A Van Hove analysis of the reaction π (^+) n p π (^+)π (^-)π (^º) at 12 GeV/C

Abstract

This thesis contains an account of some of the work undertaken by the author while a member of the High Energy Nuclear Physics Group at the University of Durham. The first part of this thesis describes the procedures used to obtain a sample of events which correspond to a particular reaction channel. The data used was obtained from the results of an experiment using 12 GeV/c positive pions interacting in the C.E.R.N. Deuterium Bubble Chamber. The five laboratories which collaborated in the experiment were Durham, Genoa, Milano, LPHNE (Paris) and Ecole Polytechnique (Paris). The second part of the thesis describes the application and results of a Van Hove analysis of the data sample. The analysis shows a good correlation between the predictions of simple Feynman diagrams and the events which populate the corresponding Van Hove regions. The analysis proves useful for obtaining samples of events which contain particular low mass resonances. Amongst the resonances observed in the data sample are the ρ (^º), ρ (^+), ɯ (^º) ʅ (^º) and mesons and the (^+) (1236) and (^º) (l236) baryons.