eta-meson production in proton-proton collisions at excess energies of 40 and 72 MeV

The production of eta mesons in proton-proton collisions has been studied using the WASA detector at the CELSIUS storage ring at excess energies of Q = 40 MeV and Q = 72 MeV. The eta was detected through its 2 gamma decay in a near-4 pi electromagnetic calorimeter, whereas the protons were measured by a combination of straw chambers and plastic scintillator planes in the forward hemisphere. About 6.9 x 10(4) and 9.3 x 10(4) events were found at Q = 40 MeV and Q = 72 MeV, respectively, with background contributions of less than 5%. A simple parametrization of the production cross section in terms of low partial waves was used to evaluate the acceptance corrections. Strong evidence was found for the influence of higher partial waves. The Dalitz plots show the presence of p waves in both the pp and the eta {pp} systems and the angular distributions of the eta in the center-of-mass frame suggest the influence of d-wave eta mesons.