Chiral symmetry probed with pionic atoms

Study of pionic atom has been revisited by a recent discovery of deeply bound pionic states in the context of possible sensitivity to the partial chiral restoration in the nuclear medium. Precisely measured binding energies and widths of the deeply bound π^? Is states in ^115,119,123Sn in ^116,120,124Sn(d,³He) reactions at recoil-free conditions are used to deduce the medium-modified isovector scattering amplitude as b₁ = 0.115 ± 0.007m _π ^?1. The observed enhancement of b ₁ over the free πN value infers 34% reduction of $\left\langle {\bar qq} \right\rangle $ at the normal nuclear density, ρ = 0.17 fm^?3.