D. Gotta

ANKE, a new facility for medium energy hadron physics at COSY-Jülich

Abstract ANKE is a new experimental facility for the spectroscopy of products from proton-induced reactions on internal targets. It has recently been implemented in the accelerator ring of the cooler synchrotron COSY of the Forschungszentrum Julich (FZ-Julich), Germany. The device consists of three dipole magnets, various target installations and dedicated detection systems. It will enable a variety of hadron-physics experiments like meson production in elementary proton–nucleon processes and studies of medium modifications in proton–nucleus interactions.

Balmer α transitions in antiprotonic hydrogen and deuterium

Abstract The strong-interaction shifts ϵ and broadenings Γ of the 2p levels in antiprotonic hydrogen and deuterium have been measured for the first time with a crystal spectrometer. In hydrogen, the 2 3 P 0 hyperfine state could be resolved from the three close-lying states 2 3 P 2 , 2 1 P 1 , and 2 3 P 1 . The hadronic shift was determined to be ϵ 2 3 P 0 =+139±28 meV (attractive). The value found for Γ 2 3 P 0 =120±25 meV is much larger than the spin-averaged 2p-level broadening Γ bal 2p as determined from earlier experiments measuring the intensity balance. The average shift of the three unresolved states is consistent with zero and a mean broadening of Γ 2( 3 P 2 , 1 P 1 , 3 P 1 ) =38±9 meV was measured. In deuterium, the spin-averaged hadronic shift and broadening were found to be ϵ 2p =−243±26 meV (repulsive) and Γ 2p =489±30 meV.

A large area CCD X-ray detector for exotic atom spectroscopy

A large area, position and energy sensitive detector has been developed to study the characteristic X-radiation of exotic atoms in the few keV range. The detector, built up from an array of six high-resistivity CCDs, is used as the focal plane of a reflection-type crystal spectrometer. A large detection area is necessary because of the need to detect simultaneously two or more lines close in energy as well as broad structures like fluorescence X-rays from electronic atoms. The fine pixel structure provides accurate determination of the X-ray line position while the excellent background rejection capabilities of the CCD, using both energy and topographical discrimination, are essential in the high background environment of a particle accelerator.

Measurement of the strong interaction parameters in antiprotonic hydrogen and probable evidence for an interference with inner bremsstrahlung

Abstract The spin-averaged values of the 1s strong interaction parameters in antiprotonic hydrogen were measured with good statistics. The results are: shift (ϵ 1s ) = −712.5 ± 20.3 eV and width (Γ 1s ) = 1054± 65 eV . These values are compatible and have approximately the same precision as the world average before this experiment. With some additional constraints, both the triplet and singlet components could be extracted from the same spectrum. The results are: 3 S 1 shift: −785 ± 35 eV , 3 S 1 width: 940 ± 80 eV , 1 S 0 width: 1200 ± 250 eV . In addition, precise values for the K α L α and Ltotal L α yields at low pressure (20 mbar) were obtained: 0.0176 ± 0.0016 and 1.45 ± 0.05 . Furthermore, the 2p mean absorption width of 30.8 ± 3.0 meV was deduced, also compatible with and of similar precision as the world average before this experiment. An indication of interference between the measured Lyman (Ki) x-ray series and the process of inner bremsstrahlung due to charged meson production after annihilation was seen because of the low background conditions of this experiment.

On the characterisation of a Bragg spectrometer with X-rays from an ECR source

Narrow X-ray lines from helium-like argon emitted from a dedicated ECR source have been used to determine the response function of a Bragg crystal spectrometer equipped with large area spherically bent silicon (111) or quartz (10¯ crystals. The measured spectra are compared with simulated ones created by a ray-tracing code based on the expected theoretical crystal’s rocking curve and the geometry of the experimental set-up.

Measurement of the strong interaction parameters in antiprotonic deuterium

Abstract Antiprotonic deuterium K α X-rays were seen for the first time. Their analysis resulted in spin-averaged 1s strong interaction parameters, namely −1050±250 eV (repulsive) for the 1s shift and 1100±750 eV for the 1s width. The large errors are mainly due to low statistics. In addition, values for the K α /L α and L total /L α yields at low pressure (20 mbar) were obtained: 0.005±0.003 and 1.34±0.05. Furthermore, a 2p mean absorption width of 80 ≤ Γ 2p ≤ 350 meV was deduced. The results for the 1s ground state are somewhat surprising, especially the narrow 1s width which is similar to the spin-averaged antiprotonic hydrogen 1s width. However, our 1s width is in agreement with low-energy scattering data [A. Zenoni et al., Phys. Lett. B 461 (1999) 413] (see preceding paper).

Hadronic shift in pionic hydrogen

The hadronic shift in pionic hydrogen has been redetermined to be ε1s = 7.086 ± 0.007(stat) ± 0.006(sys) eV by X-ray spectroscopy of ground-state transitions applying various energy calibration schemes. The experiment was performed at the high-intensity low-energy pion beam of the Paul Scherrer Institut by using the cyclotron trap and an ultimate-resolution Bragg spectrometer with bent crystals.

Precision measurement of antiprotonic hydrogen and deuterium X-rays

X-rays from antiprotonic hydrogen and deuterium have been measured at low pressures. Using the cyclotron trap, a 105 MeV/c antiproton beam from LEAR was stopped with an efficiency of 86% in 30 mbar hydrogen gas in a volume of only 100 cm3. The X-rays were measured with Si(Li) detectors and a Xe-CH4 drift chamber. The strong interaction shift and broadening of the Lymanα transition and the spin-averaged 2p width in antiprotonic hydrogen was measured with unprecedented accuracy. The triplet component of the ground state in antiprotonic hydrogen was determined for the first time.

Accurate miscut angle determination for spherically bent Bragg crystals

Spherically bent crystals are used as analyzers in high-resolution spectroscopy, in particular, in low count-rate applications such as exotic-atom research. The focal conditions are determined not only by the bending radius and the Bragg angle but also by the crystal cut angle between its surface and the reflecting crystal planes, along with their orientation with respect to the direction of dispersion. We describe a simple but precise method for measuring the cut angle and its orientation for mounted spherically bent crystals, by combining x-ray diffraction and laser optical alignment, which can be easily performed with standard x-ray laboratory equipment.

Highly charged ions in exotic atoms research at PSI

During their de-excitation, exotic atoms formed in low pressure gases reach a state of high or even complete ionization. X-rays emitted from higher n-states of electron-free atoms have well defined energies with the error originating only from the error in the mass values of the constituent particles. They served as a basis for a new determination of the pion mass as well as for a high precision measurement of the pionic hydrogen ground state shift. The response function of the Bragg spectrometer has been determined with X-rays from completely ionized pionic carbon and with a dedicated electron cyclotron resonance ion trap (ECRIT). A further extension of the ECRIT method implemented in the experiment allows a direct calibration of exotic atom transitions as well as a precise determination of the energy of fluorescence lines.