Measurement of electron capture from e+‐e− pair production by 0.956 GeV/u U92+ on Au, Ag, Cu, and Mylar targets

We describe the first experimental observation of electron capture from electron‐positron pair production in relativistic heavy ion collisions. We have used a novel new spectrometer to make the measurement of the cross section for a 0.956 GeV/u U92+ beam produced at the BEVALAC facility at LBL on Au, Ag, Cu, and Mylar targets. We also measured the energy and angular distribution of the positrons for the Au target. The total cross section for a Au target is measured to be 2.19 (0.25) barns for capture from pair production and 3.30 (0.65) barns for pair production without capture.