Photoproduction of K° Mesons from Carbon: A Freon Bubble Chamber Experiment

Citation

Alyea, Ethan Davidson (1962) Photoproduction of K° Mesons from Carbon: A Freon Bubble Chamber Experiment. Dissertation (Ph.D.), California Institute of Technology. doi:10.7907/QM7F-G944. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechETD:etd-09082005-104725

Abstract

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The feasibility of utilizing characteristic interactions of K2° mesons in the liquid of a CF3Br bubble chamber for the purpose of detecting photoproduced K° mesons has been investigated. The K2° mesons were produced from carbon at an average laboratory angle of 11 degrees by photons with energies ranging from threshold to 1300 Mev. Although examples of most of the possible K2° signatures were found, only the signature comprised of a [...] decay could be used to estimate the cross sections for photoproducing K° mesons in conjunction with [...] and [...] hyperons. If the CM cross sections for the three processes are comparable in magnitude, the average differential CM cross sections are estimated to be (0.36 +/- 0.19) x 10(-30) cm2/ster. Since an enormous amount of work is required per K2° detected, this technique is not recommended for more detailed examination of K° photoproduction unless simpler methods cannot be devised.

An auxiliary result, the thermodynamic conditions of the bubble chamber have been shown to be well stabilized over long periods of time. For this reason, measurements of the gap-length distribution of a track may be used to determine a particle’s velocity without recalibration for each individual bubble chamber expansion.

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