examined. Nucleon-antinucleon annihilation would then be an alternative to neutrino interactions as a production mechanism. The production cross section would show a resonance with natural width $\Gamma \ge 50$ keV and integrated area $\int \sigma \mathrm{dE}\sim 30$ μb MeV. The characteristic features of this production amplitude are presented, together with a summary of results for the two-body decay modes. The problem of locating this resonance in counter and bubble chamber experiments is discussed.