Has the neutral double hypernucleus nΛΛ4 been observed?

Abstract The BNL-AGS E906 experiment was the first fully electronic experiment to produce and study double hypernuclei with large statistics. Two dominant structures were observed in the correlated π − – π − momentum matrix at ( p π − H , p π − L ) = ( 133 , 114 ) MeV / c and at ( 114 , 104 ) MeV / c . In this work we argue that the interpretation of the structure at ( 133 , 114 ) MeV / c in terms of Λ 3 H+ Λ 4 H pairs is questionable. We show, that neither a scenario where these single-Λ hypernuclei are produced after capture of a stopped Ξ − by a 9Be nucleus nor interactions of energetic Ξ − with 9Be nuclei in the target material can produce a sufficient amount of such twin pairs. We have…

Antihyperon potentials in nuclei via exclusive antiproton–nucleus reactions

Abstract The exclusive production of hyperon–antihyperon pairs close to their production threshold in p ‾ -nucleus collisions offers a unique and hitherto unexplored opportunity to elucidate the behavior of antihyperons in nuclei. For the first time we analyze these reactions in a microscopic transport model using the Giesen Boltzmann–Uehling–Uhlenbeck transport model. The calculation takes the delicate interplay between the strong absorption of antihyperons, their rescattering and mean field deflection as well as the Fermi motion of the struck nucleon into account. We find a substantial sensitivity of transverse momentum correlations of coincident Λ ‾ Λ -pairs to the assumed depth of the Λ…

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…

Feasibility study for the measurement of πN transition distribution amplitudes at P¯ANDA in p¯p→J/ψπ0

The exclusive charmonium production process in (P) over barp annihilation with an associated pi 0 meson (p) over barp -> J/psi pi(0) is studied in the framework of QCD collinear factorization. The feasibility of measuring this reaction through the J/psi -> e(+) e(-) decay channel with the AntiProton ANnihilation at DArmstadt ((P) over bar ANDA) experiment is investigated. Simulations on signal reconstruction efficiency as well as the background rejection from various sources including the (P) over barp -> pi(+)pi(-)pi(0) and (p) over barp -> J/psi pi(0)pi(0) reactions are performed with PANDAROOT, the simulation and analysis software framework of the (P) over bar ANDA experiment. It is show…

Study of doubly strange systems using stored antiprotons

Bound nuclear systems with two units of strangeness are still poorly known despite their importance for many strong interaction phenomena. Stored antiprotons beams in the GeV range represent an unparalleled factory for various hyperon-antihyperon pairs. Their outstanding large production probability in antiproton collisions will open the floodgates for a series of new studies of systems which contain two or even more units of strangeness at the PANDA experiment at FAIR. For the first time, high resolution gamma-spectroscopy of doubly strange Lambda Lambda-hypernuclei will be performed, thus complementing measurements of ground state decays of Lambda Lambda-hypernuclei at J-PARC or possible …

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…

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…

Strangeness nuclear physics at P¯ANDA