Four charged particle final states from the reaction π+d at 15 GeV/c

The data from 387,000 stereotriplet photographs of the deuterium filled Stanford Linear Accelerator Center 82-inch bubble chamber exposed to a 15-GeV/c π+ separated beam is presented. The film was measured on a Flying Spot Digitizer with an accuracy of one micron. The final states π+π-pp, π+π-π0pp, π+π+π-np, π+π+π-d and π+π+π-π0d are discussed. With an experimental sensitivity of 4.75 +- .09 events/μb there is no new boson resonance structure in these data. The one-pion-exchange process dominates the breakup reactions. A rising (3π) coherent cross section established by these data is explained in terms of a kinematical effect. The data were used in a search for direct evidence for nuclear isobar (ΔΔ) component of the deuteron and established an upper limit at about one per cent. Details of the experimental procedure and the data reduction are described as well as an alternate data processing system, RESURX, which allows human intervention in the pattern recognition process to save over half the events failed by the normal data reduction system