Observation ofHΛ4Hyperhydrogen by Decay-Pion Spectroscopy in Electron Scattering

At the Mainz Microtron MAMI, the first high-resolution pion spectroscopy from decays of strange systems was performed by electron scattering off a ^9B

The frontiers of the virtual photons program at MAMI

The most recent results and the future physics program of the high precision electron-scattering experiment at MAMI are briefly outlined. The A1 high-resolution spectrometers facility allows for a unique quality of virtual photon experiments. High precision form factor measurements, few-baryon systems highresolution structure studies and the innovative way in the search of dark photons illustrate the interplay between such diverse fields as precision atomic physics, nuclear astrophysics and astroparticle physics, where hadron physics plays a central and connecting role.

Decay pion spectroscopy: a new approach

We propose a new experiment for decay pion spectroscopy of light hypernuclei at electron- and proton-beam facilities, using the recoil distance technique for separation of produced hypernuclei and a magnetic spectrometer for precise measurement of the decay pion momentum. Low-pressure MWPCs are advocated for low-energy recoil detection as they provide position and time information and are highly insensitive to gamma-ray and electron background. The position and timing characteristics of such a recoil detector were studied using ~5 MeV {\alpha}-particles. By using the present proposed approach the rate of the detected hypernuclei can be increased by one-to-two orders of magnitude compared to…

Spectroscopy of A=9 hyperlithium with the (e,e′K+) reaction

Hypernuclear Spectroscopy at JLab Hall C

Abstract Since the 1st generation experiment, E89-009, which was successfully carried out as a pilot experiment of (e,e'K+) hypernuclear spectroscopy at JLab Hall C in 2000, precision hypernuclear spectroscopy by the (e,e'K+) reactions made considerable progress. It has evolved to the 2nd generation experiment, E01-011, in which a newly constructed high resolution kaon spectrometer (HKS) was installed and the “Tilt method” was adopted in order to suppress large electromagnetic background and to run with high luminosity. Preliminary high-resolution spectra of 7 Λ He and 28 Λ Al together with that of 12 Λ B that achieved resolution better than 500 keV(FWHM) were obtained. The third generation…

High resolution spectroscopic study ofBeΛ10

Spectroscopy of a Be-10(Lambda) hypernucleus was carried out at JLab Hall C using the (e, e' K+) reaction. A new magnetic spectrometer system (SPL+ HES+ HKS), specifically designed for high resolution hypernuclear spectroscopy, was used to obtain an energy spectrum with a resolution of similar to 0.78 MeV (FWHM). The well-calibrated spectrometer system of the present experiment using p(e, e' K+)Lambda, Sigma(0) reactions allowed us to determine the energy levels; and the binding energy of the ground-state peak (mixture of 1(-) and 2(-) states) was found to be B-Lambda = 8.55 +/- 0.07(stat.) +/- 0.11(sys.) MeV. The result indicates that the ground-state energy is shallower than that of an em…

Ground-state binding energy of HΛ4 from high-resolution decay-pion spectroscopy

Abstract A systematic study on the Λ ground state binding energy of hyperhydrogen H Λ 4 measured at the Mainz Microtron MAMI is presented. The energy was deduced from the spectroscopy of mono-energetic pions from the two-body decays of hyperfragments, which were produced and stopped in a 9Be target. First data, taken in the year 2012 with a high resolution magnetic spectrometer, demonstrated an almost one order of magnitude higher precision than emulsion data, while being limited by systematic uncertainties. In 2014 an extended measurement campaign was performed with improved control over systematic effects, increasing the yield of hypernuclei and confirming the observation with two indepen…

Novel optical interferometry of synchrotron radiation for absolute electron beam energy measurements

