The contribution of the (t(τ)+N) component to the α-particle wave function from data on the reactions p(α,pp)t and p(α,pn)τ at incident α-particle momentum 5 GeV/c

Abstract

The 2-meter liquid-hydrogen bubble chamber is exposed to a separated beam of α particles from the ITEP synchrotron. The momentum of the incident 4He nuclei, averaged over the fiducial volume of the chamber, is 5 GeV/c (the kinetic energy of initial protons in the nucleus rest frame is T p =620 MeV). The spectral functions of decays α→tp and α→τn) are extracted in the 4π geometry (the latter is extracted for the first time) from the exclusive reactions αp→tpp and αp→τpn in the spectator momentum region 0<q<0.3 GeV/c. The pole dominance criteria are carefully checked. Extrapolation of the nuclear vertex function to the pole gives a lower bound on the nuclear vertex constant. Our experimental data are compared with the results of other studies and with theoretical calculations.