Studying of hypernuclei with nuclotron beams

The hypernuclear program at Dubna was started in 1988 with investigation of the light hypernuclei production and decay [1]. Nowadays, we are planning to measure lifetime and production cross section of _Λ⁶He and _Λ⁶H hypernuclei.     

First beams and experiments at the nuclotron

The new heavy ion superconducting synchrotron - Nuclotron was put into operation and the pilot physics results on relativistic nuclear collisions were obtained.     

Prototype of a test bench for applied research on Extracted beams of the nuclotron accelerator complex

The results of the development and testing of elements of a test bench for investigating the impact of accelerated particle beams on biological objects, electronics, and other targets are presented. The systems for beam monitoring and target positioning were tested on extracted argon beams in the framework of experiments on studying the radiation hardness of electronic components.     

Production of hypernuclei with the reaction

We present results on the production of bound states of Θ⁺ in nuclei using the (K⁺,π⁺) reaction. By taking into account the states obtained within a wide range of strength of the Θ⁺ nucleus optical potential, plus the possibility to replace different nucleons of the nucleus, we obtain an excitation spectra with clearly differentiated peaks. The magnitude of the calculated cross sections is well within reachable range.     

Decay of hypernuclei

We present a nonrelativistic transition potential for the weak strangeness-changing reaction ΛN → NN. The potential is based on a one meson exchange model (OME), where, in addition to the long-ranged pion, the exchange of the pseudoscalar K, η, as well as the vector ,ω, K^* mesons is considered. Results obtained for different hypernuclear decay observables are compared to the available experimental data.     

Upgrading the nuclotron injection facility

The Nuclotron Injection Facility is intended to be used to inject beams of light and heavy ions with the charge-to-mass ratio q/A ?? 1/3 and energy 5 MeV/u and protons with the energy 20 MeV into the Nuclotron. The main directions in the upgrading of the laser source of light-element ions and the KRION heavyion source, the development of the new high-intensity source of polarized ions, and the preinjector updating plan are described.     

Research program for the nuclotron

Information is given about experiments at the accelerator complex of the Laboratory of High Energies (LHE) at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR, Dubna) and about projects for this facility. The projects were developed by collaborations, groups, and divisions of the LHE, as well as of other JINR laboratories and of institutes from the countries that are JINR members and from some other countries.     

Deuteron beam polarimetry at the nuclotron

The scheme of the deuteron beam polarization measurements at Nuclotron are presented. A deuteron beam polarimeter based on the spin-asymmetry measurements in the dp-elastic scattering at large angles in center-of-mass system has been constructed at the internal target station at the Nuclotron of JINR. This polarimeter is planned to use for the measurements of the vector and tensor components of deuteron beam polarizations at the energies 270–2000 MeV simultaneously. Details on the low energy polarimeters are also discussed.     

Pionic decay of hypernuclei

The mass number dependence of the total pionic decay rate of hypernuclei is evaluated under the closure approximation by using DDHF single-particle wave functions and taking into account the pion distortion and absorption. The effect ofNN andN correlations are then incorporated and found to give a drastic enhancement especially in heavy hypernuclei. More detailed features are discussed for partial and total decay rates of typical light hypernuclei.Presented at the symposium Mesons and Light Nuclei, Bechyn, Czechoslovakia, May 27–June 1, 1985.     

Excited states of hypernuclei

A two-body model of a hypernucleus with realistic N potentials is used to calculate the energies of the excited states of the particle in heavy hypernuclei. The positions of the levels are investigated as functions of: a) the form of the N potential, b) the size of the core nucleus and the form of the nucleon density, and c) the mass number A.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 4, pp. 33–37, April, 1980.     

