Decay Anisotropy of $e^+e^-$ Sources from $pN$ and $pd$ collisions

Abstract

A full calculation of lepton-pair angular characteristics is carried out for $e^+e^-$ pairs created in $pp$, $pn$ and $pd$ collisions at intermediate energies. It is demonstrated that the proposed new observable, the dilepton decay anisotropy, quite sensitively changes for different sources and may be useful for their disentangling. The relevance of the dilepton decay anisotropy is shown in the context of a puzzling energy behavior for the ratio of the lepton yield from $pd$ to $pp$ reactions as observed at the BEVALAC.