Pion Absorption in Nuclei

Abstract

The nucleon-nucleon interaction becomes inelastic at ~ 300 MeV lab energy, signalling the onset of pi-meson production. Heavy ion collisions at energies of several 100 MeV per nncleon will therefore inevitably be accompanied by the appearance of pions. The issue of pion absorption in nuclei[l] is relevant for these processes in two ways: First, the pion production mechanism is closely related to that of the inverse reaction, pion absorption. Secondly, some of the produced pions will be re-absorbed by the nuclei involved, an effect which has to be accounted for when analyzing the data.