Structure of light hypernuclei

The structure of light hypernuclei with strangeness S=−1 and −2 is investigated with the microscopic cluster model and the Gaussian expansion method (GEM). We emphasize that the cluster picture as well as the mean-field picture is invaluable to understand the structure of Λ hypernuclei, Σ hypernuclei and double Λ hypernuclei. A variety of aspects of Λ hypernuclei is demonstrated through a systematic study of p-shell hypernuclei (,, , , , , ) and sd-shell ones (, ): for example, the appearance of genuine hypernuclear states with new spatial symmetry which cannot be seen in ordinary nuclei, the glue-like role of the Λ particle which shrinks the size of nuclear core and thus reduces the B(E2) value, and the halo and skin structures in and etc. The typical light hypernucleus is thoroughly investigated, including its production, structure and decay. Precise three-body and four-body calculations of , and using GEM provide important information on the spin structure of the underlying ΛN interaction, by comparing with recent experimental data from γ-ray hypernuclear spectroscopy. The Λ–Σ coupling effect is studied in and . The binding mechanism of is discussed together with the possible existence of , emphasizing the fact that the study of is useful for extracting information on the ΣN interaction differing from that from . A systematic study of double-Λ hypernuclei, constrained by the NAGARA data () within a four-body cluster model indicates that the recently observed Demachi–Yanagi event can be interpreted as the 2⁺ state of . The effect of hyperon mixing in and is investigated using one-boson-exchange potentials and quark-cluster-model interactions for the S=−2 sector. A close relation between nuclear deep hole states and hypernuclei is discussed, emphasizing the selection rule for fragmentation of the s-hole in light nuclei, which is promising for understanding the production mechanism of double-Λ and twin-Λ hypernuclei via Ξ-atomic capture.     

Production of hypernuclei with hadronic and electromagnetic probes

We present an overview of a fully covariant formulation for describing hypernuclear production with hadronic and electromagnetic probes. This theory is based on an effective Lagrangian picture and it focuses on production amplitudes that are described via creation, propagation and decay into relevant channels of N^∗(1650), N^∗(1710) and N^∗(1720) intermediate baryonic resonance states in the initial collision of the projectile with one of the target nucleons. The bound state nucleon and hyperon wave functions are obtained by solving the Dirac equation with appropriate scalar and vector potentials. Specific examples are discussed for reactions which are of interest in current and future experiments on hypernuclear production.     

Light deformed hypernuclei

In the Hartree-Fock scheme, the influence of the added -hyperon is studied on theN= Z even-evenA40 nuclei. The emphasis is put on the shape polarizability, which is related to the bulk properties of the potentials used. Possible experimental connections are commented.Dedicated to Academician Václav Votruba on the occasion of his seventieth birthday.Some of the results have been presented preliminarily at the Balaton 79 Conference on Large Amplitude Collective Motions [35], Discussions with L. Majling, M. Sotona and V. N. Fetisov are greatly acknowledged. Special thanks are due to Miloslav Sotona for constructing Si interactions.     

Compressed nuclear matter on the nuclotron

Study of compressed nuclear matter seems to be very interesting as it promises getting the new and very interesting information on the properties of nuclear matter in different regions of its phase diagram. It is important that the competitive ability of the Nuclotron-M in such studies is very high now and in the near future.     

Neutron halos in hypernuclei

Properties of single- Λ and double- Λ hypernuclei for even-N Ca isotopes ranging from the proton dripline to the neutron dripline are studied using the relativistic continuum Hartree-Bogoliubov theory with a zero-range pairing interaction. Compared with ordinary nuclei, the addition of one or two Λ-hyperons lowers the Fermi level. The predicted neutron dripline nuclei are, respectively, ⁷⁵ _ΛCa and ⁷⁶ _2ΛCa, as the additional attractive force provided by the Λ-N interaction shifts nuclei from outside to inside the dripline. Therefore, the last bound hypernuclei have two more neutrons than the corresponding ordinary nuclei. Based on the analysis of two-neutron separation energies, neutron single-particle energy levels, the contribution of continuum and nucleon density distribution, giant halo phenomena due to the pairing correlation, and the contribution from the continuum are suggested to exist in Ca hypernuclei similar to those that appear in ordinary Ca isotopes. Received: 21 October 2002 / Accepted: 11 January 2003 / Published online: 8 April 2003