M. Hennebach

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.

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.

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.

Characterization of a charge-coupled device array for Bragg spectroscopy

The average pixel distance as well as the relative orientation of an array of 6 CCD detectors have been measured with accuracies of about 0.5 nm and 50

Precision measurements in pionic hydrogen

\mu

Measurement of the charged pion mass using X-ray spectroscopy of exotic atoms

rad, respectively. Such a precision satisfies the needs of modern crystal spectroscopy experiments in the field of exotic atoms and highly charged ions. Two different measurements have been performed by illuminating masks in front of the detector array by remote sources of radiation. In one case, an aluminum mask was irradiated with X-rays and in a second attempt, a nanometric quartz wafer was illuminated by a light bulb. Both methods gave consistent results with a smaller error for the optical method. In addition, the thermal expansion of the CCD detectors was characterized between -105°C and -40°C.

The pionic hydrogen experiment at PSI

Abstract The strong interaction in the pion nucleon system leads to a shift and a broadening of the 1s-ground state in pionic hydrogen. These two quantities are being measured in an experiment at the Paul Scherrer Institute with much improved precision and allow an experimental test of recent calculations in the framework of Chiral Perturbation Theory. The experimental techniques using high resolution crystal spectroscopy are described as well as recent results.

Measurement of the charged pion mass using a low-density target of light atoms

Abstract The 5 g − 4 f transitions in pionic nitrogen and muonic oxygen were measured simultaneously by using a gaseous nitrogen–oxygen mixture at 1.4 bar. Due to the precise knowledge of the muon mass the muonic line provides the energy calibration for the pionic transition. A value of (139.57077 ± 0.00018) MeV/c 2 (± 1.3 ppm) is derived for the mass of the negatively charged pion, which is 4.2 ppm larger than the present world average.

Pionic Hydrogen: Status and Outlook

The measurement of the strong-interaction effects in pionic hydrogen gives access to fundamental properties of the pion–nucleon interaction. Methods developed within the framework of Heavy-Baryon Chiral Perturbation Theory allow calculations with an accuracy of a few per cent, which should be tested by experiment.Techniques advanced for recent experiments on the precision spectroscopy of X-rays from antiprotonic and pionic atoms will be used in a new series of measurements for pionic hydrogen. The aim is to achieve finally an accuracy of 0.2% for the hadronic shift ∈1s and most important of about 1% for the broadening Γ1s.An essential part of the experimental program is an improved understanding of the atomic cascade. At first, the value of ∈1s has to be proven not to be influenced by molecular formation. Secondly, a more accurate determination of Γ1s requires a detailed study of Coulomb deexcitation.

Chapter 11 Experiments on Highly Charged Heavy Ions in Conjunction with Exotic Atoms

We present a new evaluation of the negatively charged pion mass based on the simultaneous spec-troscopy of pionic nitrogen and muonic oxygen transitions using a gaseous target composed by a N 2 /O 2 mixture at 1.4 bar. We present the experimental setup and the methods for deriving the pion mass value from the spatial separation from the 5g − 4 f πN transition line and the 5g − 4 f µO transition line used as reference. Moreover, we discuss the importance to use dilute targets in order to minimize the influence of additional spectral lines from the presence of remaining electrons during the radiative emission. The occurrence of possible satellite lines is investigated via hypothesis testing methods using the Bayes factor.