Escape of charged particles at stopping annihilation of antiprotons in the heavy nuclei of nuclear photoemulsion

“Rare” annihilation channels for antiprotons stopping on heavy (Ag, Br) nuclei of photoemulsion, have been sought; 4872 stops of antiprotons on photoemulsion nuclei are analysed. Events of formation and decay of the hyperfragment _Λ⁴H, escape of ⁸He and ⁸Li nuclei, one-prong stars with the mean range 79.5±5.1 μm of secondary slow “b” particles are found among the annihilation stars at capture on nuclei (Ag, Br). The lower limits for the production probability of _Λ⁴H and ⁸He, ⁸Li nuclei per antiproton stopping in the nuclei (Ag, Br) are

W_Λ⁴H2×10⁻⁴ and W_⁸He,⁸Li=(1.3±0.6)×10⁻³.

The branching ratio for the production of one-prong stars with the secondary “b” particles is at least (1.3±0.6)×10⁻³. Possible mechanisms for a production of these events in annihilation processes are considered.     

Experimental observation of the Σ hypernuclei, ΣH and ΣC

The hypernuclei _Σ⁶H and _Σ¹⁶C were observed by the (K⁻, π⁺) reaction on targets of ⁶Li and liquid O, respectively, at 713 MeV/c incident K⁻ momentum. Structure is seen in _Σ⁶H which may be interpreted in terms of particle-hole excitations similar to the previously observed states in _Λ⁶Li. The inablitity to resolve individual Σ hypernuclear levels in _Σ¹⁶C, due in part to the excitation of non-coherent states as a result of the large momentum transfer of about 130 MeV/c, precludes the extraction of the Σ-nucleus spin-orbit potential strength. The Σ-nucleus well depth appears to be 7 to 10 MeV less than that for the Λ.     

Collective properties of Cr

The mean lifetimes of levels below 3 MeV excitation in ⁴⁹Cr were measured using the reaction ⁴⁹Ti(, nγ)⁴⁹Cr. The Doppler-shift attenuation method was used in a neutron-gamma coincidence measurement. The lifetime of the first excited state was determined with the recoil distance method. The results are : 272 keV, 19±5 ps; 1085 keV, 260±90 fs; 1563 keV, 590₋₁₂₀⁺³⁰⁰ fs; 1704 keV, > 5.5 ps; 1742 keV, > 4 ps; 1982 keV, > 6.5 ps; 2169 keV, > 4.5 ps; 2433 keV, > 6 ps; 2504 keV, < 12 fs; 2614 keV, 65 ±20 fs. The lifetimes of the second and third excited states in combination with known multipole mixing ratios gave evidence for spin assignments of for the 1085 keV level and for the 1563 keV level. The energies and spins of the four lowest levels as well as the B(M1) and B(E2) values of their γ-decays are in good agreement with calculations based on the strong coupling model and suggest that these levels are strongly collective. Dipole transitions of the higher levels to the ground and first excited states are highly retarded.     

Four-body calculation of ΛH and ΛHe with realistic YN and NN interactions

We carried out four-body calculations of _Λ⁴H and _Λ⁴He taking both the 3N + Λ and 3N + Σ channels explicity with the use of realistic NN and YN interactions. The Σ-channel component plays an important role in binding energies of the A = 4 hypernuclei though the admixture is approximately 1%. The ΛN - ΣN coupling is found to be of central-force type in the Nijmegen model D and of tensor-force type in the model F.     

The Li(K, π)ΣH reaction and narrow Σ states

Small-angle cross sections are calculated for ⁶Li(K⁻, π⁺)_Σ⁶H at 720 MeV/c, in order to intepret the data of the preceding paper. Due to the spin-isospin selectivity of ΣN → ΛN conversion, the substitution 1s_N → 1s_Σ leads to a narrow resonance high in the Σ continuum. Further tests of selectivity with ^3,4He targets are suggested. The energy shifts of Σ states which arise from the spin-isospin dependence of the ΣN interaction are discussed.     

A measurement of the η radiative width Γη→γγ

The radiative width of the η meson has been measured at PETRA in photon-photon collisions. The resulting value is Γ_η→γγ = 0.53±0.04±0.04 keV.     

The nature of 0 excitations in Er

Lifetimes of excited 0⁺ states in ¹⁶⁶Er have been measured with the (n,n′γ) reaction. The first and second excited 0⁺ states have no significant collective enhancements of their decays, and their properties are suggestive of pair-type excitations rather than those of a β vibration or phonon excitation built on the γ vibration. The third excited 0⁺ state at 1934 keV has an enhanced decay to the ground state band with B(E2; 0₄⁺ → 2_gsb⁺) = 8.8 ± 0.9 W.u., consistent with that expected for a β vibration.     

