The DEAR case

R King ,M Iliescu,V Lucherini,C Petrascu,T Ponta,E Zavattini,C Guaraldo,D Tomono,T Ishiwatari,M Iwasaki,L Schellenberg,D Chatellard,Ryoichi Seki ,R S Hayano ,F L Fabbri ,G Beer ,S N Nakamura ,L A Schaller ,E Milotti ,T Koike ,A C Sanderson ,H Schneuwly ,M Cargnelli ,J Márton ,T Sakuma ,P Knowles ,Barbara L Gartner ,M Bregant ,B Lauss ,A M Bragadireanu ,T Yoneyama ,F Mulhauser ,W H Breunlich ,S Bianco ,J.‐P Egger ,T M Ito ,Marc Augsburger ,J Zmeskal

doi:10.1016/s0375-9474(99)00656-9

Abstract

The scientific program and the experimental setup of the DEAR (DAΦNE Exotic Atom Research) experiment at the new φ-factory DAΦNE of Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati are described. The objective of DEAR is to perform a 1% measurement of the Kα line shift due to the strong interaction in kaonic hydrogen. A measurement will also be performed on kaonic deuterium for the first time. The aim is to investigate low-energy \(\overline K N\) physics and to understand SU(3) chiral symmetry breaking. The setup takes advantage of the unique features of the “kaon beam” from the φ decay in DAΦNE; of a low-temperature pressurized gaseous target; and of a detector for soft X-rays – the Charge-Coupled Device (CCD) – characterized by a very good energy (and spatial) resolution and by an unprecedented background rejection capability. The DEAR experiment represents a major effort in the study of low energy \(\overline K N\) interactions and has the potential to produce a breakthrough in the field.

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