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.     

Mesonic and non-mesonic decay widths of ΛC

Results are reported on the precise measurement of the lifetime and the weak-decay branching ratios with charged particle(π⁻ and proton) emission from _Λ¹²C formed via ¹²C(π⁺,K⁺) reaction. The π⁻ mesonic decay width is consistent with the calculations including the pion wave function distortion effect. We observed large contribution of the neutron-stimulated decay widths, Γ(Λ + n → n + n), in the non-mesonic weak decay, which cannot be explained by the current theoretical calculations.     

The Λc and its inclusive nonleptonic decay

The inclusive nonleptonic decay of the Λ_c⁺ is reanalyzed using a nonrelativistic quark model representation of the Λ_c⁺- wavefunction. It is shown that the same approximation which leads to the familiar spectator and annihilation type contributions naturally also gives interference terms as a direct consequence of Fermi statistics. Numerical estimates which include these novel contributions, are presented for the Λ_c⁺ lifetime and semileptonic branching ratio.     

The reactions pp→pΛK and pp→pΣK near their thresholds

The reactions pp→pΛK⁺ and pp→pΣ⁰K⁺ are studied near their thresholds. The strangeness production process is described by the π- and K exchange mechanisms. Effects from the final state interaction in the hyperon-nucleon system are taken into account rigorously. The Λ production turns out to be dominated by K exchange whereas K- as well as π exchange play an important role for the Σ⁰ case. It is shown that the experimentally observed strong suppression of Σ⁰ production compared to Λ production at the same excess energy can be explained by a destructive interference between π and K exchange in the reaction pp→pΣ⁰K⁺. Implications of such an interference on the reaction pp→nΣ⁺K⁺ are pointed out.     

Compton scattering by the proton through θcms = 75° and 90° in the Δ-resonance region

Differential cross sections for Compton scattering by the proton have been measured in the energy interval between 200 and 500 MeV at scattering angles of θcms = 75° and θcms = 90° using the CATS, the CATS/TRAJAN, and the COPP setups with the Glasgow Tagger at MAMI (Mainz). The data are compared with predictions from dispersion theory using photo-meson amplitudes from the recent VPI solution SM95. The experiment and the theoretical procedure are described in detail. It is found that the experiment and predictions are in agreement as far as the energy dependence of the differential cross sections in the Δ-range is concerned. However, there is evidence that a scaling down of the resonance part of the M1+3/2 photo-meson amplitude by (2.8 ± 0.9)% is required in comparison with the VPI analysis. The deduced value of the M1+3/2-photoproduction amplitude at the resonance energy of 320 MeV is: |M1+3/2| = (39.6 ± 0.4) × 10−3 mπ+−1.     

High-resolution gamma-ray spectroscopy of ΛLi

We report on the first observation of hypernuclear γ transitions using germanium detectors. Using a large-acceptance Ge detector system, we observed two γ transitions in _Λ⁷Li, the spin-flip transition at 689±4keV and the transition at 2050±2 keV (preliminary). The strength of the ΛN spin-spin interaction is derived from the energy of the former transition. As for the latter transition, B(E2) was measured to be 3.9±0.6±0.4 e²fm⁴ (preliminary), which indicates a shrinkage of the nuclear size of _Λ⁷Li from ⁶Li and confirms “glue-like role” of Λ.     

Electroproduction of π from C leading to low-lying residual states in B

Energy distributions of π⁺ produced from ¹²C by electrons of total energy 195 MeV were measured at various angles. The results show large contributions from transitions leaving the residual nucleus in the ground (1⁺), first (2⁺) excited state and states at around 4.5 MeV. The angular distributions of ¹²C(γ, π⁺)¹²B leading to these residual states are deduced from the energy distributions by the unfolding method with the virtual photon theory. Theoretical results with the Helm model and the shell model are compared with the experimental results. Their relative shapes are in good agreement. A better agreement in the absolute value is found for the theoretical results which include the final-state interaction estimated with a pion optical potential. The surface production model shows better agreement with the experimental (γ, π⁺) cross sections than the volume production model.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

The contribution of 2N photon absorption in C(γ,2N) reactions for Eγ = 150–400 MeV

The ¹²C(γ,pn) and ¹²C(γ,pp) reactions have been studied using tagged photons of energy E_γ = 150–400 MeV. Recoil momentum distributions are compared to the results of Monte Carlo calculations based on a two-nucleon photon absorption model and two different phase space models. The ¹²C(γ,pn) data at low missing energy are consistent with absorption on 1p² and 1s1p nucleon pairs.     

