학술논문
First measurement of a long-lived $\pi^+ \pi^-$ atom lifetime
Document Type
Working Paper
Author
Adeva, B.; Afanasyev, L.; Anania, A.; Aogaki, S.; Benelli, A.; Brekhovskikh, V.; Cechak, T.; Chiba, M.; Chliapnikov, P. V.; Doskarova, P.; Drijard, D.; Dudarev, A.; Dumitriu, D.; Fluerasu, D.; Gorin, A.; Gorchakov, O.; Gritsay, K.; Guaraldo, C.; Gugiu, M.; Hansroul, M.; Hons, Z.; Horikawa, S.; Iwashita, Y.; Karpukhin, V.; Kluson, J.; Kobayashi, M.; Kruglov, V.; Kruglova, L.; Kulikov, A.; Kulish, E.; Lamberto, A.; Lanaro, A.; Lednicky, R.; Mariñas, C.; Martincik, J.; Nemenov, L.; Nikitin, M.; Okada, K.; Olchevskii, V.; Ovsiannikov, V.; Pentia, M.; Penzo, A.; Plo, M.; Prusa, P.; Rappazzo, G. F.; Vidal, A. Romero; Ryazantsev, A.; Rykalin, V.; Saborido, J.; Schacher, J.; Sidorov, A.; Smolik, J.; Takeutchi, F.; Trojek, T.; Trusov, S.; Vrba, T.; Yazkov, V.; Yoshimura, Y.; Zrelov, P.
Source
Phys. Rev. Lett. 122, 082003 (2019)
Subject
Language
Abstract
The adapted DIRAC experiment at the CERN PS accelerator observed for the first time long-lived hydrogen-like $\pi^+\pi^-$ atoms, produced by protons hitting a beryllium target. A part of these atoms crossed the gap of 96~mm and got broken up in the 2.1~\textmu{}m thick platinum foil. Analysing the observed number of atomic pairs, $n_A^L= \left.436^{+157}_{-61}\right|_\mathrm{tot}$, the lifetime of the 2$p$ state is found to be ${\tau_{2p}=(\left.0.45^{+1.08}_{-0.30}\right|_\mathrm{tot}) \cdot10^{-11}}$s, not contradicting the corresponding QED $2p$ state lifetime ${\tau_{2p}^\mathrm{QED}=1.17 \cdot 10^{-11}}$s. This lifetime value is three orders of magnitude larger than our previously measured value of the $\pi^+\pi^-$ atom ground state lifetime $\tau=(\left.3.15^{+0.28}_{-0.26}\right|_\mathrm{tot})\cdot 10^{-15}$s. Further studies of long-lived $\pi^+\pi^-$ atoms will allow to measure energy differences between $p$ and $s$ atomic states and so to determine $\pi\pi$ scattering lengths with the aim to check QCD predictions.
Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures
Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures