FAIR next generation scientists - 8th Edition Workshop

An experiment focused on hyperon production was carried out in 2022 with the upgraded HADES spectrometer. The upgrade includes a new Forward Detector system (FD) consisting of two PANDA-type Straw Tracking Stations, and an RPC. The measurements were performed with a T = 4.5 GeV proton beam impinging onto a LH${}_2$ target.
Proton-proton elastic scattering events were selected based on kinematic observables, and demanding that one proton was detected in the FD (${\theta }_{FD}<$ 6${}^{\circ }$), and the other proton was measured in the main HADES acceptance (70${}^{\circ }<{\theta }_H<$79${}^{\circ }$). The number of elastic events, corrected for acceptance and reconstruction efficiency, determines the time-integrated luminosity recorded during this experiment. The measured differential cross-section $d\sigma$ as a function of the square of the 4-momentum transfer $t$ is well described by a function of the form $d\sigma /dt$ = $A{e}^{-B|t|}$, from which the optical point $A=d\sigma /dt{|}_{t=0}$ and the nuclear slope parameter $B$ are obtained. In this talk, the proton-proton elastic scattering event selection will be explained, and preliminary results of $A$ and $B$ will be presented and compared with existing data from other experiments.