The $ππ$ interaction in nuclear matter from a study of the $π^+ A \to π^+ π^{\pm} A'$ reactions

Abstract

The pion-production reactions $π^+ A \to π^+π^{\pm} A'$ were studied on $^{2}H$, $^{12}C$, $^{40}Ca$, and $^{208}Pb$ nuclei at an incident pion energy of $T_{π^{+}}$=283 MeV. Pions were detected in coincidence using the CHAOS spectrometer. The experimental results are reduced to differential cross sections and compared to both theoretical predictions and the reaction phase space. The composite ratio $\cal C$$_{ππ}^A$ between the $π^{+}π^{\pm}$ invariant masses on nuclei and on the nucleon is also presented. Near the $2m_π$ threshold pion pairs couple to $(ππ)_{I=J=0}$ when produced in the $π^+\to π^+π^-$ reaction channel. There is a marked near-threshold enhancement of $\cal C$$_{π^+π^-}^A$ which is consistent with theoretical predictions addressing the partial restoration of chiral symmetry in nuclear matter. Furthermore, the behaviour of $\cal C$$_{π^+π^-}^A$ is well described when the restoration of chiral symmetry is combined with standard P-wave renormalization of pions in nuclear matter. On the other hand, nuclear matter only weakly influences $\cal C$$_{π^+π^+}^A$, which displays a flat behaviour throughout the energy range regardless of $A$.