Off-shell NN annihilation studied in π+p interactions at 8 and 16 GeV/c

Interactions in which the baryon is emitted forwards in the c.m.s. are studied in 8 and 16 GeV/c π+p collisions. These interactions are interpreted as representing baryon exchange. The properties of such off-shell NN annihilation events are studied. It is found that the multiplicity distribution of the multi-pion system as a function of the effective mass for events with |upp| < 1 GeV2 is the same as for real NN annihilations.