The reaction π+p→π+π+n was studied in the vicinity of the reaction threshold at ten incident pion beam momenta from 297 MeV/c to 480 MeV/c. From data angular distributions, invariant mass spectra and integrated cross-sections were deduced. The chiral symmetry breaking parameter as determined by this reaction equals to ξ=1.56±0.26±0.39, where the first error is experimental, while the latter reflects the uncertainty in the ansatz used in the extrapolation to the reaction threshold. A comparison with the other reaction channels of the reaction πp→ππN indicates that a single parameter (ξ) is not sufficient to describe low energy ππ interactions.

The production of charged kaon pairs in two-photon interactions has been studied with the ARGUS detector and the topological cross section has been measured. The γγ-widths and interference parameters have been determined for the tensor mesonsf2 (1270),a2 (1318) andf′2 (1525). The helicity structure assumed for the continuum contribution has a significant effect on the result. Upper limits have been obtained for the γγ-widths of the glueball candidate statesf2 (1720) andX (2230).

Resonance production in the γγ reactionse+e−→e+e+e−π0π0 ande+e−π0η has been studied with the JADE detector at PETRA. The decay widths into γγ of thef2(1270),a0(980) anda2(1320) were measured to be\(\Gamma _{\gamma \gamma } (f_2 (1270)) = 3.19 \pm 0.09_{ - 0.38}^{ + 0.22} \) Kev,Γλλ(a0(980))=0.28±0.04±0.10 KeV/BR(a0(980)→π0η) andΓλλ(a2(1320))=1.01±0.14±0.22KeV. For thef0(975) andf4(2050) upper limits of the widths were obtained,Γλλ(f0(975))<0.6 KeV, andΓλλ(f4(2050))<1.1 KeV, both at the 95% C.L. Assuming that the spin 0 background under thef2(1270) is small, thef2(1270) was found to be produced exclusively in a helicity 2 state. The helicity 0 contribution is <15% at the 95% C.L. The cross section forλλ→π0π0 in the mass range 2.0–3.5 GeV/c2 was measured for the first time. Since the cross section forλλ→π+π− is a factor ∼2 larger, ππ production in this range can be interpreted as taking place via isospin 0 production.

In the reaction γγ→KS0KS0 resonance production of thef2− is observed. For the radiative with\(\Gamma _{\gamma \gamma } .B(f'_2\to K\bar K) = 0.11_{ - 0.02}^{ + 0.03}\pm 0.02keV\) is found. The small number of events in thef2,a2 mass region is consistent with the assumption of destructivef2−a2 interference. From the mass distribution we determine the relative phases between the tensor mesons. Upper limits on the radiative widths of the glueball candidatesf2(1720) andX (2220) are derived.

The production of thef0 in two photon collisions, with the subsequent decayf0→π+π− has been observed in the CELLO detector at PETRA. Thef0 peak was found to lie on a dipion continuum and to be shifted downwards in mass by ≃50 MeV/c2. The ππ mass spectrum from 0.8 to 1.5 GeV/c2 was well fitted by the model of Mennessier using only a unitarised Born amplitude and helicity 2f0 amplitude. The previously observed mass shift and distortion of thef0 peak are explained by strong interference between the Born andf0 amplitudes. The only free parameter in the fit of the data to the model is the radiative widthΓγγ(f0). It was found that:Γγγ(f0)=2.5±0.1±0.5 keV where the first (second) quoted errors are statistical (systematic).

The differential cross section of the reactionγ+p→π+ was measured at pion CM-angles of 20° and 30° for photon energies between 500 MeV and 1,400 MeV. The pions were detected in a magnetic spectrometer. By measuring each pion trajectory and by offline calculation of the initial pion parameters an energy resolution of about 2.5% FWHM was achieved. The results complete a set of data which were measured in recent years at the Bonn 2.5 GeV synchrotron. In comparison to photoproduction analyses two effects were revealed: The η cusp appears in the energy dependence of the cross section as a sharp drop atKγ=710 MeV. In the region of the third resonance the data show a greater enhancement than predicted by most of the analyses.

We have determined the cross section for γγ→π+π+π−π− in a way free of assumptions about the relative contributions fromρ0ρ0,ρ02π and 4π (uncorrelated phase space). We find a sharp onset above threshold and a rather high cross section of about 200 nb aroundWγγ=1.5 GeV which consists to about 40% ofρ0ρ0 production with sizeable contributions fromρ02π and 4π (PS). The total cross section as well as theρ0ρ0 content fall rather fast at higher c.m. energies. Attempts to explain this behaviour in terms of production of known resonances are not successful so far. The angular distributions do not show any significant structure pointing to resonance formation in the 4π-system. Only theρ0-meson is observed in the moment analysis. The decay distributions of theρ0 for forward produced rhos are fairly consistent with helicity conservation of the produced rhos in accordance with the VDM picture.

The\(e^ +e^ -\to K_s^0 K^ \pm\pi ^ \mp\) andK+K−π0 cross sections have been measured in the energy interval\(1350 \leqq \sqrt s\leqq 2400\) with the DM2 detector at DCI. The\(K_s^0 K^ \pm\pi ^ \mp\) cross section shows the contribution of an isoscalar vector meson at ≈1650 MeV/c2 in agreement with a previous experiment. The low statisticsK+K−π0 measurement is consistent with the above result.

We report a high-statistics measurement of differential cross sections for the process gamma gamma -> pi^0 pi^0 in the kinematic range 0.6 GeV <= W <= 4.0 GeV and |cos theta*| <= 0.8, where W and theta* are the energy and pion scattering angle, respectively, in the gamma gamma center-of-mass system. Differential cross sections are fitted to obtain information on S, D_0, D_2, G_0 and G_2 waves. The G waves are important above W ~= 1.6 GeV. For W <= 1.6 GeV the D_2 wave is dominated by the f_2(1270) resonance while the S wave requires at least one additional resonance besides the f_0(980), which may be the f_0(1370) or f_0(1500). The differential cross sections are fitted with a simple parameterization to determine the parameters (the mass, total width and Gamma_{gamma gamma}B(f_0 -> pi^0 pi^0)) of this scalar meson as well as the f_0(980). The helicity 0 fraction of the f_2(1270) meson, taking into account interference for the first time, is also obtained.

Angular distributions of the target symmetry for the reaction γ + p → π 0 + p have been measured at the Bonn 2.5 GeV Electron Synchrotron at pion c.m. angles between 13° and 63° and photon energies of 1.0 and 1.1 GeV. The π 0 mesons were detected by their two decay photons with total absorption lead-glass Čerenkov counters. Butanol was used as target material in a continuous flow 3 He cryostat operating at 0.5 K and 25 kG. The π 0 counting rate from free protons in the butanol target was derived from the measurements of the differential cross section on hydrogen. The data are compared with data of other laboratories and the results of two recent partial-wave analyses.