Abstract A novel interferometric method is presented for the measurement of the absolute energy of electron beams. In the year 2016, a pioneering experiment was performed using a 195 MeV beam of the Mainz Microtron (MAMI). The experimental setup consisted of two collinear magnetic undulators as sources of coherent optical synchrotron light and a high-resolving grating monochromator. Beam energy measurements required the variation of the relative undulator distance in the decimeter range and the analysis of the intensity oscillation length in the interference spectrum. A statistical precision of 1 keV was achieved in 1 h of data taking, while systematic uncertainties of 700 keV were present …

Unpolarized and polarized elementary kaon electroproduction cross sections measured at MAMI

Present and future research into the electroproduction of kaons plays an im- portant role at Mainz Microtron MAMI. With the Kaos spectrometer employed for kaon detection in the multi-spectrometer facility, cross section measurements of the exclusive p(e;e 0 K + ); 0 reactions at low momentum transfers have been performed. Isobar and Regge-plus-resonance models were compared with the data. These measurements have clearly discriminated between e ective Lagrangian models for photo- and electroproduc- tion of strangeness. New experiments with polarized beam at low four-momentum transfer are addressing the imaginary part of the longitudinal-transverse response in this process, that can be separa…

Experiments with the High Resolution Kaon Spectrometer at JLab Hall C and the new spectroscopy ofΛ12Bhypernuclei

Since the pioneering experiment E89-009 studying hypernuclear spectroscopy using the (e, e’K+) reaction was completed, two additional experiments, E01-011 and E05-115, were performed at Jefferson Lab. These later experiments used a modified experimental design, the "tilt method", to dramatically suppress the large electromagnetic background, and allowed for a substantial increase in luminosity. Additionally, a new kaon spectrometer, HKS (E01-011), a new electron spectrometer, HES, and a new splitting magnet (E05-115) were added to produce new data sets of precision, high-resolution hypernuclear spectroscopy. All three experiments obtained a spectrum for 12B-Lambda, which is the most charact…

Status of hypertriton binding energy measurements at the Mainz Microtron

Spectroscopy of the neutron-rich hypernucleusHeΛ7from electron scattering

The missing mass spectroscopy of the HeΛ7 hypernucleus was performed using the Li7(e, e ′K+)HeΛ7 reaction at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility Hall C. The Λ- binding energy of the ground-state (1/2+) was determined with a smaller error than that of the previous measurement, being BΛ=5.55±0.10stat.±0.11sys.MeV. The experiment also provided new insight into charge symmetry breaking in p-shell hypernuclear systems. Finally, a peak at BΛ=3.65±0.20stat. ±0.11sys.MeV was observed and assigned as a mixture of 3/2+ and 5/2+ states, confirming the "gluelike" behavior of Λ, which makes an unstable state in He6 stable against neutron emission.

Overview of the electromagnetic production of strange mesons at MAMI

Abstract The Mainz Microtron MAMI provides a continuous-wave unpolarized or spin-polarized electron beam with energies up to 1.6 GeV and high degrees of polarization. Electro-production of strange mesons is performed in the multi-spectrometer facility with the Kaos spectrometer for kaon detection and a high-resolution spectrometer for electron detection in plane or out of plane. Differential cross section measurements of exclusive p ( e , e ′ K + ) Λ , Σ 0 reactions at low four-momentum transfers in the nucleonʼs third resonance region have been done, followed by a measurement of the beam helicity asymmetry for p ( e → , e ′ K + ) Λ . These studies are important for the understanding of the…

Experimental investigations of the hypernucleus $_Λ^4$H

International audience; Negatively charged pions from two-body decays of stopped _Lambda^4H hypernuclei were studied in 2012 at the Mainz Microtron MAMI, Germany. The momenta of the decay-pions were measured with unprecedented precision by using high-resolution magnetic spectrometers. A challenge of the experiment was the tagging of kaons from associated K^+∧ production off a Be target at very forward angles. In the year 2014, this experiment was continued with a better control of the systematic uncertainties, with better suppression of coincident and random background, improved particle identification, and with higher luminosities. Another key point of the progress was the improvemen…

