Low energy antiproton-proton annihilation and meson spectroscopy

Recent results in antiproton-proton annihilation at rest from the Crystal Barrel at CERN/LEAR are reviewed. Rates for annihilation at rest into various two-body channels have been measured. In spite of the complexity of the annihilation mechanism, simple tests based on the underlying quark constituents can be applied. The annihilation process is also useful to investigate the spectrum of light quark mesons and to search for exotic (non-q¯q) mesons. Three scalar states have been found in the 1500 MeV mass region. One of them is a good candidate for the ground state glueball.