π0 and η production in proton-induced reactions measured with HADES

The HADES experiment at GSI studies dielectron radiation as well as strangeness production in various proton, deuteron and heavy-ion induced reactions. In this contribution we present results from a 4-lepton analysis of 3.5 GeV p+p and p+Nb collisions providing information on π0 and η production. To do so, we exploit the ability of HADES to also detect e+e- pairs from external conversion of real photons, thus allowing for a full reconstruction of the decays π0,η→γγ→e+e-e+e-. Differential production cross sections are shown and discussed. We will further demonstrate how these results provide constraints for transport models (e.g. UrQMD, IQMD, HSD, GiBUU) used to interpret the dielectron yields measured by HADES. Note that the method can be applied to heavy-ion reactions as well.