Origin of the low-mass electron pair excess in light nucleus-nucleus collisions

Agakishiev, G.; Balanda, A.; Belver, D.; Belyaev, A. V.; Blanco, A.; Böhmer, M.; Boyard, J. L.; Braun-Munzinger, P.; Cabanelas, P.; Castro, E.; Chernenko, S.; Christ, T.; Destefanis, M.; Díaz, J.; Dohrmann, F.; Dybczak, A.; Fabbietti, L.; Fateev, O. V.; Finocchiaro, P.; Fonte, P.; Friese, J.; Fröhlich, I.; Galatyuk, T.; Garzón, J. A.; Gernhäuser, R.; Gil, A.; Gilardi, C.; Golubeva, M.; González-Díaz, D.; Guber, F.; Hennino, T.; Holzmann, R.; Iori, I.; Ivashkin, A.; Jurkovic, M.; Kämpfer, B.; Karavicheva, T.; Kirschner, D.; Koenig, I.; Koenig, W.; Kolb, B. W.; Kotte, R.; Krizek, F.; Krücken, R.; Kühn, W.; Kugler, A.; Kurepin, A.; Lang, S.; Lange, J. S.; Lapidus, K.; Liu, T.; Lopes, L.; Lorenz, M.; Maier, L.; Mangiarotti, A.; Markert, J.; Metag, V.; Michalska, B.; Michel, J.

Origin of the low-mass electron pair excess in light nucleus-nucleus collisions

Agakishiev, G.; Balanda, A.; Belver, D.; Belyaev, A. V.; Blanco, A.; Böhmer, M.; Boyard, J. L.; Braun-Munzinger, P.; Cabanelas, P.; Castro, E.; Chernenko, S.; Christ, T.; Destefanis, M.; Díaz, J.; Dohrmann, F.; Dybczak, A.; Fabbietti, L.; Fateev, O. V.; Finocchiaro, P.; Fonte, P.; Friese, J.; Fröhlich, I.; Galatyuk, T.; Garzón, J. A.; Gernhäuser, R.; Gil, A.; Gilardi, C.; Golubeva, M.; González-Díaz, D.; Guber, F.; Hennino, T.; Holzmann, R.; Iori, I.; Ivashkin, A.; Jurkovic, M.; Kämpfer, B.; Karavicheva, T.; Kirschner, D.; Koenig, I.; Koenig, W.; Kolb, B. W.; Kotte, R.; Krizek, F.; Krücken, R.; Kühn, W.; Kugler, A.; Kurepin, A.; Lang, S.; Lange, J. S.; Lapidus, K.; Liu, T.; Lopes, L.; Lorenz, M.; Maier, L.; Mangiarotti, A.; Markert, J.; Metag, V.; Michalska, B.; Michel, J.

We report measurements of electron pair production in elementary p+p and d+p reactions at 1.25 GeV/u with the HADES spectrometer. For the first time, the electron pairs were reconstructed for n+p reactions by detecting the proton spectator from the deuteron breakup. We find that the yield of electron pairs with invariant mass Me+e- > 0.15 GeV/c2 is about an order of magnitude larger in n+p reactions as compared to p+p. A comparison to model calculations demonstrates that the production mechanism is not sufficiently described yet. The electron pair spectra measured in C+C reactions are compatible with a superposition of elementary n+p and p+p collisions, leaving little room for additional electron pair sources in such light collision systems.

Physics Letters B 690(2010), 118-122

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