Strange hadronic physics in electroproduction experiments at the Mainz Microtron

Abstract Present and future research into the electroproduction of strangeness plays an important role at Mainz Microtron MAMI. With the Kaos spectrometer for kaon detection operated in the multi-spectrometer facility first cross section measurements of the exclusive p ( e , e ′ K + ) Λ , Σ 0 reactions at low-momentum transfers have been performed. These measurements have clearly discriminated between effective Lagrangian models for photo- and electroproduction of strangeness. Recently, the Kaos spectrometer was upgraded to a double-arm spectrometer for the measurement of elementary cross sections at very forward scattering angles and for the missing mass spectroscopy of hypernuclear states…

Prospects for hypernuclear physics at Mainz: From KAOS@MAMI to PANDA@FAIR

Abstract At the Mainz Microtron hypernuclei are produced by ( e , e ′ K ) reactions. A dedicated kaon spectrometer located at 0° with respect to the electron beam is used to detect kaons emitted in forward direction thus tagging events involving strangeness production. By measuring the momenta of pions from two body weak decays using high resolution magnetic spectrometers one gains direct access to the ground state masses of the produced hyperfragments. At FAIR the PANDA Collaboration intends to produce double-hypernuclei by numbers with an antiproton beam and study their high resolution γ -spectroscopy thus providing for the first time precise information on the level structure of these nu…

Direct measurements of the lifetime of medium-heavy hypernuclei

Abstract The lifetime of a Λ particle embedded in a nucleus (hypernucleus) decreases from that of free Λ decay mainly due to the opening of the Λ N → N N weak decay channel. However, it is generally believed that the lifetime of a hypernucleus attains a constant value (saturation) for medium to heavy hypernuclear masses, yet this hypothesis has been difficult to verify. This paper presents a direct measurement of the lifetime of medium-heavy hypernuclei that were hyper-fragments produced by fission or break-up from heavy hypernuclei initially produced with a 2.34 GeV photon-beam incident on thin Fe, Cu, Ag, and Bi target foils. For each event, fragments were detected in coincident pairs by …

Kaon Tagging at 0° Scattering Angle for High-Resolution Decay-Pion Spectroscopy

At the Mainz Microtron hypernuclei can be studied by (e,e'K) reactions. By detecting the kaon which is emitted in forward direction, with the KAOS spectrometer placed at 0 scattering angle, reactions involving open strangeness production are tagged. High-resolution magnetic spectrometers are then used to coincidentally detect the mono- energetic decay-pions from mesonic two-body weak decays of light hypernuclei at rest. As a pioneering experiment has confirmed, the KAOS spectrometer is exposed to a large flux of background particles, mostly positrons from bremsstrahlung pair production. In order to increase the e ciency of kaon identification the KAOS spectrometer was modi- fied to suppress…

High Resolution Λ Hypernuclear Spectroscopy with Electron Beams

T. Gogami1 ∗, P. Achenbach2, A. Ahmidouch3, I. Albayrak4, D. Androic5, A. Asaturyan6, R. Asaturyan6, O. Ates4, P. Baturin7, R. Badui7, W. Boeglin7, J. Bono7, E. Brash8, P. Carter8, C. Chen4, A. Chiba1, E. Christy4, S. Danagoulian3, R. De Leo10, D. Doi1, M. Elaasar11, R. Ent9, Y. Fujii1, M. Fujita1, M. Furic5, M. Gabrielyan7, L. Gan12, F. Garibaldi13, D. Gaskell9, A. Gasparian3, O. Hashimoto1, T. Horn9, B. Hu14, Ed. V. Hungerford21, M. Jones9, H. Kanda1, M. Kaneta1, S. Kato19, M. Kawai1, D. Kawama1, H. Khanal7, M. Kohl4, A. Liyanage4, W. Luo14, K. Maeda1, A. Margaryan6, P. Markowitz7, T. Maruta1, A. Matsumura1, V. Maxwell7, A. Mkrtchyan6, H. Mkrtchyan6, S. Nagao1, S. N. Nakamura1, A. Narayan…