Experimental study of the time-dependent rate of K → πππ

The time-dependence of the decay rate of initially pure K⁰ into the final state (π⁺π⁻π⁰) has been studied in search for the decay k_S⁰→π⁺π⁻π⁰. No evidence is found in a sample of 384 observed events. The ratio of the CP -violating K_S⁰ amplitude and the K_L⁰ amplitude is η₊₋₀ = (0.13_−0.20^+0.17) + i(0.17_−0.26^+0.27); the ratio of the CP-conserving K_S⁰ amplitude and the K_L⁰ amplitude is < 0.4. The energy dependence of the K⁰→π⁺π⁻π⁰ matrix element is found to be a₊₋₀ = −0.31 ± 0.03.     

Importance of the photo-beta process for the synthesis of “p” elements in stellar conditions

In this work, we compare positon capture and photo-beta disintegration probabilities in several stellar conditions.

We show that the second process can be neglected with regard to the first one in strongly endothermic nuclear transitions, whereas photo-beta disintegration can be competitive with positon capture and even can have a greater likelihood than the latter process in weakly endothermic and exothermic transitions.

In the range of temperature we consider here (T ≈ 10⁹ °K), it appears that the lifetime ratio τ(ph)/τ(e_c⁺) against photo-beta disintegration and positon capture is the smallest for densities in the neighbourhood of 10⁶ g/cm³.

Thus, we arrive at the conclusion that the photo-beta process can play a role in the synthesis of two “p” elements at least, ₆₂¹⁴⁴Sm and ₈₀¹⁹⁶Hg, for which the ratios τ(ph)/τ(e_c⁺) are close to 10 and 20, respectively, in the most favourable stellar conditions.     

Structure of a Λ-hypernucleus ΛY measured with the SKS spectrometer

We have measured an excitation energy spectrum of a Λ-hypernucleus _Λ⁸⁹Y via the (π⁺, K⁺) reaction by using the SKS spectrometer at KEK. The best quality data with the energy resolution of 1.63 MeV(FWHM) was obtained in the highest statistics so far. In the spectrum, we can find a splitting of the f-orbital of a Λ particle with the separation of 1.6±0.15 MeV(statistical error only), which may be attributed to the spin-orbit splitting.     

Identification of the Li ground state

The proton-stripping reaction from a ¹¹Be radioactive beam incident on a beryllium target demonstrates that only (7±3)% of the ⁹Li residues in the reaction are in coincidence with the 2.7 MeV γ-ray corresponding to the ⁹Li first excited state. This implies that the previously observed low-energy neutrons from the decay of the unbound nucleus ¹⁰Li represent a direct l=0 transition to the ⁹Li ground state. Consequently, neutron-unbound ¹⁰Li is proven to have the same parity inversion as occurs in the case of ¹¹Be with a  intruder state below the natural parity state.     

The IR spectra of Mg5C(CO) complexes on the (0 0 1) surfaces of polycrystalline and single crystal MgO

The FTIR spectroscopy of carbon monoxide adsorbed on polycrystalline MgO smoke has been investigated as a function of the CO equilibrium pressure at constant temperature (60 K) (optical isotherm) and of the temperature (in the 300–60 K range) at constant CO pressure (optical isobar). In both cases the spectra fully reproduce those of CO adsorbed on the (0 0 1) surface of UHV cleaved single crystals [Heidberg et al., Surf. Sci. 331–333 (1995) 1467]. This result, never attained in previous investigations on dispersed MgO, contribute to bridging the gap which is commonly supposed to exist between surface science and the study of “real” (defective) systems. Depending on the surface coverage θ the main spectral features due to the CO/MgO smoke interaction are a single band shifting from 2157.5 (at θ→0) to 2150.2 cm⁻¹ (at θ=1/4) or a triplet, at 2151.5, 2137.2 and 2132.4 cm⁻¹ (at θ>1/4). These manifestations are due to the ν(CO) modes of Mg_5C²⁺· · · CO adducts formed on the (0 0 1) terminations of the cubic MgO smoke microcrystals. The formation of the CO monolayer is occurring in two different phases: (i) a first phase with CO oscillators perpendicularly oriented to the surface (2157–2150 cm⁻¹) and (ii) a second phase constituted by an array of coexisting perpendicular and tilted species (triplet at 2151.5, 2137.2 and 2132.4 cm⁻¹). A much weaker feature at 2167.5–2164 cm⁻¹ is assigned to Mg_4C²⁺· · · CO adducts at the edges of the microcrystals. The heat of adsorption of the perpendicular Mg_5C²⁺· · · CO complex in the first phase has been estimated from the optical isobar and results to be 11 kJ mol⁻¹.     

