Near-threshold eta meson production in proton-proton collisions

The production of eta masons has been measured in the proton-proton interac tion close to the reaction threshold using the COSY-11 internal facility at the cooler synchrotron COSY. Total cross sections were determined for eigh t different excess energies (epsilon) in the range from epsilon = 0.5 MeV t o epsilon = 5.4 MeV. The energy dependence of the total cross section is we ll described by the available phase-space volume weighted by FSI factors fo r the proton-proton and proton-eta pairs. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. Al l rights reserved.