Excitation Spectra of the ${}^{12}{\rm C}(p,d)$ Reaction near the $\eta'$-Meson Emission Threshold Measured in Coincidence with High-Momentum Protons

Abstract

The missing mass of the ${}^{12}{\rm C}(p,d)$ reaction has been measured near the $\eta'$-meson emission threshold in coincidence with a high-momentum proton to selectively collect $\eta'$-${}^{11}{\rm C}$ mesic nucleus formation events at GSI, Germany. A 2.5 GeV proton excites a carbon nucleus to form an $\eta'$-mesic nucleus emitting a deuteron forward with an energy of $\sim 1.6$ GeV. The deuteron is momentum-analyzed by the Fragment Separator used as a high-resolution spectrometer to deduce the excitation energy of the residual system. The large-acceptance detector WASA surrounding the target identifies high-momentum protons emitted in the decay of the $\eta'$-mesic nucleus. The measured semi-exclusive spectrum exhibits structures below the threshold though the statistical significance is limited. The spectrum is fitted by theoretically calculated spectra varying optical-potential parameters of the $\eta'$-nucleus interaction. The analysis results indicate $\eta'$-mesic nuclei formation for the real potential depth of $\sim -61$ MeV with a local statistical significance of $3.5 \sigma$ and, taking into account the look-elsewhere effect, a global significance of $2.1 \sigma$.