Study of hyperon-nucleon interactions at BESIII

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel method using electron-positron collisions at BESIII to study hyperon-nucleon interactions, overcoming previous experimental limitations and providing new insights into quantum chromodynamics and neutron star physics.

Contribution

It presents the first study of hyperon-nucleon interactions in electron-positron collisions, utilizing hyperons produced in $J/a9$ decays and a beam pipe as target material.

Findings

Observation of $\xi^{0}n ightarrow\xi^{-}p$ reaction

Measurement of $\xi^{0}n ightarrow\xi^{-}p$ and $\xi N ightarrow ext{ extSigma}^+X$ interactions

First experimental data on hyperon-nucleon interactions in electron-positron collisions

Abstract

Hyperon-nucleon interactions are important to understand quantum chromodynamics and so-called "hyperon puzzle" of neutron star, but limited by the availability and short-lifetime of hyperon beams, the progress of relevant research is very slow. A novel method is used to study hyperon-nucleon interactions based on hyperons produced in the decays of 10 billion $J/\psi$ events collected with the BESIII detector at the BEPCII storage ring, and the target material is beam pipe. The reactions $\Xi^{0}n\rightarrow\Xi^{-}p$ and $\Lambda N\rightarrow\Sigma^+X$ have been observed and measured at BESIII. This is the first study of hyperon-nucleon interactions in electron-positron collisions and opens up a new direction for such research.