9514566 Dytman Studies of near-threshold pion production in nucleon-nucleon collisions will be carried out at the IUCF cooler ring. These experiments concentrate on measurements of analyzing powers utilizing a polarized proton beam. The data will quantify the s- wave strength in the production process, thereby permitting theorists to test their models of heavy meson exchange and/or off- energy-shell effects in nucleon-nucleon interactions - a topic of significant current interest. The group will also continue to play a leading role in the construction of the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS) detecter, with the construction of the Region I drift chambers. They are also leaders in defining the physics of the nucleon resonance program at CLAS. Upon completion of the CLAS detector in 1997, the Pittsburgh group will be major contributors to the production and analysis phase, both as spokesman and as collaborators. They are scheduled to run for 168 days of production. ***