Spectroscopy of light Λ hypernuclei

We recently measured high-statistics and high-resolution spectra of p-shell Λ hypernuclei produced by the (π⁺, K⁺) reaction. In this article, cross sections and their angular distributions of _Λ¹²C and _Λ¹⁶O are reported. The obtained cross sections are well reproduced by DWIA calculations.     

The Fermi matrix elements inferred from β-γ(CP) correlation measurements in Fe decay

Measurements have been made of the β-γ circular-polarization correlation paramter A for the 273 keV β-branch in the decay of ⁵⁹Fe. It has recently been established that each of the principal β-branches of ⁵⁹Fe involves ΔJ=0 and thus has a possible non-zero Fermi matrix element M_F which can be determined from the ƒt value and A. Previous β-γ (_CP) measurements on this nucleide have all employed the usual γ-ray scattering technique. This method is suitable for the 475 keV β-branch but does not produce an accurate measurement of the lower energy branch because of energy discrimination difficulties. A transmission polarimeter with γ-discrimination has been used in the present work to obtain clean data on the 273 keV β-1.29 MeV γ-cascade. Calibration with ⁶⁰Co (1.33 MeV) and ²⁸Al (1.79 MeV) yielded A = −0.154±0.023. This gives for the isospin impurity coefficient and the effective Coulomb matrix element of the 1.29 MeV state (1.1±1.4) × 10⁻³ and 9±11 keV, respectively.     

Magnetic moment of the Δ (1232) resonance

The reaction γp → π^°γ′p has been measured with the TAPS BaF₂ calorimeter at the Mainz Microtron accelerator facility MAMI for energies between √2 = 1221–1331 MeV. Cross sections differential in angle and energy have been determined for the photon γ′ in three bins of the excitation energy. This reaction channel provides access to the magnetic dipole moment of the Δ⁺(1232) resonance and, for the first time, a value of μ_Δ+ = (2.7^+1.0_−1.3(stat) ± 1.5(syst) ± (theor)) π_N has been extracted.     

The decay of Sc and V

The decays of ⁴⁸Sc and ⁴⁸V have been studied with Ge(Li) diodes, scintillation spectrometers and a double focussing beta-ray spectrometer. The 3507 keV level, from which originates the quadruple cascade (9.4±0.5)% in the ⁴⁸Sc decay, is also de-excited by a 1212 keV cross-over transition to the 2295 keV (4⁺) level and supports the assumption, that the 3507 keV level has a spin 6⁺. The first member of the reported triple cascade in the ⁴⁸V decay is shown to be a doublet of 928.9±0.7 (1.2±0.2)% and 944.3±0.5 keV (8.0±0.5)% gamma rays, both followed by the 1311.4–983.3 keV cascade. Evidence was found, that the 2421 keV (2⁺) level is excited by weak gamma rays from high-energy levels. The K/β⁺ ration in the ⁴⁸V decay is 0.69±0.05 The Q-values of ⁴⁸Sc and ⁴⁸V are calculated to be 3986±7 keV and if 4015±4 keV, respectively. The energy of the gamma ray of ⁴⁷Sc, which is present as an impurity, is 159.2±0.5 keV.     

Matter–antimatter asymmetry and neutrino properties

The cosmological baryon asymmetry can be explained as remnant of heavy Majorana neutrino decays in the early universe. We study this mechanism for two models of neutrino masses with a large ν_μ−ν_τ mixing angle which are based on the symmetries SU(5)×U(1)_F and SU(3)_c×SU(3)_L×SU(3)_R×U(1)_F, respectively. In both cases B−L is broken at the unification scale Λ_GUT. The models make different predictions for the baryogenesis temperature and the gravitino abundance.     

Electro-pion production on O to bou nd states of the residual nuclei

Differential cross sections for the reactions 16O(γ, π−π+−)16F16F to the sum of the four lowest lying states in 16F and 16N have been measured as a function of angle for pions with a kinetic energy of 30 MeV. The extracted ratios R = σ(γ, π−)/σ(γ, π+), the first ones to discrete final states as a function of angle, are in fair agreement with results obtained for the nucleon. For positive pions the energy dependence of the cross section has been measured at the angles of 45° and 90°. Distorted wave impulse approximation calculations fail to describe the energy dependence.     

Properties of the proposed τ charged lepton

The anomalous eμ and 2-prong μx events produced in e⁺e⁻ annihilation are used to determine the properties of the proposed τ charged lepton. We find the τ mass is 1.90 ± 0.10 GeV/c²; the mass of the associated neutrino, ν_τ, is less than 0.6 GeV/c² with 95% confidence; V - A coupling is favored over V + A coupling for the τ − ν_τ current; and the leptonic branching ratios are 0.186 ± 0.010 ± 0.028 from the eμ events and 0.175 ± 0.027 ± 0.030 from the μx events where the first error is statistical and the second is systematic.