Search for new forms of matter in antimatter–matter interactions in the panda experiment

Abstract

The Panda experiment is a key experiment at FAIR – European Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research, which is in the development stage in Darmstadt (Germany). The physical program of the experiment is focused on the search for exotic particles, research on hadron spectroscopy, the structure of nucleons, nuclear-matter effects, hypernuclei, and in other areas. New experimental forms of matter predicted by theory – glueballs and hybrids – are of great interest. They have not yet been observed. The PANDA facility will be assembled in the storage ring of the HESR antiproton beam. Antiprotons with energy from 1.5 to 15 GeV will be accumulated in the ring. Up to 2·107 interactions/sec are expected on the internal hydrogen (cluster or corpuscular) target. In addition to the high luminosity of the experiment (2·1032 cm–2·sec–1), the beam will be monochromatic. Because of stochastic and electronic cooling, pulsed stretching of the beam is expected to be at the level 10–4–10–5, which makes it possible to measure the mass of the particles with record high resolution 100 keV. Domestic institutes are participating in the development of the PANDA facility.