Non-proportional response of scintillation crystals to X-rays and γ-rays

Data are presented on the relative photon yield of Lu₂SiO₅(Ce³⁺), Cd₂SiO₅(Ce³⁺), CdWO₄, BaF₂, YAlO₃(Ce³⁺) and Lu₃Al₅O₁₂(Sc³⁺) scintillation of crystals on absorption of X-ray and γ-ray photons at energies ranging from 5 keV to beyond 1 MeV.     

Upper limit on the decay Σ(1385)→Σγ and cross section for γΣ→Λπ

Coherent Λπ⁻ production on Pb of 600 GeV Σ⁻ hyperons has been studied with the SELEX facility at Fermilab. Using the Primakoff formalism, we set a 90% CL upper limit on the radiative decay width Γ[Σ(1385)⁻→Σ⁻γ]<9.5 keV, and estimate the cross section for γΣ⁻→Λπ⁻ at  GeV to be 56±16 μb.     

The reaction Kp→Λπ in the c.m. energy range 1915 to 2168 MeV

A formationstudy of the reaction K⁻p→Λπ^o at 13 c.m. energies between 1915 and 2168 MeV is presented. Experimental differential cross sections and polarizations are given as expansions of Legendre polynomials and associated Legendre polynomials respectively. Partial wave analysis confirms the assignment of the Σ(2030) and the assignment of the Σ(1915). The parameters of these resonances are determined. The possible existence of other resonances coupled to this channel is investigated.     

Measurement of the proton spectra from non-mesonic weak decay of ΛHe, ΛLi and ΛC

The results of a measurement of the proton spectra following the non-mesonic weak decay of ⁵_ΛHe, ⁷_ΛLi and ¹²_ΛC are presented and discussed. The experiment was performed at the (e⁺ e⁻) collider DAΦNE at Laboratori Nazionale di Frascati of INFN. It is the first measurement for ⁷_ΛLi, and for all the spectra the lower limit on the energy of the protons is 15 MeV, never reached before. All the spectra show a similar shape, namely a peak at around 80 MeV as expected for the free Λp→np weak reaction, with a low energy rise that should be due to final state interactions and/or two-nucleon induced weak processes. The decay spectrum of ⁵_ΛHe is somehow similar to the ones reported by previous measurements and theoretical calculations, but the same does not happen for the ¹²_ΛC one.     

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.     

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.     

Observation of two-photon emission in nuclear pion capture

The emission of two photons above 25 MeV energy was observed in the capture of stopped pions by beryllium and carbon with a rate of (1.0 ± 0.1) × 10⁻⁵, respectively (1.4 ± 0.2) × 10⁻⁵ per capture. These rates are about two to four times greater than various free-nucleon estimates based on the π⁻+π⁺→γγ annihilation mechanism alone.     

The NN → NNη reaction close to threshold

The pp → ppη and np → npη reactions at energies near the η production threshold are studied in a non-relativistic one boson exchange model, where the N^* (1535 MeV) S11 resonance is excited through the exchange of π, η, and ω mesons and subsequently decays into an ηN pair. Energy integrated cross sections and energy spectra of the out going η's are reported. Providing NN and ηN final state interactions are taken into account coherently, the model reproduces both the scale and energy dependence of the cross section for the pp → ppη reactions up to 100 MeV. Final state interaction corrections due to the nucleon-nucleon and meson-nucleon forces influence strongly the scale and shape of the cross sections. The shape of the energy spectra of the outgoing η's provides a clear signature of the ηN force.     

Λ-hyperon superfluidity in neutron star cores

Superfluidity of Λ hyperons in neutron star cores is investigated by a realistic approach to use reliable ΛΛ interactions and the effective mass of Λ based on the G-matrix calculations. It is found that Λ superfluid can exist at - (_{t d}) with _t - 2₀(₀ being the nuclear density) and _d - (3 – 4.5)₀, depending on hyperon core models.