2 research outputs found
Determination of scattering lengths from measurement of atom lifetime
The DIRAC experiment at CERN has achieved a sizeable production of
atoms and has significantly improved the precision on its lifetime
determination. From a sample of 21227 atomic pairs, a 4% measurement of the
S-wave scattering length difference
has been attained, providing an important test of Chiral Perturbation Theory.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure
Evidence for -atoms with DIRAC
We present evidence for the first observation of electromagnetically bound
-pairs (-atoms) with the DIRAC experiment at the CERN-PS.
The -atoms are produced by the 24 GeV/c proton beam in a thin Pt-target
and the and -mesons from the atom dissociation are analyzed in
a two-arm magnetic spectrometer. The observed enhancement at low relative
momentum corresponds to the production of 173 54 -atoms. The mean
life of -atoms is related to the s-wave -scattering lengths, the
measurement of which is the goal of the experiment. From these first data we
derive a lower limit for the mean life of 0.8 fs at 90% confidence level.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figure