Measurement of Dielectron Production in Ca+Ca Collisions at 1.05 GeV/nucleon Beam Kinetic Energy

Robert Jefferson Porter, 1995

The work reported in this dissertation covers the measurement of dielectron production in Ca+Ca collisions at the beam kinetic energy of 1.05 GeV/nucleon. The experiment was performed by the Dilepton Spectrometer (DLS) Collaboration at Lawrence Berkeley LaboratoryÕs Bevalac accelerator. In order to provide motivation for this measurement, summary descriptions of the DLS experimental program and some current physics interpretations of the dielectron production characteristics are presented. The results from the current investigation are provided following descriptions of the spectrometer systems and the analysis processes used to extract the dielectron cross section. These results include the determination of the multiplicity dependence in the dielectron yield and the presentation of the dielectron production differential cross sections with respect to the variable representation of the virtual photon; mass, transverse momentum, and laboratory rapidity. Furthermore, the measured cross section is compared with an earlier DLS measurement of dielectrons produced in Ca+Ca collisions at this same beam energy.

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