Kaon-nucleon/nuclei interaction studies by kaonic atoms measurements: the SIDDHARTA experiment at DAΦNE

M Bazzi,P Levi Sandri,D Pietreanu,H Tatsuno,B Girolami,M Iwasaki,T Ishiwatari,M Iliescu,G Corradi,E Wiedmann,V Lucherini,C Guaraldo,T Ponta,F Ghio,A Romero Vidal,A M Bragadireanu ,Paul Kienle ,A Scordo ,A Tudorache ,H Shi ,S Okada ,O Vázquez Doce ,J Márton ,F Sirghi ,L Bombelli ,C Fiorini ,A Rizzo ,A Longoni ,R Hayano ,C Curceanu ,A D’uffizi ,V Tudorache ,D Sirghi ,T Frizzi ,G Beer ,M Cargnelli ,J Zmeskal

doi:10.1016/j.nuclphysbps.2010.12.072

Abstract

The SIDDHARTA experiment (SIlicon Drift Detector for Hadronic Atom Research by Timing Application) had the aim to perform a precise measurement of K-series kaonic hydrogen x-rays and the first-ever measurement of the kaonic deuterium x-rays to determine the strong-interaction energy-level shifts and widths of the lowest lying atomic states. These measurements offer a unique possibility to precisely determine the isospin-dependent kaon-nucleon(KN) scattering lengths which are directly connected with the physics of the KN interaction. The experiment combined the excellent low-energy kaon beam generated at DAΦNE, allowing to use gaseous targets, with excellent fast X-rays detectors: Silicon Drift Detectors. SIDDHARTA was installed on DAΦNE in autumn 2008 and took data till late 2009. Apart of the kaonic hydrogen and kaonic deuterium measurements, we have performed the kaonic helium transitions to the 2 p level (L-lines) measurements: for the first time in a gaseous target for kaonic helium 4 and for the first time ever for kaonic helium 3. In this paper, an overview of this experiment and preliminary results are presented, together with future plans.

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