14 research outputs found
DIRAC: A High Resolution Spectrometer for Pionium Detection
The DIRAC spectrometer has been commissioned at CERN with the aim of
detecting atoms produced by a 24 GeV/ high intensity proton
beam in thin foil targets. A challenging apparatus is required to cope with the
high interaction rates involved, the triggering of pion pairs with very low
relative momentum, and the measurement of the latter with resolution around 0.6
MeV/. The general characteristics of the apparatus are explained and each
part is described in some detail. The main features of the trigger system,
data-acquisition, monitoring and setup performances are also given.Comment: 49 pages, 37 figures. Figures 1, 2, 5 and 28 are removed because of
size limitations imposed by hep-ex. They don't offer essential information.
Latex class file 'elsart.cls' also provide
First measurement of the atom lifetime
The goal of the DIRAC experiment at CERN (PS212) is to measure the
atom lifetime with 10% precision. Such a measurement would yield a
precision of 5% on the value of the -wave scattering lengths
combination . Based on part of the collected data we present a first
result on the lifetime, s, and
discuss the major systematic errors. This lifetime corresponds to
.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figure