Production of J/ψ and other particles in π−N collisions at π− momenta 140‐197 GeV/c

π−N interactions at 185 GeV/c have been observed in a large acceptances spectrometer triggered by J/ψ→μμ. From a sample of 40 000 J/ψ with associated hadrons a search for naked beauty states decaying into J/ψK° or J/ψK°π± leads to limits on cross section x branching ratio of 0.08 and 0.51 nb/nucleon, respectively. The kinematic relation between the observed longitudinal momentum distribution of the J/ψ and the x‐distributions of the fusing partons leads to the conclusion that J/ψ production at these energies is mainly through gluon fusion and gives the momentum distribution of gluons in the pion and the nucleon. The photons detected in a calorimeter in association with the J/ψ have shown that 36±5% of J/ψ are produced from decay of an intermediate χ state. The analysis of e+e− pairs in the spectrometer shows peaks in the invariant mass of the J/ψγ system at the masses of χ(1++) and χ(2++).