Interacting pion pairs in nuclear matter

Abstract

The pion-production $π^+ A \to π^+π^{\pm} A'$ reactions were studied on nuclei $^{2}H$, $^{12}C$, $^{40}Ca$ and $^{208}Pb$ at a pion energy of $T_{π^{+}}$=283 MeV using the CHAOS spectrometer. The experimental results are reduced to differential cross sections and compared to both theoretical predictions and reaction phase space. Near the $2m_π$ threshold pion pairs couple to $(ππ)_{I=J=0}$ when produced in the $π^+\to π^+π^-$ reaction channel. The $\cal C$$_{ππ}^A$ ratio between the $π^{+}π^{\pm}$ invariant masses on nuclei and on the nucleon is also presented. The marked near-threshold enhancement of $\cal C$$_{π^+π^-}^A$ is consistent with theoretical predictions addressing the partial restoration of chiral symmetry. On the opposite, nuclear matter weakly influences $\cal C$$_{π^+π^+}^A$.