S-wave eta '-proton FSI; phenomenological analysis of near-threshold production of pi(0), eta, and eta ' mesons in proton-proton collisions

We describe a navel technique for comparing total cross sections for the re actions pp --> pp pi(0), pp --> pp eta, and pp --> pp eta' close to thresho ld. The initial and final state proton-proton interactions rue factored out of the total cross section, and the dependence of this reduced cross secti on on the volume of phase space is discussed. Different models of the proto n-proton interaction are compared. We argue that the scattering length of t he S-wave eta'-proton interaction is of the order of 0.1 fm. (C) 2000 Elsev ier Science B.V. All rights reserved.