2016/05/19 by B. Adeva, DIRAC Collaboration, L. Afanasyev +62
Physics and Astronomy · #Atom (system on chip) #Atomic physics #Center (category theory) #Computer science #Crystallography #High-Energy Particle Collisions Research #Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies #Physics #Quantum Chromodynamics and Particle Interactions #hep-ex
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.117.112001
published as Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 112001 (2016) · 13 pages, 7 figures
arxiv created 2016/05/19 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex publication_date 2016/09/08 · arxiv updated 2016/09/14 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
The observation of hydrogenlike πK atoms, consisting of π-K+ or π+K- mesons, is presented. The atoms are produced by 24 GeV/c protons from the CERN PS accelerator, interacting with platinum or nickel foil targets. The breakup (ionization) of πK atoms in the same targets yields characteristic πK pairs, called "atomic pairs," with small relative momenta Q in the pair center-of-mass system. The upgraded DIRAC experiment observed 349±62 such atomic πK pairs, corresponding to a signal of 5.6 standard deviations. This is the first statistically significant observation of the strange dimesonic πK atom.