Improved Λp Elastic Scattering Cross Sections between 0.9 and 2.0 GeV/c as a Main Ingredient of the Neutron Star Equation of State

Abstract

Strange matter is believed to exist in the cores of neutron stars based on simple kinematics. If this is true, then hyperon-nucleon interactions will play a significant part in the neutron star equation of state. Yet, compared to other elastic scattering processes, there is very little data on Λ-N scattering. This experiment utilized the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS) detector to study the Λp→Λp elastic scattering cross section in the incident Λ momentum range 0.9-2.0 GeV/c. These are the first data on this reaction since the 1970s. The new cross sections have significantly better accuracy and precision than the existing world data, and the techniques developed here can also be used in future experiments.

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Funding Information: The authors acknowledge the staff of the Accelerator and Physics Divisions at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility who made this experiment possible. This work was supported in part by the Chilean Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica (CONICYT), by CONICYT PIA Grant No. ACT1413, the Italian Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, the French Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, the French Commissariat á l’Energie Atomique, the United Kingdom Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), the Scottish Universities Physics Alliance (SUPA), the National Research Foundation of Korea, and the U.S. National Science Foundation. The Southeastern Universities Research Association operates the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility for the United States Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC05-06OR23177. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 authors. Published by the American Physical Society.

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