Saturation of low-energy antiproton annihilation on nuclei

A. Gal*, E. Friedman, C. J. Batty

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

19 Scopus citations

Abstract

Recent measurements of very low-energy (p(L) < 100 MeV/c) p̄ annihilation on light nuclei reveal apparent suppression of annihilation upon increasing the atomic charge Z and mass number A. Using p̄-nucleus optical potentials V(opt), fitted to p̄-atom energy-shifts and -widths, we resolve this suppression as due to the strong effective repulsion produced by the very absorptive V(opt). The low-energy p̄-nucleus wavefunction is kept substantially outside the nuclear surface and the resulting reaction cross section saturates as function of the strength of Im V(opt). This feature, for E > 0, parallels the recent prediction, for E < 0, that the level widths of p̄ atoms saturate and, hence, that p̄ deeply bound atomic states are relatively narrow. Antiproton annihilation cross sections are calculated at p(L) = 57 MeV/c across the periodic table, and their dependence on Z and A is classified and discussed with respect to the Coulomb focussing effect at very low energies. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)219-224
Number of pages6
JournalPhysics Letters, Section B: Nuclear, Elementary Particle and High-Energy Physics
Volume491
Issue number3-4
DOIs
StatePublished - 19 Oct 2000

Keywords

  • Antiproton annihilation
  • Low-energies
  • Optical potentials
  • Saturation

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